Espero que funcione

Más de Dolores, la fundación de Shakira.

Tengo mis serias dudas. La participación del gobierno es una garantía de fracaso. Lo ideal sería que las escuelas sean manejadas por un organismo profesional con participación directa de comisiones de padres, sin intervención de funcionarios:

Shakira’s latest contribution went to our hometown. In February 2009, the Barefoot Foundation inaugurated a $6 million K-12 mega-school. El colegio de Shakira, as it is known locally, gets only praise. A friend described it to me as an American institution, by which she meant state-of-the-art. The complex includes an auditorium, chemistry labs and even air conditioning. “Parents receive English classes and computer skills,” Shakira says, “and the entire neighborhood can play soccer there.” Families look for every possible way to move close to the school.

Is she doing the work of the government, I ask? “No,” she says emphatically, “We are proving a case. If we can do it then the government can do it.” Shakira’s foundation builds the schools but then donates them to the district to run. “Over time, the government increasingly assumes responsibility. That is essential.” The jury is still out on this model. Will local government agencies with a dismal record of management allow the schools to thrive? For now, Shakira can boast that this year’s graduating class at El colegio de Shakira received very high test scores on their college placement exams.