The student Eric Bartunekaged 17, connected around 140 schools in the Amazon region with the Starlink – high-speed satellite internet service provided by SpaceX. The young man organized the donation of antennas that should benefit 14 thousand studentsaccording to an estimate from the Instituto Redes Conectadas.
Eric’s interest in education began during a trip to Sobral (CE) with the Lemann Foundation, in 2022, the young man was impressed with the infrastructure and quality of education in the municipality – a reference in public education in Brazil.
The experience awakened in São Paulo the desire to expand access to education quality in the country. Still in 2026, he intends to enter a university in the United States with a focus on economics and education, but he has plans to return to Brazil to put what he has learned into practice.
“I was enchanted by the education in Sobral, it was far above my expectations. I was able to see the students very committed, the community embracing the schools, the parents also very involved in their children’s education”, he says.
Son of one of the biggest fund managers in the financial market, Florian BartunekEric was surprised to see that Sobral’s students were following a school curriculum very close to what he learned at his private school in São Paulo.
“Many students were learning English on their own, 10-year-old boys, I saw the motivation they had to learn. The good infrastructure, the relationship with the community and the students’ ambition was something I noticed very strongly in Sobral.”
When he returned to São Paulo, Eric said he was already determined to do something that could improve education in Brazilto take part of what he saw in Sobral to other regions. It was then that he began researching the topic and contact organizations non-governmental organizations that worked to train young people.
The student from São Paulo understood some of the problems that public schools face on a daily basis and discovered that the lack of internet was still a difficulty of some municipalities, especially the most isolated ones.
“When I found out about the connectivity problem, I saw that it was something I could help with, it was within my reach, it wasn’t something impossible to improve”, he says.
The Amazon was chosen for the project, according to Eric, because it is a region that represents Brazil around the world and because of its “less advanced infrastructure”.
A Starlink satellite internet it was the most economically viable option and compatible with the infrastructure of the region that would be served. At the beginning of the project, Eric had the goal of connect 10 schools in Manicoréa municipality in the interior of Amazonas. The student was looking for donations to install the equipment and pay for the monthly fees.
“I told my father what I was doing and he said he had a friend from a fund [de investimento] with close connection to SpaceX. I went to speak directly to the people at the fund, they also liked my project and referred me to a contact within SpaceX.”
Eric says that his first email was not answered, but he persisted until he received a response from SpaceX.
“They liked my project and, luckily, they were starting an initiative within SpaceX, the ‘Starlink for Good’that they donate antennas to schools and hospitals. The project was only in two other places in Asia and Africa. They really liked the idea and agreed to help me.”
The young man said he had spoken to Gwynne Shotwell, CEO da SpaceXvia video call to explain that his objective is to ask for the donation of the 10 antennas, but to his surprise, left the conversation with another 130 donated antennas. In total, the antennas will help connect the ecosystem of 140 schools.
“I was super happy, I didn’t expect it, I was even in shock. They agreed to help and it worked,” he said the young man with a smile on his face.
The installation is being carried out in conjunction with the MegaEdu Association and the Instituto Redes do Futuro. The first antennas are already in operation in Manicoré (AM) and the forecast is that by the end of February all schools served by the initiative will have the connection established.
“I went personally to install the first antennas, we went by boat there with the antenna and it was really cool. The school even stopped for an hour to see the installation, all the students went to see the installation”, said Eric.
O equipment value and the monthly payment during the first year will be done by Starlink and by donations from Eric Bartunek.
Teamwork
Despite articulating the donation of antennas to schools in the Amazon region, Eric was not alone in this project, he counted on the support from the MegaEdu association and the Future Networks Institute (formerly Instituto Escolas Conectadas).
The direction of the project to connect schools in the Amazon region came from the mapping carried out by MegaEdu, an organization that, for almost five years, has been producing data, research and evidence related to school connectivity with the aim of encouraging public policies to reach more remote regions.
“When Eric came to us, we already had work that showed the challenges of some regions, which helped to qualify the decision”, says Cristieni Castilhos, CEO of MegaEdu.
According to information from the
For Castilhos, the connectivity of public schools has advanced in recent years, but is still far from an ideal scenario, especially in the northern region.
“In 2021, Brazil had 30 thousand schools without internet connection. Last year, the number fell to 13 thousand, around 90% of these schools are in the northern region. Today, we know that the problem of providing internet access is very concentrated in this region”, he explains.
The Redes do Futuro Institute operates providing free internethigh speed, for public schools in Brazil through partners, such as internet providers or donations made by companies or individuals.
Fernanda Prado, general manager of Instituto Redes do Futuro, states that the institution has already helped connect 748 schoolsin 85 municipalities. Another 191 schools in Amapá, Amazonas and Pará they had access to the internet Starlink in previous projects.
“We already had a history of working with the departments to donate Starlink antennas, in addition to monitoring use and supporting schools in using the internet,” he says.
Prado emphasizes that installing internet in schools does not only benefit students, but the entire community around educational institutions.
“In Barro Alto, in Manicoré, one of the first schools we went to visit with Eric, was next to UBS [unidade básica de saúde]. The school functions as a hub of communities. Now, everyone will be able to use the internet, they will be able to communicate with doctors, through this new resource.”
Connectivity in schools also benefits teachers, according to Prado, due to the ease of accessing the lesson plan and capturing students’ attention with more dynamic and interactive content. In addition to streamlining communication between educators and public departments and managers.
“I’ve heard stories within education departments, in the context of the Amazon, in which managers need to travel five days to visit a school, who were unable to hold a planning meeting with the team because it was unfeasible to go to each of the schools. Today, on an online platform, all school directors can talk and plan for the year.”
