This is our Main Program, one of the most important projects for us; since at Tio Antonio, we firmly believe that Education is the only arm to break the poverty circle squeezing Third World population.

Our Educational Program has the objective of helping boys and girls whose families cannot afford a quality education; allowing them the access to private schools and universities. Due to the deficient level of public school, many kids have to enter private school to get a quality education, but its monthly cost make it impossible for many families. (see education in Nicaragua). Our Scholarship Program covers the cost of those payments, as well as sporadic helps with transport, uniforms, shoes and school material.

Scholarship Program

In the year 2008 ( in Nicaragua the school year is from January to November )
we have scholarships for:

• 20 students in Private School
• 31 students in Public School
• 1 student at the University

To select the students who need for a scholarship for Private School, we meet with the Directors of the 3 main private schools in Granada ( San Antonio, Teresiano and Guadalupe) whom we show our project: providing a scholarship to those good students who are about to quit the school because theirs families cannot bear the costs.

Our objective is that those students have the possibility go to University ( a luxury for most of them), and get a university degree that allows them to have a better future for them and their families. To have our Scholarship they are obliged to deliver each month their Marks Book, which must be above 80 on 100.

More than 75% of our scholarships holders are for girls. Though we don´t have positive discriminations towards them, the girls perform better than boys when accessing to superior studies, and our experience shows that they make a better use of the chances they are offered.

In 2009 we hope to scholarship 5 new boys who will enter University and to have new students in our program; to keep a number around 20 students in Secondary School.

Work Done

• Access to school for 14 kids ( 10 at public school and 4 at private school)
• Purchase of school material
• Purchase of uniforms
  

Project

• Of the 14 kids at school, 5 of them will graduate in December, so we´d like to have a present for them-
• We´ll scholarship those students with good marks, and will cost their education at private school.
• Those kids with scholarship will be distributed in different schools trying to avoid the formation of ghettos
• The students will present their qualifications and will continue with the scholarship if they don’t have misconduct, bad marks, etc. Every case is analyzed in detail.
  

Objective

•To Scholarship a minimum of 20 kids, so in a 10 years time, at least half of them complete University studies.

Education: Values

We also believe that an Education that not only educate children from a technical point of view; but promoting among them respect, solidarity and equality values as well; so needed to get a different future.

That´s why we try to make educational politics whenever we can.