The Bachillerato Popular Ejército de Los Andes in Ciudadela has been playing a fundamental role since 2010, helping adults complete their high school education. Diario NCO spoke with Pablo Díaz, one of its directors, who shared the history and future outlook of this community education center.
The space is organized with monthly assemblies and features a Gender and Diversity Committee to maintain a gender perspective “transversally both inside and outside the classroom.” They aim for a “horizontal approach to contribute new perspectives and ideas collectively.”
“The main task of the bachillerato is to ensure the right to education for young people and adults who did not complete high school on time,” Pablo Díaz began.
He further explained: “We come from an educational system history that, during the ’90s and ’00s, expelled many young people who couldn’t finish their studies. So today, ten or fifteen years later, they are resuming those studies.”
Pablo also mentioned that the Bachillerato started in 2010, emerging from a group that was engaged in literacy work in the neighborhood as part of the Encuentro program from the Ministry of Education. This same group began conducting cultural workshops for young people and children.
“We started to make contact with work cooperatives, part of the Pris program, which engaged in public works or cleaning tasks. These were people who had not finished high school. We were coming from contact with popular educators in Moreno,” he recounted.
The work led them “directly to start a school.” “Mainly for the people from the cooperatives. The thing is, when we opened on Monday, neighbors came, not just those from the cooperative. It was the first cohort where you learn the most.”
Currently, Pablo believes that “the arrival in the neighborhood is good. Word of mouth ensures that we are known. The influx we have is reflected in the number of enrollments and graduates year after year. We are on our 13th promotion.”
“Today We Continue to Fight for State Recognition”
Regarding the relationship with educational policies, Pablo responded: “Our Bachillerato emerged, like all Popular Bachilleratos, without any form of recognition. We demand to be recognized as a school, for graduates to receive their diplomas, and for the State to help us ensure the proper functioning of the space.”
“Initially, all these struggles were through a Coordinator of Bachilleratos who met with the Director of Education of the Province of Buenos Aires to negotiate and thus we achieved some recognition,” he added.
He continued that later, with the macrista administration in the Province, there was a massive opening of CENS (Centros Educativos de Nivel Secundario), “although internally, there was nothing to ensure their operation.” “Nevertheless, we managed to fit into the Fines Program and receive our compensation. We also managed to choose our own educators.”
Once they adapted to the Fines Program, he mentioned they achieved a salary recognition that was renewed year after year during the macrista administration. “When Kicillof took office in 2019, we renewed that agreement, with the Province’s stance being supportive but not fully integrating us into the educational policy.”
“They Hope We Will Eventually Disappear”
Continuing his analysis of educational policies, Pablo criticized: “We are like an ‘accessory’ and believe they hope that eventually, we will disappear, because although Fines guarantees salaries, it does not provide any funding for the space, and we have to ensure that there are blackboards, chairs, etc.”
In this sense, he recounted that during the pandemic “this situation worsened, as the program didn’t even start; we maintained classes, but the State only provided educational materials after several months.”
“Meanwhile, we continue to fight for State recognition, to be a school with a number, and this could be achieved through an agreement with the regional authorities of the Province. It is all an administrative battle,” he detailed.
Additionally, he considered that the Bachillerato community “can engage in discussions on how to build public education policies for adults, in a context of labor, family, and social transformation.”
“In this aspect, traditional education only suggests modifications to pedagogical content/curriculum but doesn’t change policies according to new realities,” he added.
He reflected: “We are always attentive to this, even though it is a long-term task, we don’t want daily life to sweep us away without questioning if we are part of building a new reality.”
“A Transformation Is Visible in the Lives of Students Passing Through the Bachi”
To conclude, Pablo summed up: “The satisfactions as an educator come mainly from the perspective students have, their lack of value or self-esteem for not having finished high school; they often feel guilty.”
“Building with them a vision of the world and a possibility to learn, face challenges, and discover new things transforms us all. That’s where we feel that the whole journey makes sense,” he commented.
“Sometimes students do not manage to finish the Bachi, but a transformation is still visible in them; suddenly they dare to ask for a raise from their bosses or leave a bad marriage; these are small, very satisfying victories,” he concluded.
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