Prometeus Programme

Prometeus is a municipal programme that ensures that all young people from public secondary schools in neighbourhoods with a lower-than-average number of university students in the city can access university and successfully pursue higher education, regardless of economic and social conditions.

The initiative, which began in 2016-2017 as a community project in the Raval, is now a programme promoted by the Neighbourhood Plan in collaboration with Barcelona Science and Innovation. The programme is currently managed on a day-to-day basis by the Raval Integral Educational Association and AFEV.

Prometeus is carried out in close collaboration with the Barcelona Education Consortium and the districts of Ciutat Vella, Sant Martí and Nou Barris. At the same time, eight public high schools, the city's public universities (University of Barcelona (UB), Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF)), as well as the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) are part of the programme.

Thanks also to the networking of organisations, educational and social agents and volunteers, Prometeus is now one of the key programmes in the field of education. With the initial support of the Ciutat Vella district, it quickly became a successful programme, which is why the Neighbourhood Plan 2016-2020, in collaboration with Barcelona Science and Innovation, adopted it as its own and provided it with economic and human resources to consolidate it and extend it to other neighbourhoods in the city with similar characteristics.

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Accompaniment of young people

The programme has a professional team from the two managing bodies (AEIRaval and AFEV) that accompanies students from secondary school until they complete their university studies. This involves personal, social and technical accompaniment, including support in procedures such as enrolment or applying for public grants, as well as financial support for specific needs.

Within the framework of the accompaniment during the studies, mentoring also plays an important role, thanks to the collaboration of volunteers. Once they have finished their studies, support is also offered in accessing the world of work, with the collaboration of the universities and Barcelona Activa, among others. Finally, it is worth highlighting the various tasks of social commitment carried out by Prometeus young people, as reference figures for future promotions and their families.

Role of the universities

The increase of Prometeus students at university and their educational success has been accompanied by an increasingly intense and systematic dedication on the part of all the universities, as can be seen in the growing number of people, services and units involved in each one, as well as in the increase of their own resources destined, in part, to Prometeus students, such as the salary grants of the universities.

During the university period, the young Prometeus students receive academic and personal support and follow-up at all times from the people in charge of the programme, in close collaboration with the universities. At the same time, they join ranks, accompany each other, share experiences and actively participate in the talks that take place regularly in the high schools to motivate the students to continue studying and to attract their attention to the programme. In this way, they become a point of reference in their neighbourhood and reinforce their educational imaginary as a central value of the programme.

Deployment of Prometeus

After its launch in the 2016-2017 course, Prometeus was expanded through two extensions, the first one in the 2019-2020 course, from two to five schools, and the last one in the 2022-2023 course, from five to eight:

 

  • El Raval: Milà i Fontanals Institute and Miquel Taradell Institute.
  • Besòs and Maresme: Barri Besòs Institute.
  • La Verneda and La Pau: Bernat Metge Institute.
  • Zona Nord: Pablo Ruiz Picasso Institute.
  • Poble-sec: Consell de Cent Institute.
  • Turó de la Peira and Can Peguera: Barcelona Congress Institute.
  • La Prosperitat: Flos i Calcat Institute.

In addition to the neighbourhoods and institutes listed above, the Prometeus programme has also been extended to other areas of the city that go beyond the Neighbourhood Plan. This has been the case in the Barceloneta neighbourhood (Joan Salvat-Papasseit secondary school), where the programme has been implemented in conjunction with the Ciutat Vella district.

Prometeus has also been extended to other municipalities, such as Manlleu (Antoni Pous i Argila Secondary School), with the support and management of the Manlleu City Council in the framework of the Municipal Education Plan and Pamplona (Julio Caro Baroja Secondary School and Plaza de la Cruz Secondary School), thanks to the management of the Public University of Navarre (UPN) and with the support of the Government of Navarre. In both cases, the deployment of the programme has been carried out with the support and collaboration of Prometeus Barcelona.

Prometeus Youth

In this 2023-2024 course, 92 young people have joined Prometeus, 80% more than the previous year and the highest number since the programme started. Moreover, it is also the course with the highest number of direct access to university, with 54 young people, 27 from each entity, which is 42% more than in 2022-2023. In terms of new graduates, this year's graduating class is made up of 15 young people.

With the 2023-2024 course, the total number of young people accompanying the programme since 2016 (including the 37 graduates) is exactly 300, of which 220 are university students and 80 are in transition, most of whom are doing a higher education cycle. Likewise, together with the two previous promotions, this year the total number of graduates is 37 young people who have therefore successfully completed their university studies, the main objective of the programme.

Graduating promotions

At the end of the academic year 2022-2023, there are already three graduating classes of young Prometheus students.

The total number of graduations since the beginning of the programme is 37 young people who have successfully completed their university studies, the main objective of Prometeus. As every year, the graduation ceremony is held in the Saló de Cent of the City Hall, with the presence of the mayor and representatives of all the agents involved.