“Sesquicentennial of the National Epic: 1864–1870. Escolástica Barrios de Gil – Tribute to the Centennial of Guarania”
The Cerrito Self-Sustainable Agricultural School held the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2025, an event that brought together national authorities, representatives of the education sector, and institutional leaders to celebrate young people completing their technical education with a solid academic and entrepreneurial foundation.
The ceremony was attended by Dr. Martín Burt, Executive Director of Fundación Paraguaya; Dr. Luis Fernando Sanabria, General Manager; Eng. Amalio Enciso, Director of the Cerrito School; Fundación Paraguaya managers, teachers, technical staff, authorities from the Ministry of Education and Sciences, and Pedro Rolando Ortiz, Mayor of Benjamín Aceval.
At this meaningful event, 42 entrepreneurial students were presented to society after successfully completing their Technical High School degree in Agriculture and Technical High School degree in Hospitality and Tourism, following three years of training under the “Learning by Doing, Selling, and Earning” model.
Reflecting the institution’s territorial diversity, the national flag was accompanied by flags from the departments of Concepción, San Pedro, Cordillera, Guairá, Caaguazú, Caazapá, Itapúa, Misiones, Paraguarí, Alto Paraná, Central, Ñeembucú, Amambay, Canindeyú, Presidente Hayes, Boquerón, and Alto Paraguay—the students’ places of origin.
Entrepreneurship to Transform: Business Plans and Seed Capital
To earn their diplomas, each student developed and defended a business plan before an external committee made up of teachers and microfinance managers. As an incentive to entrepreneurship, graduates received credit lines totaling ₲ 119 million, equivalent to an average of ₲ 2.8 million per student, provided by Fundación Paraguaya as seed capital.
Highlighted ventures included innovations such as cactus body cream with nopal, papaya seed pepper, hydroponic tomatoes, beet balm, cinnamon repellent, tomato ice cream, yerba mate cosmetics, beef-fat soap, citrus-infused salt, gourmet mandarin sauce, and vegan cheese, among others.
Academic Excellence Recognition
During a special moment of the ceremony, Eng. Amalio Enciso, Dr. Martín Burt, and Dr. Luis Fernando Sanabria awarded the Gold Medal and Certificate of Honor to the top graduate, Vania Anahí Vera Centurión.
Vania also received a paid internship at Fundación Paraguaya, in recognition of her outstanding academic performance and institutional commitment.
Innovations and Achievements in 2025
Throughout the year, the Cerrito School achieved significant progress in infrastructure, production, and services:
- Introduction of theoretical and practical courses on operating a travel agency.
- Launch of Karaja Tour, an extreme adventure circuit incorporated into the school’s learning-production units.
- Completion of new sustainable cabins, strengthening the school’s commitment to sustainable tourism.
- Record-breaking animal production with more than 350,000 eggs produced.
- Cheese factory output exceeding 13,000 kilograms, with its blue cheese winning an international gold medal in Santiago, Chile, and three additional bronze medals among 350 international producers.
- First-ever export of school-produced cheese to the United States.
- Installation of two new greenhouses, producing 11,000 kilograms of tomatoes.
- More than 8,000 customers served at the Cerrito School Hotel, with high satisfaction levels.
Before closing the ceremony, Dr. Martín Burt delivered a powerful message about the role of young people in nation-building, urging them to believe, persevere, and become agents of change:
“In Paraguay, a great battle is being fought—between ‘good enough,’ ‘poorly done,’ and ‘it can’t be done,’ and the side that says, ‘of course it can,’ ‘nothing will stop us.’
You will meet people who tell you not to try so hard, that it’s not worth it. But you carry the responsibility of not losing faith. Paraguay needs its faith restored. Support your children—they are the future mayors, governors, legislators, and business leaders. Everything comes down to one idea: Yes, it is possible. But it depends on us”.