E
ighty young people from the rural setting started at-
tending the lessons of the course “Entrepreneur-
ship in Multi-Purpose Agriculture - Rural Manage-
ment”, in 2016. This is the first course offered by the
pilot-project of the Growing-Up Right Institute’s Ru-
ral Professional Learning Program. There are four groups now
attending this course, 20 students in each group, from four mu-
nicipalities of the Rio Pardo Valley region, in Rio Grande do Sul.
The participants, aged 15 to 17, were selected from tobacco
growing families, with the help of the technical staffs of the as-
sociated tobacco companies.
The Interstate Tobacco Industry Union (SindiTabaco) and
the associated companies created the Growing-Up Right Insti-
tute on 23rd April 2015. The aim is to offer inputs for the young
to stay and develop their skills and potentialities in the rural
setting. The director president of the Growing-Up Right Insti-
tute, Iro Schünke, recalls that since 1998, the sector has been
making strides towards making the farmers aware of the legis-
lation that bans the use of child labor on tobacco farming, be-
cause children and adolescents belong in school.
The lessons of the first group of the course started on (9th
May 2016, at the Fundamental and Municipal Saint Paul School,
in the district of Linha do Rio, in Candelária. On 23rd May, the
activities of the Vera Cruz group started at the Fundamental
Growing-Up
RightInstitute
offerscourseon
entrepreneurship
andmanagement
to80youthinthe
municipalities
oftheRioPardo
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State School Frederico Augusto Hannemann, in Vila Progresso. The course in Venâncio
Aires has been in operation since September 8, at the Municipal Fundamental School
Coronel Thomaz Pereira, in Linha Taquari Mirim. In Vale do Sol, the lessons started on
12th September, at State High School Guilherme Fischer. A fifth group has been sched-
uled to start at Fundamental State School Guilherme Simonis, in Linha Boa Vista, San-
ta Cruz do Sul.
The duration of the course is 11 months, with four lessons a day, Monday through
Life
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Participants are
hired and paid as
young apprentices
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