More than 300 high school students are expected to participate in the PACE ULS Academy

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In its pilot stage, the Academy had 150 places available to students accompanied by the house of higher education program.

There are more than 300 places that this new cycle of reinforcements will have for students belonging to the twelve educational establishments assigned to the Program for Accompaniment and Effective Access to Higher Education (PACE), of the University of La Serena.

academicapace2The objective of the PACE ULS Academy is to prepare young people in 3rd and 4th grade for the first years of Higher Education, seeking to enhance the development of their transversal skills, with emphasis on those related to their areas of interest and also allowing them to an early approach to university life.

This instance was born in 2018, within the framework of the Secondary Education Accompaniment (PEM) line, in response to the needs evident in the students of the cohorts that entered the ULS since 2017, detected in the Accompaniment component in the Higher Education (AES), being implemented as a pilot.

In this regard, Jovanna González, PEM PACE ULS academic manager, said that “the Academy was born last year, as a pilot, dedicated only to students who were in third year, in order to see the true impact it could have. and these were excellent; I think it is an instance in which the students who participated can see what they face after finishing high school, as well as face different teaching methodologies, in some cases more practical, didactic, among others.”

The professional added that "in the face of the success and excellent reception of the students, the decision was made to continue with the activity, reinforcing the lines of work and making some modifications, such as adding the area of ​​English to the study plan for this year."

academypace3María Isabel Amenábar, coordinator of the PEM PACE ULS area, said that “the operation of the PACE ULS Academy allows students from the different establishments assigned to the Program to interact with each other. We carry out modules on different subjects, such as language and communication, biology, to name a few, in which students face different teachers. Some students have told me that they are pleased and, at the same time, a little afraid to be able to work almost immediately on the content they see in their classes, and that is what the University of La Serena aims to achieve, through the PACE program, that this instance serves as a link between students and university campuses, being able to prepare students for the university contexts that they will soon face.”

For this year, inaugural launches of the Academy will be held in the three provinces of the Coquimbo Region, starting with Choapa this coming Friday, April 26, in the city of Los Vilos. They will then be held in the Province of Elqui on Tuesday, April 30 and in the Province of Limarí on Thursday, May 2.

Written by Daniel Aguayo, PACE ULS Program