Associação Ser Cidadão

Acesso ao Ensino Técnico ou Superior

Higher Education and Job Access for Youth from Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz is a low-income housing complex located in the western zone of Rio de Janeiro. Between the 60s and 80s, the neighborhood suffered a great increase in population due to many people leaving the favelas and moving to this area. According to the Population Census of 2011, the region had 370,604 residents, and more than 73 thousand of them were youth between the ages of 18 and 29. The HDI in the region places in the 119th position among the districts of Rio de Janeiro. These youths are known as the generation of “nem nem” (neither, nor in Portuguese), which means they neither study nor work. Social inequality and lack of access to formal education leads them to informal work or underemployment.

Ser Cidadão promotes personal, professional and social development through education, culture and training for children, adolescents and adults in communities with low social investment. The project intends to take youth from the communities of Santa Cruz to higher education.

With support from BrazilFoundation, Acesso ao Ensino Técnico ou Superior aims to:

• Prepare 30 youth between the ages of 17 and 29 for higher education, technical or vocational courses;
• Offer 675 hours of prep courses for the National Secondary Education Examination (ENEM);
• Hold workshops about issues such as career planning, personal and social development, diversity, rights and duties, ethnicity and culture.

Impact

30 youth with access higher education
Solidarity Education for personal, professional and social development

“ This project changes the lives of many youths. We’ve already had 2,000 students per year. For a place of occupation, it is important to re-signify the space of youth.” – Letícia de Azevedo Monte, Organization Leader