The Technical School run by the Techint Group in Argentina has made it to the shortlist of 50 finalists for the World's Best School Prizes 2023, a major award that recognizes the best educational establishments in the world.

The Roberto Rocca Technical School (ETRR) in Campana, which this year is celebrating its tenth anniversary, has been singled out for its innovative transformation of spaces and groundbreaking learning processes. The World's Best School Prizes 2023 is an award that recognizes the best institutions in the world in five categories: collaboration with the community, environmental action, innovation, overcoming adversity and promoting healthy living.

“The schools shortlisted for the World's Best School Prizes, no matter where they’re located, or what they teach, share one thing in common: they all have a strong school culture. Their leaders know how to attract and motivate exceptional educators, inspire change, and build environments with excellent conditions for teaching and learning processes,” said Vikas Pota, founder and CEO of T4 Education, the organization in charge of making the awards.

The final shortlist of 15 institutions, three per category, will be announced in September later this year, and in October, the names of the five winning schools will be published. The jury is made up of prominent figures from around the world, ranging from academics, educators and NGOs, to social entrepreneurs, government officials, representatives from civil society and the private sector.

Only two Argentine schools made it to the ranking this year: the ETRR Campana, which is part of the Techint Group’s Technical Schools Network, and the Presidente Domingo F. Sarmiento High School in Junín, which reports to the Universidad Nacional del Noroeste in the province of Buenos Aires (Unnoba).

Last year, the ETRR completed the overhaul of its teaching spaces, inspired by the High Tech High school organization in California, United States, and schools in Barcelona, Spain. The redesign places the student at the center of the learning process to encourage their autonomous development. Some of the innovative concepts underlying this change in focus include "top of the mountain" type activities, where students transmit what they have learned to a group, honing their communication skills. And this process involves hills of different shapes, textures and heights, steps and slopes. Another novelty are the quiet areas, called “caves”, which are sheltered spaces where students can learn to concentrate and enjoy moments of solitude. Outdoor yards also offer possibilities as open-air classrooms.

As for the working methodology itself, the school uses the Project-Based Learning (APB) approach and applies new ways of teaching that integrate different subjects to help students learn in a more connected and intuitive way. “The APB proposes a very different teaching approach, yet the building was still very traditional in style. So we revisited the concept of the classroom to reconsider the relevance of different moments of learning, such as introspection, collaboration, and communication. This means that children become imbued by knowledge in the form of a network rather than isolated data," explained Erika Bienek, Director of Community Relations of the Techint Group.

Thanks to its groundbreaking approach, students score up to 44% higher in math than students at other schools and up to 37% higher in reading comprehension.

The Roberto Rocca Technical School also offers a system of scholarships that guarantee admission where the emphasis is on effort, dedication, commitment and merit, regardless of a family’s particular socioeconomic situation, as part of its drive to build a more equitable society.

Read about it in the media:

Clarín: Read here

La Nación: Read here

Infobae: Read here

Perfil: Read here

To learn more about the Roberto Rocca Technical School in Campana, click here.