Seventh-day Adventist educators from eight South American countries have set a 10-year goal of establishing Adventist schools in cities with populations greater than 100,000. To kick off planning for the initiative, some 70 education professionals have traveled through the states of São Paulo, Paraná and Santa Catarina, visiting schools, evaluating facilities, and discussing trends.

Roberto Azevedo, education director for the Adventist Church in South America, calls the project “unprecedented.” He explains that these education specialists are collecting data for future plans, and are observing how new educational ideas are implemented and how they become success stories.

In another event, more than 100 Adventist educators from across South America met March 15 to 20 in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, to evaluate the education system of the church in the region, to study the application of new technology in education, and to make plans for the next 10 years.

South America has a 100-year history of Adventist education, and currently has 1,000 schools with 190,000 students, as well as nine universities.