Tomillo Foundation has presented today Orienta+, a model of comprehensive guidance and accompaniment for youth in vulnerable situations, born from more than forty years of experience in socio-educational intervention with young people at risk of exclusion. In 2024, Tomillo has obtained an early school dropout rate among its students of 11.58%, well below the 20.6% observed in the Community of Madrid among the lower income population.
In Spain, the early school dropout rate stands at 13%, but this figure hides a socioeconomic gap: in some districts in the south of Madrid, the dropout rate reaches 40% and absenteeism reaches 71% according to data from the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports. Faced with this reality, Tomillo’s data – 11.58% in 2024 – shows that, with comprehensive and personalized support, reducing dropout rates is possible.
The model created by Tomillo was presented to more than 200 professionals from the socio-educational and business sectors and was attended, among others, by the Deputy Minister of Family, Youth and Social Services of the Community of Madrid, Pablo Gómez-Tavira, who emphasized: “We need comprehensive programs focused on results management, and this is not just another program. Orienta+ has helped us to have indicators that allow us to measure which are the most efficient interventions and to achieve replicable working models”.
Also present were Jorge Elías, General Director of Subsidized Education, Scholarships and Study Aids, and Óscar López, General Director of Evaluation, Quality and Innovation of the Community of Madrid.
A model that changes the way of intervening
Orienta+ has made it possible to systematize the accumulated practical experience, pilot it and turn it into an integral and transferable methodology, thanks to the support of the Regional Ministry of Family, Youth and Social Affairs of the Community of Madrid and the financing of the European Next Generation funds.
To ensure its quality and impact, the model is being independently evaluated by the TABA research group (UNED).
The differential value of the model is a person-centered approach that integrates five operational keys:
- Generation of bonding (meaningful educational relationship).
- Competence development
- Comprehensive intervention (with the young person, the family and the teams).
- Active learning (learning by doing, inside and outside the classroom).
- Networking (educational centers, administrations, companies and social entities).
The objective is to achieve long-term changes in the people who are accompanied, achieving an improvement in autonomy, empowerment, social participation and the construction of a life project of their own.
Rigorous evaluation with control groups
The independent evaluation is making it possible to compare the results of the Vocational Training students in Tomillo with four other control centers with similar socio-demographic profiles. The total sample is 876 people in the Tomillo group and 600 in the control centers. Preliminary analyses show that, in addition to the 11.58% dropout rate compared to the 20.6% reference rate in the lower income population, Orienta+ reconnects students with the educational system and improves their adherence to the center, the teaching team and the peer group. In addition, at the end of the Orienta+ model, young people trained within the Orienta+ model show improved competencies in self-perception, autonomy, self-determination, problem solving, effective communication or social commitment, factors that favor their continuity in education and labor market insertion. The UNED continues the comparative analysis.
“The Orienta+ Model seeks to have a permanent impact on the educational and life trajectories of young people from contexts where they have fewer economic, social and cultural opportunities,” highlighted Carmen García, President of Fundación Tomillo.
Adrian and Suleika’s transformative experience
Adrian’s story is an example that the Orienta+ model works. He studied Microcomputer and Network Systems at Tomillo after a negative experience in ESO: “I had no motivation and avoided standing out. I changed with the help of my tutor and the group; I started to participate and became a class delegate”.
From the first phase of reception, the intervention model takes care of the generation of the link between the student and the professional of reference, through an accompaniment and orientation that define a personalized itinerary of integral development based on the needs, the active involvement, the reflection and the free decision of the young person.
Today, Adrián works as a computer technician in an educational center while studying for a higher degree in computer systems and cybersecurity. “The most important thing I have developed is autonomy and teamwork. My long-term idea is to set up a start-up for process automation with artificial intelligence.”
Suleika is 17 years old. She joined Tomillo when she was 6 years old in leisure activities and educational reinforcement. She dropped out of high school in 3rd ESO and decided to train in hotel management. The young woman says that during these years her personal growth has been very positive “I have greatly improved my impulsivity and self-control, but my greatest discovery has been to realize that I am more capable than I thought, that I can go to class every day with motivation and that I don’t need bad people in my life to not feel alone”.
An opportunity for systemic change
The Foundation’s aim is to be able to transfer the model to other territories and contexts, as it represents an opportunity for systemic change in socio-educational intervention. For this reason, Tomillo has started a series of dissemination actions that include, among others, the creation of a socio-educational innovation podcast OrientaLAB, and the organization of trainings aimed at professionals in education, guidance and social work, in collaboration with the Instituto Superior Madrileño de Innovación Educativa (ISMIE) and the Colegio Profesional de Educadoras y Educadores Sociales de la Comunidad de Madrid (CPEESM).
