The Escuela A Favor del Niño (AFN) in Mexico City was recognized with the international World’s Best School Prize in the Community Collaboration category, becoming the first Mexican institution to receive this award.
AFN is a charity school that offers preschool and primary education. It earned the award for its comprehensive, community-driven model focused on supporting marginalized students.
School Director Daniela Jiménez Moyao said the recognition represented a “historic moment” for her community and for education in Mexico. She said it is “a testament to the collective efforts of families, teachers, allies and children who inspire us every day to continue transforming lives.”
The model, which is one of a kind in Mexico, seeks to defuse structural problems — like poverty, malnutrition, fragile health and weak family ties — with shared care networks. It combines formal education with socio-emotional care, physical health and nutrition.
The publication Infobae reports that 100% of recent graduates have been accepted into high-performing secondary schools, their grades remain high and family engagement exceeds 80%. After graduating from AFN’s primary school, students continue to receive continuing support from the program as they continue on to high school.
AFN is located in San Jerónimo Lídice, a neighborhood in the borough of La Magdalena Contreras in Mexico City. It serves more than 335 students with an extended 10-hour school day and ongoing teacher training.
The Escola Estadual Parque Dos Sonhos, in São Paulo, Brasil, was the only other school in Latin America to recieve an award. It was recognized in the “Overcoming Adversity” category for becoming a “sanctuary” for students exposed to poverty, violence and pollution.
The other winning schools include the Franklin School (Jersey City, United States) for innovation, Arbor School (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) for environmental action, and SK Putrajaya Presint 11 (Malaysia) for supporting healthy living.
The award-winning schools will attend the World Schools Summit in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E on Nov. 15 and 16 to share their best practices with global education leaders.
World’s Best School Prizes is a prestigious international educational award established by T4 Education in 2022 to recognize best practices and innovations in education around the world.
With reports from El Financiero and Infobae
