Football, technology and education took centre stage as the FIFA Foundation’s Digital Education Programme was launched in Paraguay with a view to benefiting 10,000 children in vulnerable communities across the country. 

The programme was launched with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the FIFA Foundation, the Ministry of Education and Science of Paraguay and the Paraguayan Football Association (APF). 

The President of the Republic of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, took part in the ceremony along with FIFA Foundation Executive Chairman Mauricio Macri, Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Paraguay Luis Ramírez, CONMEBOL President Alejandro Domínguez and APF President Robert Harrison.

Previously launched in Belize and part of the FIFA Foundation’s objective of generating a positive social impact through football, the programme will introduce computer science and robotics education into classrooms and give teachers a range of practical tools and hands-on activities to help them integrate coding and robotics into everyday lessons, all of which seeks to promote digital skills and foster computational thinking, creativity, collaborative work and problem-solving amongst pupils living in a vulnerable context. 

“One of FIFA’s 11 strategic objectives is to have an impact beyond the football pitch. In the words of FIFA President Gianni Infantino, football unites people and has the power to change people’s lives,” said Macri. “Football, technology and education are an exciting combination, not only in attracting and motivating students to learn, but also in providing them with the tools and skills to thrive in the future.”

Macri continued: “Football, technology and education are intrinsically connected, and being able to use the global appeal of football to help young people across Paraguay learn important skills that could one day help them pursue a career in this exciting field is a source of great pride for all of us at the FIFA Foundation. I thank our friends and colleagues at the Ministry of Education and Science [of Paraguay] and the Paraguayan Football Association for their commitment to this joint initiative, and I look forward to working closely with them over the coming years.” 

Adding a fun footballing element to the programme, participants will learn how to apply their newly honed skills to create robotic prototypes that can track and predict penalties, pass and shoot. It is hoped that the programme will contribute to significantly increasing the number of young people with relevant skills for employment in Paraguay. 

The programme will later be extended to India and Mauritania.