Parents, community groups and business leaders are engaged in identifying what skills, values and information children need to be taught in school, developing curriculum, discussing student and community needs, supplementing limited resources, directing programs for young people and finding solutions to school problems, such as drop-out rates and truancy. In Colombia, Ra l Collazos has developed a system for rural education that draws campesino parents into the educational process. The process provides opportunities for parents, teachers, children and members of the community to assume responsibility for education. The method at the center of his model involves bringing students, parents and teachers together to identify, design and implement development projects. Educational activities are then constructed around the project.
Education is put in the context of a process of community problem solving.
Thus, education becomes related to community problem solving and more relevant to students' lives. To address the high drop out rates of Roma children in their first years of school, Eva is teaching Roma mothers how to prepare their young children for school. Mothers and children visit the school once a week and mothers are instructed how to work with their children during the next week. They are also given teaching aids to assist them. The program not only helps the children but also provides meaningful activity for unemployed mothers.