In Ecuador, the poverty rate remains very high (23%) and socio-economic inequalities are very marked. In 2011, the State launched an ambitious education reform aimed at increasing access to quality education for the most vulnerable populations and ensuring that technical training responds to the country’s industrial and productive reconversion.
The unfavorable economic context has had a major impact on the labor market, where decent job offers are scarce. Some regions, such as the province of Esmeralda, suffer particularly from a lack of professional infrastructures in which trained young people can find employment. Self-employment through microenterprises has become the best alternative for many young people and adults in vulnerable situations to cover their needs and those of their families.
Our beneficiaries
Disadvantaged young people between 12-18 years of age; adults (98% women) with few qualifications; business workers, microentrepreneurs. Belonging to the most vulnerable groups of the population, and a large majority of Afro-descendants.
The educational unit Jacarandá (UEJ), created in July 2001, is a female establishment managed by Profamilia Foundation. It offers a technical education based in two branches : gastronomy and accounting. Vocational training is performance-oriented, which is the objective sought from basic education (primary) through high school, following the curriculum designed by the Ministery of Education, which enables students to learn to « know, do, be and undertake » through a comprehensive educational approach.
Profamilia Foundation is a non-profit private institution, registered in the Ministery of Social Protection since 1991, dedicated to serving families with limited resources. Its mains activities include the Jacarandá community development center, which among other services, include : a medical office, the Jacarandá educational unit, an occupational center for adult women and sewing workshop whose production covers part of the deficit generated by UEJ.
The educational unit San Benildo La Salle begans its activities in 1969 when the need for educational offerings in the area of La Prosperona, Guayaquil became acute. 22 years later (1991), the «La Salle» Technical Center officially opened its doors and offered three areas that are still similar today: Computer Applications, Electrical Installations and Automotive (Electro)Mechanics.
In Guayaquil, «UESBLS» is recognised as a quality educational institution which guarantee an integral technical and human formation.
Salesian Society in Ecuador - Unidad Educativa Salesiana Maria Auxiliadora (UESMA)/ Domingo Savio (UEDS)
Since 1973, the Salesians have administered numerous educational projects in Ecuador, including the general and technical schools of Domingo Savio in Guayaquil and María Auxiliadora in Esmeraldas. Committed to family and community development, the Congregation offers quality professional training to young people and adults, especially mothers.
Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Desarrollo Educativo y Social (SEDES) - Montepiedra
The Montepiedra Educational Unit was born in 1999 from the merger of a workers’ training center and a general and technical school for young people and vulnerable adults in a poor neighborhood of Guayaquil. Today, the educational institution has an excellent reputation thanks to the quality practical training it offers to young people and workers of local companies, and the support work it provides to the community.
