Campus Ítaca brings student from 60 secondary school centres to the UAB

08/07/2020

From 13 to 24 July, the UAB organises a new edition of its Campus Ítaca, which allows secondary school students to stay at the University. This year there will be some restrictions to guarantee the health of participants due to the risks caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Campus Ítaca, a socioeducational programme organised by the Fundació Autònoma Solidària (FAS) and the Faculty of Education with the support of the UAB Social Council and the sponsorship of Banco Santander. The programme consists in a two-week stay at the UAB aimed at secondary school students. In this year's edition, students from 60 education centres from the Vallès Oriental and Vallès Occidental regions will be participating.

As a prevention measure due to the current pandemic, this year's edition has reduced the number of municipalities to keep them within the same health region as the Bellaterra campus and no activities requiring large groups of people will take place, such as the closing ceremony in which traditionally all participants and their families were present.

In addition to these restrictions, the stay includes a mixture of fun and educational activities which allow students to discover a series of different academic disciplines with the aim of motivating them to continue their studies once they finish their compulsory education. At the same time, Campus Ítaca offers them the possibility of coinciding with other young people from a variety of backgrounds, while using Catalan as the common language. Among many new aspects this year, there is an activity focused on emotional management skills aimed precisely at helping them deal with and overcome the situations they may have had to endure during the self-isolation period.

The almost three hundred students participating will be divided into two sessions. The first will take place from 13 to 17 July and the second, from 20 to 24 July. In each session, groups of nine or ten students will be formed and, alongside a UAB mentor student, the group will take part in educational and ludic-sportive activities which will foster both putting into use new skills and methodologies, and socialising with one's peers.

Fostering the Continuation of Their Studies

From the first edition in 2004, over 5,000 students have participated in Campus Ítaca. Students are in their third year of secondary school and, in the course of their last year, will have to decide whether to continue with their studies, take a vocational course, or enter the labour market.

The students chosen to participate in the programme all have a similar profile: they are good students who either due to socio-economic difficulties or to a lack of adult referents with higher education levels, are at an educational disadvantage.

Also linked to the Campus Ítaca is the UAB's Ítaca-Banco Santander salary grants programme. These grants aim to guarantee students access to higher education studies regardless of their family's economic level.

More information: Campus Ítaca

This information is related to the following SDG

• Reduced inequalities
• No poverty
• Quality education