The Escuela Hogar in Puerto del Rosario has celebrated its 50th anniversary with an emotional event that brought together various generations of students, teachers, staff, and individuals connected to the center. Since its opening in 1976, the institution has been a fundamental pillar in the educational and social history of Fuerteventura.
Promoted by the Cabildo of Fuerteventura through the Department of Education, the event transformed the current School Residence in Puerto del Rosario into a hub for reunion and memory. Many former students walked the corridors that were once their school and home, sharing anecdotes and memories.
A central moment was the screening of a commemorative documentary. The audiovisual piece, created for the occasion, offers a journey back in time to a very different Fuerteventura, featuring testimonials from those who experienced the Escuela Hogar from within. The documentary portrays the reality of an island marked by distances and population dispersion, which affected access to education.
The voices of the participants reconstruct the adaptation to a new life, the learning process, the community living, and the friendships forged at the center. The documentary, available on the Cabildo of Fuerteventura's Youtube channel, recalls the arrival of the first children, many from remote rural areas, leaving their families for the first time.
The Minister of Education, Adargoma Hernández, emphasized the importance of the people who built the center's history. "We wanted this anniversary to be marked by the very people who constructed the history of the Escuela Hogar," he stated. "The documentary allows us to see that Fuerteventura through their memories and understand the extent to which this center opened opportunities for generations of children on our island."
Hernández added, "Listening to their stories shows that more than just studying happened here. People learned to live together, discovered things for the first time, and formed bonds that have endured over the years. This explains the emotion of returning to these corridors today and meeting again people with whom they shared a fundamental stage of their lives."
The Escuela Hogar began its provisional operations in May and June of 1976, consolidating its activity in the 1976/1977 academic year. Its creation responded to the need to facilitate access to education for children from dispersed areas with communication challenges, initially accommodating 210 students.
Its role soon extended beyond academics, becoming a community where learning coexisted with daily life. The celebration recaptured some of that spirit, with a cocktail reception following the screening for attendees to continue sharing memories and acknowledge the center's human legacy.
Fifty years later, the current School Residence continues its mission, adapted to a profoundly different Fuerteventura from the one that saw the birth of the Escuela Hogar. The anniversary has served to bridge these two eras and highlight the history built by hundreds of individuals who found more than just a place to study within those walls: a place to grow and belong.
