The Tutorial Learning System (SAT)

SAT” stands for “Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial” (Tutorial Learning System). This educational program was born as a result of the efforts that FUNDAEC decided to undertake more than 3 decades ago, in the search for more dignified life alternatives for the masses of farmers in rural areas of Colombia. This emergence occurred at a time when educational options for the rural sector were few, and those that were available did not meet the expectations of the people; partly because the curricular design of these proposals was oriented to the training of individuals from and for urban areas, with fragmented content and responding with specific training for that sector, thus increasing the increased migration of people from rural areas to the cities.

Although the SAT was designed and developed as a result of an in-depth analysis of the educational problems of Latin America, its benefits are now widely recognized in different parts of the world as an answer that contributes to the improvement of the current condition of education in many countries. The program has been gradually adopted by official and non-governmental institutions in different regions of Colombia, as well as in other countries in Latin America and Africa, who have decided to advance their plans for the improvement of rural communities, by relying on education.  

The following principles of rural education are the result of a series of consultations within SAT’s founding organization and participating institutions on three basic concepts: the nature of man, education and development.

• A global vision of development cannot ignore the value of formal education. The challenge is to ensure that this formal education is meaningful and relevant to the needs and development plans of the rural population and the creation of opportunities.  
• The search for a valid rural education system implies a fundamental change in the relationships among its components: time, students, educators, and community.
• The relationship between students and educators involves colleagues embarking on an undertaking of great importance, the pursuit of community development.
• The methods used are intended to spark questions and try to find answers to them in a consultative environment between tutors and students.
• Educational activities are governed by the principle of participation. The tutor’s role is to guide the student in the exploration of knowledge.
• Integration is understood as a process that merges relevant elements of knowledge in order to support the social purpose of the program.
• The study units present a pattern of ideas, attitudes and behaviors intended to accompany research-action-learning activities moving along a path of service.
• Spirituality must be integrated into every educational activity: every action provides context for the clarification of spiritual principles. 

• THE CLUB OF BUDAPEST “CHANGE THE WORLD” GLOBAL AWARD Peter Spiegel, Secretary General of the Club of Budapest: “SAT is considered to be the most significant revolution in education in the 20th century”.
• SAT also received the EXPO EDUCATION-2000 award in Germany as the best education project worldwide.
• UNITED NATIONS: in 2008, SAT Honduras was selected by the United Nations as one of the best practices in sustainable development worldwide. Inviting SAT again in 2011 for the WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT forums.
• 2011, Middle and High School Program best evaluated by the University of California for its socio-economic impact and performance.
• 2011, BEST PERFORMANCE IN MIDDLE EDUCATION, evaluation of the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional ‘Francisco Morazán” Honduras.
• 2016, selected by the BROOKINGS INSTITUTION USA (the think thank), as one of the best models of middle and high school education in developing countries with the capacity to scale.
• 2016, DONOR FORUM, Guatemala as a model for inter-institutional relations and sustainability.
• 2017, presented by UNDP in Panama as one of the best educational models for the third cycle and middle school.

·       2018, Recognition by GENERATION UNLIMITED to the SAT Program Honduras as a promising solution and idea to generate education, training and employment opportunities for young people. See more details in the following link (pages 6-8) https://www.generationunlimited.org/media/906/file

The Tutorial Learning System (SAT) was first introduced in Honduras by CADERH in 1987. In spite of the short duration of the experience acquired by CADERH in the area of Güinope, Francisco Morazán, it generated much learning and gave hope to the receiving communities and, above all, to the Honduran educational community that had the opportunity to learn about the experience. In 1995, a commission from the Honduran Ministry of Education was appointed to visit SAT in Colombia and learn about the experience in the field; a visit that motivated the commission to undertake and replicate SAT in the country with the support of the Association for Indigenous Socio-economic Development Bayan.

SAT arrived in Northeastern Honduras in 1996 through the Bayan Association; recognizing the potential of the program demonstrated in the Güinope experience, it undertook the challenge of continuing with the validation process and the adoption of the SAT program in Honduras, thus contributing to the expansion of educational coverage and quality at the national level. With the objective of providing a base of human resources that can take on the challenges of development in their communities, SAT aims to fill the gap, especially in increasingly impoverished rural communities.  

SAT is an education program supported by the Ministry of Education of Honduras, by permanent and nationwide Agreement No. 1151-SE-02 of March 19, 2002, and No. 4596-SE-02 of December 10, 2002.

In addition, SAT is one of the few secondary education programs that has an Agreement (No. 1117-159-2003) from the Council of Higher Education that authorizes the admission of its graduates of the Practical High School Diploma in Rural Welfare to any institution of higher education nationwide.

In order to adopt SAT in Honduras, the Bayan Association has signed an Agreement with FUNDAEC describing the responsibilities of each institution as partners in a development process and has obtained the approval of the Ministry of Education.

Rural communities rely on individuals willing and able to act, through a learning process that integrates the physical, intellectual and spiritual dimensions, thus achieving participation in the search for and construction of a prosperous society.

To contribute to the development of intellectual, physical and spiritual capacities in individuals, aiming to participate in the construction of a prosperous society.

1. Impact at the community and municipal level through the development of social, environmental, educational, cultural, productive and educational infrastructure projects.
2. Expanded educational coverage in the rural sector, benefiting twelve Honduran departments (Gracias a Dios, Colón, Atlántida, Yoro, Santa Bárbara, Lempira, Comayagua, La Paz, Intibucá, Copán, Ocotepeque and Olancho).
3. Integration of the SAT modality into the institutional structure of the Ministry of Education of Honduras, with financial and pedagogical administration processes being channeled through the Departmental Directorates of Education, as with the other modalities.
4. To even out the disadvantages of the student population (male and female) by expanding the levels of educational coverage and effectiveness in rural areas.
5. The SAT modality has made it possible to develop more flexible and effective educational processes at the community level, completing the program contents within the established timeframe.
6. Methodology acceptance by parents and the community, participants in the education of the students.
7. Ongoing training for tutors and the departmental coordination team in the management of methodological processes and program contents of the SAT modality.
8. The program obtained legal status and permanent operation and graduates have access to any university course of study.

(Source: https://fundaec.org )

The curricular contents are organized around 70 textbooks which, instead of the specific subjects studied in high school, cover five areas of fundamental capabilities: mathematical, scientific, language and communication, technological and community service capabilities. Two basic educational concepts underpin this pedagogical perspective:

1) Curricular integration – integration of disciplines when the specific capability requires it, integration between theory and practice, between the abstract and the concrete, between the material and spiritual dimensions of the student, the latter reflected in his desire to learn in order to serve others and in the possession of fundamental values and moral qualities.

2) Emphasis on concepts, not information, to ensure that students develop the ability to analyze, which will allow them to access scientific knowledge and use it to promote individual and community development.