After observing Marcus Rashford’s actions in England, the Real Madrid winger decided to improve social mobility in Brazil.
Vinicius Junior has had an outstanding start to the season, helping Real Madrid take the lead in La Liga with five goals. A legacy has also been forged by the 21-year-old off the pitch. The forward for Brazil founded Instituto Vini Jr., an institution that seeks to educate young Brazilians via sport and technology in order to eventually create a more equitable nation.
Brazil’s public school system is far from ideal in terms of quality. Wealthy families typically enrol their kids in pricey private schools, where they have the best opportunity of gaining admission to the nation’s government institutions, which are free for qualifying students. Although free university education in Brazil may imply that social mobility is accessible to all, wealthy parents can effectively manipulate the system by funding their children’s attendance at prestigious private schools.
Vinicius is making an effort to assist students who cannot afford a private education since he is aware of the difficulties faced by less fortunate kids. His organisation has released Base, an educational app that engages kids via football. The app launched at his former Rio school, with plans to grow even more in the upcoming year.
Vinícius explains, “My first concern was to help these young kids achieve more via education.” “Although football is a dream, isn’t it amazing if we can assist children in escaping poverty through education? That’s what I want to achieve in the medium and long terms. More medical professionals, attorneys, and engineers from the favelas are needed. We plan to provide them with opportunities.
“In Brazil, there is still a significant literacy divide. We should have introduced the software in my former school since I was familiar with its workings. Of course, I have many happy memories of those times, but especially football games! I simply believed that there was more I could accomplish, and I am. There are numerous instances of athletes doing that. The work that Marcus Rashford, LeBron James, and Lewis Hamilton are doing inspires me. I thus started by helping my neighbourhood, but who knows whether it will spread throughout Brazil.
Vini and his family have always supported São Gonçalo, the neighbourhood in Rio where he lives. His family gave modest gifts and offered assistance in any way they could when he was younger and wasn’t yet making a lot of money playing football. He can do more now that he plays for Real Madrid and is an international for Brazil. He is the institute’s only investor, having invested close to R$2 million of his own funds to launch it.
It was a brilliant idea to combine education and football. With the help of this app, studying can be more enjoyable. We had been working on it for a year and a half, and the pandemic further brought home to us the significance of improving living circumstances for community members. We aim to contribute to the reduction of a significant educational gap that exists [between the classes]. “I saw how important this is and how the kids feel better by doing the activities when I visited them a few months ago,” he says.
La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CFOn March 1, in Madrid, Spain: (ZEITUNG BILD OUT) On March 1, 2020, in Madrid, Spain, at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, during the Liga match between Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona, Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal, 1:0. (Image sourced from Getty Images by DeFodi Images)
“I hope I can make every Brazilian cheer for me one day,” said Vinicius Junior.
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“They utilise the software in the classroom. They must correctly complete all of the activities and levels in order to pass. We also engage in face-to-face activities with the students, such as arithmetic and Portuguese, where we consistently use sports as the backdrop. However, they get more knowledge about global social issues, such as the need to respect the environment and people equally.
Among the children using the app is Bruna Ferreira Matos, an eight-year-old student at the institution. She is thrilled to be included in it. It’s packed with riddles. I really enjoyed it, and I think learning with Base is simpler than learning from my books. Because it’s so wonderful, I wish I could use it every day.
The concept is being implemented for the first time at the school, which bears the name of the Brazilian philosopher and educator Paulo Freire. Next year, though, Vini Jr. and his team intend to grow it. This is just the beginning.
