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Back to school time!

How we support children accessing quality education in Ecuador
Ecuador - back to school - Cocoa Horizons

Back to school time!

How we support children accessing quality education in Ecuador
All children have the right to learn and benefit from quality education. As part of our approach to protect child rights, we implement initiatives to help children reach their full potential.

Creating an enabling environment for children to access quality education

During the Covid-19 pandemic, schools in Ecuador remained closed for two years. It was one of the longest school closures globally. While online learning was partially applied, in reality children of rural communities with poor internet connectivity and lack of computers struggled to keep up with this new modality. It is estimated that at least 90,000 students withdrew from the education system in Ecuador during the pandemic (Source: Unicef).

Luckily, schools have reopened since then. But, after two years of being closed, the school infrastructures were lacking desks, chairs, maintenance and green spaces.

Cocoa Horizons organized events to engage the children to return to school. During one day, the children were invited to join educational and fun activities with their parents. The audience was sensitized on the importance of quality education and equal opportunities as well as environmental preservation. All children received a school kit to get ready for starting school again.

Before this event, Cocoa Horizons supported schools with a donation to buy new books, plant fruit and native trees in the playground, and paint the school buildings.

Now every year, through Cocoa Horizons, we organize events in Ecuador to create favorable conditions for pupils to go back to school. By allowing children to learn foundational skills, we help them reach their full potential. 

  • Painting of the school building
    + 6
  • Cocoa Horizons team with school employees
    + 5
  • Children ready to go back to school
    + 4
  • Sensitization activity with children
    + 3
  • Alicia Zambrano, parent
    + 2
  • Fruit and native trees
    + 1
The shift to online learning was a challenge during Covid time. Our internet at home is inefficient, we lacked teaching material. Everything took longer and a lot of patience was needed to teach them at home. The first day back to school was a very emotional day. It was incredible for my children to see their classmates again.
Alicia Zambrano, parent in the community of La Margoth, Los Ríos, Ecuador
Cocoa Horizons supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

The Cocoa Horizons Foundation

The Cocoa Horizons Foundation is a non-profit organization, third party verified, highly transparent on premium and methodology, based in Switzerland and established and supported by Barry Callebaut. It’s an impact driven program with the vision to drive cocoa farmer prosperity by creating self-sustaining communities that protect nature and children. The Foundation supports the Sustainable Development Goals (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment)*. 

*The content of this publication has not been approved by the United Nations and does not reflect the views of the United Nations or its officials or Member States.
 

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