P.R. Laws tit. 23, § 642
In order to advance the fulfillment of the Fifth Principle of the Cooperative Movement (Education, Training, and Information), it is hereby required that the Cooperative Development Commission make active efforts conducive to the establishment of partnerships with the University of Puerto Rico, especially with the Cooperative Movement Institute, as well as with other local and international university institutions, aiming at developing:
(1) Educational modules which enable cooperatives to direct education and skill-building efforts to client members, elected directive officers, managers, and employees of cooperatives, so that they may all efficiently contribute to the development of their cooperatives.
(2) Educational programs for young people and opinion setters about the nature and benefits of the Cooperative Movement.
(3) Research efforts for the development of the Cooperative Movement.
(4) Exchange programs between local and international cooperative and educational entities.
(5) Clinical and internship programs that provide college students with real experiences and which provide cooperatives with access to properly educated technical resources.
(6) Other educational components that advance the Cooperative Movement.
These partnerships shall seek to integrate the participation and the human and financial resources of first-, second-, and third-degree cooperatives, to function especially as means for the dissemination and rendering of educational processes and services.
The Secretary of Education is hereby required to enable and facilitate educational programs developed by the Commission at schools of the public education system of Puerto Rico, to be offered by first-, second-, and third-degree cooperative entities duly organized as such in Puerto Rico.
In abiding by the foregoing provisions and the public policy and principles that govern this chapter and §§ 1701 et seq. of Title 18, the Commissioner, the members of the Governing Board of the Commission, and the Secretary of the Department of Education are hereby bound to enable and seek the formation, organization, and incorporation of school youth cooperatives in the schools of the public education system of Puerto Rico at the following ratio:
(1) Ten percent (10%) of the public schools in Puerto Rico shall have at least one (1) youth cooperative by the end of school year 2009-2010.
(2) Twenty percent (20%) of the public schools in Puerto Rico shall have at least one (1) youth cooperative by the end of school year 2010-2011.
(3) Fifty percent (50%) of the public schools in Puerto Rico shall have at least one (1) youth cooperative by the end of school year 2011-2012.
(4) Seventy-five percent (75%) of the public schools in Puerto Rico shall have at least one (1) youth cooperative by the end of school year 2012-2013.
(5) One hundred percent (100%) of the public schools in Puerto Rico shall have at least one (1) youth cooperative by the end of school year 2013-2014.
The Commissioner, the members of the Governing Board of the Commission, and the Secretary of the Department of Education are hereby charged with the duty to provide direction for any such initiatives that accomplish the goals of the foregoing provisions; they shall report every year to the Governor and the Legislature on the extent of accomplishment of these goals. Accomplishment shall be gauged by considering only such youth cooperatives that are duly organized and incorporated and which are operating.
History —Aug. 10, 2008, No. 247, § 18, eff. Feb. 1, 2009.