INDUSTRIALIZATION AS A DRIVER FOR EDUCATION: The Survival of Fundidora’s Adolfo Prieto School System

Under the leadership of the Spaniard don Adolfo Prieto, Fundidora established its first school, Escuela Acero, in 1911, right within the grounds of the steelworks, as a means to bring education to the children of the workers. According to Prieto’s vision, education was one of the main drivers of individual and social progress. As the company expanded, it created additional schools that could serve the worker’s families, which were being allocated to the suburban developments that Fundidora was financing. The 1950s Fraccionamiento Buenos Aires, and the 1970s Fraccionamiento Adolfo Prieto, were planned as decentralized communities, beyond the grounds of the smelter, but with their own company-run elementary schools and associated kindergartens. Though relatively altered through time, the three schools remain today, witnesses and survivors of the history of Fundidora, the Government, and society.