This initiative seeks to change the future of young people through education and thus reduce educational gaps. This innovative program is a benchmark in learning and teaching adapted to this new era.

Created and promoted by FGK, the program offers young Salvadorans of limited resources with academic excellence a high quality complementary education to boost their growth and employability through pedagogical innovation with creative methods and strategies in all educational areas.

The process to apply for one of these 360 scholarships will be open from april 18 for the saturday modality in San Miguel, Santa Ana, Sonsonate and San Salvador and for the full time modality in San Salvador and Santa Ana. The deadline to apply is august 26.

Young people interested in applying can obtain more information and review the requirements of each modality on the website: https://www.oportunidades.org.sv/ or by following the program's social networks, to see all the information that is published.

Oportunidades is a program that has been able to decipher where educational models are going, what role technology, robotics or artificial intelligence play in didactic processes and what kind of educational spaces are to come, thus becoming a unique program in the region, which intervenes throughout 5 to 8 years, from the student's entry into the program until their insertion into the labor market.

In the first phase, academic knowledge is reinforced in a complementary way, as the program teaches high-performance subjects including mathematics, programming, language training, English, soft skills, implementation of STEAM skills, 3D printing and immersive learning through the first Metaverso classroom in the country.

The university accompaniment is Phase 2, in which support is provided to young people to continue their higher education at one of the 16 universities allied to the program; and in Phase 3, which offers job placement, young professionals are accompanied in their search for employment and are trained through the Employability Certification, a 9-month hybrid course that provides training in labor trends and in the skills most in demand by the economically productive sectors.

As a result of this phase, more than 880 young people have been placed in productive sectors in the country and the region. Thanks to the alliance between FGK and USAID, a total of US$14.2 million has been allocated to expand the program, operating to date 6 Oportunidades centers and expecting to benefit a total of 2,155 young people in the departments of Santa Ana, San Salvador, San Miguel, Sonsonate and surrounding municipalities.

USAID supports this initiative as part of its Development Cooperation Strategy for El Salvador, with the goal of reducing the drivers of irregular migration by promoting a more self-reliant, secure and prosperous El Salvador, positively transforming realities and environments throughout the country.

The Programa Oportunidades to date has impacted the lives of 3,987 young people, with an innovative socio-educational model.

This impact has been thanks to partner organizations, the team of trainers and management team that is committed to each young person, giving them all the tools to develop their own initiatives that bring progress to their community and society.

Translated by: A.M