Baja California Sur’s science council COSHCYTI (the state council for scientific and technological research) sent VR science caravans to three remote communities in the Comondú and Loreto municipalities, giving students in small towns hands-on access to technology they rarely encounter in the classroom.
The program, called Xplora BCS, brought virtual reality headsets and interactive science demonstrations to elementary and secondary students at three schools: República de Colombia Primary School and Telesecundaria 33 in the Comondú municipality, and Telebachillerato 3 in Loreto. The stops included San Juanico and Las Barrancas, two fishing and farming communities on the Pacific side of the peninsula.
Three Schools in Two Municipalities Receive VR Equipment
San Juanico, sometimes called Scorpion Bay by surfers, sits roughly 130 miles northwest of La Paz along a mostly unpaved road. Las Barrancas is a small agricultural settlement also within the Comondú municipality. Both towns lack the educational infrastructure found in La Paz or Los Cabos, where private schools and tutoring centers are common.
Telesecundarias and telebachilleratos are Mexico’s distance-learning school models, designed for communities too small to support a full campus with subject-specific teachers. A single instructor manages all subjects with the help of televised and digital lessons. The Xplora BCS caravan supplements that model by delivering equipment and trained facilitators who guide students through VR science lessons on topics like biology, astronomy, and environmental science.
Loreto and Comondú Lag Behind in STEM Resources
Loreto, a colonial town of about 20,000 residents on the Sea of Cortez roughly 220 miles north of La Paz, draws a steady flow of expat residents and tourists. Yet its public schools operate with limited science lab facilities. Comondú municipality, which stretches across a vast and sparsely populated section of central Baja California Sur, faces even steeper gaps. Many of its communities are hours from the nearest city.
COSHCYTI coordinates science outreach and innovation policy for the state government. The Xplora BCS program is part of its broader mandate to expand STEM access beyond La Paz and Los Cabos, where the state’s universities and research centers are concentrated.
The state government has not announced a fixed schedule for future caravan visits, but COSHCYTI has indicated the program will continue rotating through underserved municipalities in coming months, as reported by the Baja California Sur state government website.