History

Background (1920s): Prior to the official founding, Aymara leader Avelino Siñani was already promoting clandestine schools in the region to teach literacy to indigenous people, facing persecution, imprisonment, and punishment from estate owners (gamonales) and local authorities, who viewed indigenous education as a threat to their system of servitude.

Founding (August 2, 1931): After a failed initial attempt in Miraflores (La Paz) due to a lack of support, teacher Elizardo Pérez accepted Siñani's invitation to relocate to Warisata (Omasuyos Province). There, they laid the cornerstone alongside a few community members and began building the school with their own hands through collective labor (mink'a).

Resistance and the Chaco War (1932–1935): During its early years, the school suffered constant harassment from neighboring landowners, who tried to destroy it through lawsuits, physical assaults, and blockades. Even though the outbreak of the Chaco War reduced the state budget and mobilized several teachers, the community sustained the project and erected the main building (the "Mexico Pavilion").

Peak and National Expansion (1936–1939): With the backing of the "Military Socialism" governments (David Toro and Germán Busch), Warisata was consolidated and became the official model for rural education in Bolivia. Dozens of "peasant school hubs" (núcleos escolares campesinos) inspired by Warisata were created across the country (such as Caquiaviri, Cañadas, Llica, and Casarabe), and it even influenced educational reforms in Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico.

Closure and Dismantling (1940): Following the death of President Germán Busch in 1939, conservative sectors and the landowning oligarchy regained political control. In 1940, the government ordered the dismissal of Elizardo Pérez and his team, looted the workshops and libraries, and dismantled the community model to turn it back into a traditional school under conventional state control.