University in the Countryside: alternative for educational continuity in Nicaragua. Progress and Challenges

Abstract

University in the countryside (UNICAM, for its acronym in Spanish) is established as a new education paradigm. It is based on a joint process between the National Council of Universities (CNU, for its acronym in Spanish) and the educational subystems, with the aim to reinforce rural territories, as well as the capacity building and skills for the key actors, in order to transform their community realities. UNICAM is a national project through wich inter-institutional links have been woven between universities, local governments, community leaders and organizations for the sequential implementation of public policies led by the State of Nicaragua with the aim to restitute right to education in rural areas through quality education in the countryside. Education in one of the main human development indicators and UNICAM has contibuted to its outreach from the construction of a new historical subject with capacities to solve problems of social and territorial contexts and thus promote the country’s rural development.