Online School & Homeschool in Potosí, Uyuni & the Southwest

Online school and international curriculum in Potosí and Uyuni

For Potosí, Uyuni and southwestern families — five centuries of mining and the world's largest lithium flat, with no international school between them.

Live online Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge A-Level, Pearson Edexcel International, IB Diploma Programme, and American Curriculum with Advanced Placement (AP) for families across southwestern Bolivia. Potosí carries an mining economy five centuries old — silver, tin, zinc and the cooperatives that still work Cerro Rico — alongside something much newer: the Salar de Uyuni holds one of the largest lithium resources on earth, and the industrialisation projects around it have drawn international technical and engineering interest to one of the highest and most remote inhabited regions anywhere. What has not arrived is schooling. Smartious teaches Cambridge and IB live to the southwest.

Challenges Potosí, Uyuni & the Southwest families face

Essentially no international schooling in one of the most remote inhabited regions on earth.
Santa Cruz and La Paz are long journeys or flights away.
Lithium and mining projects bring international technical staff on multi-year assignments.
Education is compulsory up to bachillerato under Ley 070.
Time zone: the southwest shares BOT (UTC-4) with no daylight saving.

Why Potosí, Uyuni & the Southwest families choose Smartious

The mining cohort we teach across four continents: Antofagasta, Arequipa, Kolwezi, Jwaneng, the Copperbelt — and now Potosí. The same Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Geography spine, in the same live groups.
Chemistry depth for a lithium region: Lithium processing is a chemistry problem before it is anything else, and Cambridge A-Level Chemistry with Mathematics is the route into it.
The complete option in a region with none: Identical live delivery in Uyuni and Santa Cruz — a long journey closed by a connection rather than a move.
Portable to the next operation: Potosí now, Chile, Argentina, Australia or Canada next — the curriculum and the board stay constant.
Seven hours, not nine: Bolivian mornings and very early afternoons both land in our teaching day.

The national framework applies in the southwest: Ley 070 makes education compulsory up to bachillerato and describes Educación Regular as obligatory, with article 1 providing that the State and society have full guardianship over the education system. Commentary reads the framework as requiring formal education in qualified centres with possible sanctions for non-attendance, while reporting rulings both ways. The colegio sombrilla practice developed mainly in the eje troncal of La Paz, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, so southwestern families should ask specifically whether an umbrella arrangement is open to them. Smartious is not authorised by the Bolivian Ministerio de Educación and issues no Bolivian qualification; we teach the internationally examined track alongside whatever Bolivian arrangement a family holds. International project staff not resident in Bolivia follow their own country's framework, a question for their own advisers.

Smartious delivers to southwestern families online; the live programme is complete without in-person supplementation.

Live online via Smartious LMS on a fixed seven-hour offset, landing in the Bolivian morning or very early afternoon, with the full recorded library built for remote sites and altitude connectivity.

Potosí carries a mining economy five centuries old — silver, tin, zinc and the Cerro Rico cooperatives — alongside the Salar de Uyuni, one of the largest lithium resources on earth, whose industrialisation has drawn international technical interest to one of the highest and most remote inhabited regions anywhere, with no international schooling. Bolivia runs BOT (UTC-4), seven hours behind Nairobi.

Family situations we work with

Mining engineering, metallurgy and geology families — Bolivian and international.
Lithium project technical, chemical engineering and processing households.
Mining cooperative and services business families.
Tourism and hospitality households around Uyuni and the southwest circuit.
Students aiming at mining engineering, metallurgy, chemistry or geoscience programmes abroad.

Potosí, Uyuni & the Southwest communities and nearby areas

Potosí · Uyuni · Llallagua · Tupiza · Villazón · Colchani · the Salar circuit

Common questions from Potosí, Uyuni & the Southwest families

We came with a lithium or mining project — does the schooling follow?

Yes: the same curriculum, teachers, and examination board continue to the next operation anywhere in the world. It is the case we already run for families in Antofagasta, Arequipa, Kolwezi and the Copperbelt.

Is there any international schooling in Potosí or Uyuni?

Essentially none. Live delivery is the route that reaches the southwest without sending a child away, with examination travel a few times a year.

Our child wants chemical or mining engineering — what should they take?

Cambridge A-Level Chemistry and Mathematics with Physics, planned backward from the target university from IGCSE onward. Geography is a useful fourth for geoscience routes.

Guides for families in Bolivia

What parents say

Rated 4.9 out of 5 on Google from 130+ reviews. Read our Google reviews

“What stands out most about Smartious Homeschool and Tuition is their dedication to each learner. They don't rush through topics but ensure the child fully understands before moving forward. The progress my child has made in a short time is impressive. I would definitely recommend them to any parent.” — Google reviewer, Google review