A Peruvian billionaire contracted a world-famous design firm to remake his country's private school system, and the results are stunning

In Carlos Rodriguez-Pastor's home country of Peru, education is lagging. The billionaire businessman wanted middle-class kids to have an alternative between pricey private schools and destitute public schools, but no option existed.

So, in 2011, with the help of design firm IDEO, he created one.

Innova Schools are the product of that desire. They rely on blended learning — a form of education that uses technology and guided independent study — to get kids thinking creatively, flexibly, and critically. In turn, families pay only $130 a month in tuition.

The model is getting international attention, most recently as a top-prize winner at the International Design Excellence Awards. 

Check out a tour of the school below.

Dotting Peru's landscape are 41 Innova schools serving nearly 31,000 students in the K-11 system. Each building is modular. The walls and chairs are movable and the spaces are designed for teachers to shift lessons quickly and easily.

Nearly a quarter of Peru's 8 million kids attend private school because the public school system is in such bad shape. Schools can feel like jails, so Rodriguez-Pastor worked with IDEO to make Innova feel as open and expansive as possible.

In February of 2015, Innova became the largest private network of schools in Peru. The school expects to expand to 50 locations and 40,000 students by 2018. Its goal is to inspire kids with modern technology and self-discovery.

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Contributer : Tech Insider http://ift.tt/2tMBadg

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