Last night (6) was very emotional for 33 students from the State Education Network, who returned after an exchange of almost six months in Australia and met their parents and family at the Afonso Pena airport in São José dos Pinhais – another 13 also disembarked from Foz do Iguaçu. They are part of the most recent group of exchange students from the 2024 edition of the Winning the World program who are returning to Paraná with diverse life experiences in their luggage.
The students had the opportunity to study a curriculum equivalent to high school in Brazil during the last few months, in addition to improving their study of the English language and getting to know a new culture. The landing successfully ended the international learning journey of the teenagers, who were selected from more than 12 thousand candidates.
In total, a thousand students were selected in the 2024 edition, 250 for Australia, 400 for Canada, 50 for England and 250 students who are in New Zealand and will be arriving in the state this week.
For Marcos Vinicius Bragança, 17, from Abatia in Norte Pioneiro, the exchange to Australia awakened in him the desire to dedicate himself even more to studies and future international travels. Also from Norte Pioneiro, but from Santo Antônio da Platina, 16-year-old Maria Eduarda da Silva valued the extensive cultural and linguistic knowledge she gained in just half a year. Priscila de Fatima, 16, from Inácio Martins in the Center-South region expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to participate in Ganhando o Mundo.
The program — created in 2019 by the state government as a student exchange initiative, Ganhando o Mundo has already taken 1,240 students from the state education network to English-speaking countries in North America, Europe and Oceania.
