Cartagena took a significant step towards a more inclusive and quality education with the inauguration of the Villas de Aranjuez Educational Institution, a modern public school that will benefit more than 960 students each year. This work is the result of a partnership between the Ministry of National Education, the Educational Infrastructure Financing Fund (FFIE), the Mayor's Office of Cartagena, the Santo Domingo Foundation, the Pies Descalzos Foundation and Education Above All.

Located in the Megabarrio Bicentenario, the new school seeks to transform access to education in historically marginalized sectors, providing decent, safe and modern learning conditions for children and young people from nearby communities. The school has a built area of 6,272 square meters, distributed over two levels. Its design meets universal accessibility standards, with spaces adapted for people with reduced mobility. It has:

• 30 preschool, elementary and middle school classrooms
• Library and technology classroom
• Science Laboratories
• Kitchen, dining room and multipurpose room
• Computer room with state-of-the-art equipment
• 3D printer and tablets for digital learning
• Administrative areas and sports area

In addition, the technological endowment includes a smart library equipped with digital tools that promote educational innovation, the result of a new alliance with MCN Build Foundation and CAF- Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean to create a welcoming space that invites reading and innovation.

During the inauguration event, the Minister of Education, Aurora Vergara Figueroa, highlighted the value of partnerships between the State and the private sector to bring quality education to vulnerable communities: "We thank the Pies Descalzos Foundation for its sustained contribution to the construction of a more just and equitable knowledge society". The school will be operated by the Secretary of Education of Cartagena, with an initial team of 32 teachers and 3 directors who will offer education from preschool through high school.

For his part, the District Secretary of Education, Alberto Martinez, emphasized that this work is part of a comprehensive strategy to improve the quality of education in the city, which includes investment in infrastructure, technology and teacher training.

"In 2017 we started working on this project and invited more partners to join us in this dream. Today we celebrate a great success for Cartagena. Our challenge now is to ensure that quality education, capable of transforming lives and communities, flourishes in this space," said Patricia Sierra, executive director of the Foundation. This is the second school that the Pies Descalzos Foundation has delivered in Cartagena and it adds to the efforts to reduce educational inequality and offer real opportunities for the development of new generations.

Investment with impact

The construction of the Villas de Aranjuez Educational Institution represented a total investment of $17,138 million pesos, and was developed under high technical and sustainability standards. The manager of the FFIE, Adriana González, celebrated the advances in educational infrastructure throughout the country: "The result is not only this school, but the opportunities we generate in Bicentenario and in hundreds of other communities. Educational transformation translates into transformation of lives."

More than a school: a complete educational ecosystem

Next to the school, a Child Development Center (CDI) is also being built, which will expand the educational offer for more than 200 children in the initial stage. With this infrastructure, a complete educational trajectory is guaranteed, from early childhood through high school.

The Megabarrio Bicentenario, with this new educational institution, now has three high-capacity public schools, which considerably expands access to formal education in one of the most populated and vulnerable areas of Cartagena.

At the Pies Descalzos Foundation we remain committed to our goal that no child should be left behind. This new school is one more step on the road to a more equitable Colombia, where education is truly transformative.