Argentina stands out as one of the most co-operative-minded countries in South America, with a number of co-ops emerging as a response to crises over the decades.
But it is also unique in how it embeds co-operation into the formal national curriculum. The country’s cooperativas escolares (school co-operatives) have a long history, which can be traced to 1946 legislation that formally established the teaching of co-operativism and the creation of school co-operatives.
Rather than being a fringe or extracurricular activity, these initiatives are recognised as a pedagogical tool integrated into the curriculum across subjects. The explicit goal is not profit or practical skills, but the development of citizens, democratic participation, and an education based on values.
Students genuinely run these co-operatives, which can range from food production and recycling to technology, media, and community commerce. They elect boards, manage finances and hold assemblies, with teachers acting as advisors.
After the 2001 Argentine crisis, grassroots educational co-operatives also emerged at the secondary level, with self-managed schools (Bachilleratos Populares) run by co-operatives of educators providing free education for youth and adults who had fallen outside the formal system.
Each co-operativa escolar is organised within the school environment, guided by co-operative ideals that emphasise mutual respect, solidarity, and equal access to rights. Every project aims to use and develop its member’s abilities so that tasks can be organised and decisions made democratically.
Membership is voluntary, but a minimum of nine students is needed, who then organise themselves in an assembly to establish it before selecting the board of directors, the auditor, and the assembly.
Students of all ages can participate, but must be 10 or over to serve on the board. Buenos Aires Province has its own dedicated oversight body, the Directorate of Cooperation and Community Participation (DCCP), which registers, monitors, and supports school co-operatives – reflecting how institutionally embedded the model has become.
Overseeing the schools co-operatives programme itself is Eva Fernández, deputy director of community participation in the Culture and Education Department of Buenos Aires Province. \“Co-operativism solves needs in places where there once was nothing,” she said in an interview with Argentina’s R10 radio station last year. “I go to towns in the interior of the province where, if the neighbours hadn’t organised themselves to create a co-operative, that community wouldn’t have electricity or access to water.”
This year, in the province of Buenos Aires, school co-operatives are celebrating 80 years.
Fernández explained: “In organising themselves, distributing roles, managing resources, planning projects and achieving collective goals, students practice solidarity, they practice teamwork – and not only do they also address technical content, but also curricular content. But the one that interests us most is that they can connect with others through
concrete action.”
Schools cooperatives are not unique to Argentina, with Brazil having a deep tradition of co-operative education, and other countries in the region – including Paraguay, Chile and Peru – also working to create similar programmes.
Related: How do we build youth participation in co-operatives?
They are present in Asia, too; Malaysia, for example, has over 2,430 school co-operatives with 1.6 million members.
In Argentina, the programme aims to contribute to building citizenship through democratic practices centred on mutual aid, responsibility, equality, and solidarity in organisation and decision-making; in a school co-operative, there are never differences between members in terms of their rights and obligations.
Regardless of capital contributed, when they joined, whether or not they hold a position on the board or the auditing body, their knowledge or abilities, or any other factor – all members are equal, upholding one of co-operativism’s basic principles: one member, one vote. The school principal and guide teachers (chosen by students at the assembly) form the review and advisory committee, with the purpose of encouraging and guiding student members in co-operative practice.
They attend assemblies and board meetings, may veto resolutions with proper justification, advise the auditor and members generally on how the co-operative operates, and must ensure that co-operative activities are properly linked to curricular content.
DCCP explains how students, together with teachers and directors, meet, research the topic, analyse the law and statutes, and may exchange experiences with other co-operatives across the province. But most importantly, “they must feel motivated to organise and achieve their goals, and understand the potential of forming a co-operative. They then choose the activity the co-operative will pursue and develop a project that serves as a roadmap.”
Teachers across subject areas incorporate related curriculum content into their planning, but beyond lessons, these co-operatives can also transform lives. “One headteacher told me, ‘Look, this boy faced a lot of challenges, but thanks to us implementing this [school co-operative] project, he now participates and wants to come to school for more hours’,” Fernández said.
“Real transformations occur from pedagogical projects that commit students to feeling part of something, creating and having collective and solidarity projects. The first thing these students tell us is, ‘I learned to work in a team, I learned and I feel prepared to continue studying’.
“A student who may feel apathetic, who didn’t feel enthusiastic about school, finds, through the co-operative, a place to feel part of, to feel happy to be able to learn through this practice.” In one school, students formed a co-operative to build benches from recycled materials (mainly plastic bottles), with an ecological approach.
In another, the co-operative ran a healthy tuck shop every Friday afternoon at the school, after surveying other children to find out what they would like to eat as an afternoon snack. La Felicidad de Crear Ltd (the Happiness of Creating) brought together students to make outdoor playground games for their school yard, while Cooperativa El Fona focused on making pre-made pizza bases and other baked goods.
Other co-operatives looked at installing wheelchair-accessible ramps on public streets, and producing renewable energy.
“The students ask for a process that builds meaning into daily tasks within the framework of the teaching and learning processes that take place in schools,” said Fernández, “but this time with a concrete action.”
