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The Rio 2016 education programme, known as Transforma, has been expanded to São Paulo, where it will encourage the practice of sports and promote the Olympic and Paralympic values among more than 100,000 students

Hundreds of teachers will be trained to teach pupils how to play new sports that will be contested at the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games

The programme was launched on Tuesday (25 August) in partnership with SESI, an organisation that promotes excellence in education and the well-being of workers

After a technical cooperation agreement was signed by the presidents of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, Carlos Nuzman, and SESI-São Paulo, Paulo Skaf, Transforma will be introduced to the schools in the SESI-São Paulo network

More 200 athletes attended the ceremony in São Paulo on Tuesday, including Etiene Medeiros and Ana Marcela Cunha, who won medals at the recent World Aquatics Championships, and volleyball stars Jacqueline, Murilo and Sidão

Hortência Marcari, who won a volleyball silver medal at the Atlanta 1996 Games, was the master of ceremonies

“Education is one of the most important legacies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games

It will transform children’s lives and broaden horizons across Brazil,” said Nuzman

Skaf, who is also president of the Industrial Federation of São Paulo State, said: “This is the Brazil in which we believe

The athletes that are here today will be our future

The best investment is in these people

”Transforma, launched in 2014, is already present in about 2,200 public and private schools in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Amazonas and Minas Gerais, along with the Federal District, reaching around one million students

The programme offers:Sports training for physical education teachers (including partnerships with sports federations to teach sports that are less popular in Brazil, such as rugby and badminton)Training for student leaders and teaching coordinators (who become multipliers and programme leaders inside the schools)Teaching materials referring to the Olympic and Paralympic Games (with a video series ‘Learn to Teach’, which shows how to teach, step-by-step, various sport disciplines)Festivals open to the public for trying out new sports (over 10 disciplines can be practised at events held in partnership with sports federations)