It’s so cool to go to school!: student leadership and innovation to prevent school dropout

Fundación Acción Joven – Costa Rica

What happens when students themselves design the solutions to keep more young people in school? That is exactly what Fundación Acción Joven explored with “¡Qué Chiva ir al Cole!”, an initiative of the CAO project that turned 63 student leaders from 6 public high schools into agents of change within their own educational communities.

Through training sessions, an ideation workshop, and rounds of technical mentoring, these young people — members of Student Governments and Representative Assemblies — gained project management tools to design concrete proposals aimed at reducing school dropout.

At the close of the process, each institution presented its initiative before a multisectoral jury made up of representatives from Fundación Caricaco, HPE, the MEP, Holcim, Fundación Saprissa, and GEESA.

The two winning projects will each receive ₡1,250,000 CRC in kind for implementation: “, “Liceo San Antonio with “CinePark: ¡no armes bronca, arma el plan!” (90 points), and Colegio Ing. Alejandro Quesada with “Centro de Ciencias Ambientales,” an interactive environmental and collaborative learning space (88 points). The other participants also presented inspiring proposals, from sports courts to student community centers and projects on dance and cultural heritage.

With “¡Qué Chiva ir al Cole!“, Fundación Acción Joven reaffirms that the best ideas to transform educational environments are sometimes already inside schools, waiting for the space to emerge.