TUMO Uruguay opens its first center in the country

TUMO Uruguay opened its first center in the country in the presence of national and education authorities, adding a new infrastructure for technological training, inclusion and access.

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The inauguration of the first TUMO center in Uruguay marked the formal opening of a new educational infrastructure in the country. The event was attended by the President of the Republic, Yamandú Orsi; the Minister of Education and Culture, José Carlos Mahía; the National Director of Education, Gabriel Quirici; Ceibal President Fiorella Haim; CODICEN President Pablo Caggiani; and the Mayor of Canelones, Francisco Legnani, among other national authorities and education representatives.  

The TUMO initiative was founded in Armenia in 2011 with the aim of offering free and self-directed education in creativity and technology. In a short time, it evolved into an international network focused on expanding training opportunities for teenagers and young people, promoting equity, access and skills development through a pedagogical model centered on exploration and self-learning. Starting on April 13, that experience will also begin operating in Uruguay, bringing to the local context an initiative that understands education as a concrete tool for generating transformative opportunities. 

Located on the access grounds of Carrasco International Airport, the center adds a new facility to the metropolitan territory, aimed at teenagers and young people and linked to a free extracurricular educational program focused on creativity, technology and self-directed learning. Its location is not incidental: it places the program in a point of strong connectivity and visibility, giving it a reach that goes beyond the building itself and connects it to a broader logic of access, mobility and urban projection. 

With a built area of 2,500 sqm, the building includes a self-learning room, three workshop rooms, a robotics room and a music studio. This programmatic organization responds to a pedagogical model that combines personalized paths, hands-on work and guidance from tutors and specialists. From an architectural perspective, it is an infrastructure conceived to host a contemporary educational program, with differentiated environments, functional clarity and suitable conditions for simultaneous individual and collective use. 

An educational infrastructure designed to expand access

In this first stage, the center will welcome 1,000 students aged 12 to 18, selected from more than 4,500 applicants, who will be able to train in 8 disciplines: 3D modeling, animation, filmmaking, music, programming, robotics, video game development and generative artificial intelligence. The proposal complements formal education with a learning model that promotes autonomy, experimentation and specialized guidance, expanding access to high-quality formative experiences in fields that are critical for the present and the future. 

The arrival of TUMO Uruguay, promoted by Corporación América Airports, Aeropuertos Uruguay and Ceibal, also introduces a relevant discussion on the role of educational infrastructures today: no longer only as physical support for training activities, but as devices capable of articulating inclusion, innovation and development opportunities. At the intersection of education, architecture and territory, the new center becomes a meaningful reference for thinking about how spaces can accompany long-term social transformation. 

 TUMO in numbers

• Founded in Armenia in 2011 

• Present in more than 10 countries 

• More than 35,000 active students 

• More than 80,000 graduates worldwide 

• A learning model centered on creativity and technology 

• Training in disciplines such as 3D modeling, animation, filmmaking, music, programming, robotics, video game development and generative artificial intelligence