At the end of their time in high school or high school, each student must decide what their next step will be. And he makes this decision thinking not only of continuing his training, but also of consolidating a solid professional base, with a view to his later entry into the world of work. When choosing a course, questions such as ease of reconciliation become increasingly important. But the most common objective remains to find a modality offering good investment possibilities. Faced with this dilemma, the Vocational training (VT) has established itself – and continues to do so – as a reliable option for more and more young people.. This year, Galicia reached a “historic” number of enrollments: 68,823 cycle students, the result of the “silent revolution” of an education that evolves at the same time as its students.
This is how the Minister of Education, Román Rodríguez, expressed it this week during his visit to the IES Luís Seoane, in Pontevedra. And precisely, in conversation with ABC, Carlos García, the director of this center, confirms that the number of students has continued to increase “since 2015”, as has the number of teachers. And the trend is still present, according to the latest data from his institute: They went from 65 to 93 teachers and from 840 to 1,329 students in professional training. between the last lesson and the current one. The most requested cycles, if applicable, are led by Administration and Finance (senior cycle), the “flagship” of the center. But García cites others forcefully, such as Administrative Management or Commercial Activities (middle cycles), or International Trade (higher cycles).
As is the case for the majority of vocational training centers, demand is for specializations with greater employability potential. Generally speaking, the idea is that “he who completes [sus estudios]can work”, says Víctor Varela, director of CIFP Someso (La Coruña). His center has also seen an increase in student numbers in recent years, reaching a record 1,500, and this year it has stabilized. He explains that in the “ordinary” modality, in the morning, all the places are allocated, and that the most requested cycles were those of Carpentry and Mechanics.
The employment prospects of students are good: approximately, “82%” of those who follow ordinary cycles find a job after obtaining the FP, and a good part remains in the company where they carry out the internship, according to Varela’s experience. He confirms that there has been a gradual increase for at least six years, although the center’s specialties have always been “very established”, so the variety has not been as affected as in other institutes which have focused on expanding their offering. Other popular cycles are senior public works projects, construction projects – with integration of the regional Retorna program – or construction environment.
Mónica Ramos, ESO professor and head of training and professional guidance at the CIFP in Lugo, who this year teaches courses to 1,700 students, also testifies to the panorama. He has been part of the teaching team for more than two decades and has witnessed the gradual increase in school enrollments – this year, in the province, by almost 8%, the highest of the four Galician provinces. With its training and career guidance service, it has been involved in all cycles since the latest regulatory changes. The same ones who convert all PF to dual modality – either in general regime or in intensive regime – and they integrate the practices of the first course, among other new features.
According to them, and García and Varela agree on this point, the real usefulness of professional training is “very proven”, and its position in the collective imagination has a lot to do with an intense public campaign to provide resources and improve facilities. the integration of the Erasmus program and the link with companies during the training of students; also through the assistance to centers and students offered by the Department. The young people come out “very prepared”, says Ramos, and they also “make a career” for universities, which offer mechanisms to validate credits based on their previous training in cycles.
Also speaking on the subject is Antonio Obelleiro, who starts this year as professor of the basic cycle – which, at the academic level, only requires having completed the 3rd year of ESO – of Electricity and Electronics at the IES Pedro Floriani , in Redondela (Pontevedra). He works with the youngest groups and perceives that in general, what they “aspire” from the moment they join is “to obtain practical training”. it gives them an idea of something that they like and that is useful to them do some work.
Dignity of studies
Montse Vázquez, teacher at CIFP de A Granxa, in Ponteareas (Pontevedra), also has years of teaching. He currently teaches higher education courses in forest management and environmental control education; and the gardening community. In his experience, the increase in the number of students is clearly seen, but “it depends” on the specialty. In Forestry Management, he gives an example, the places were “always” filled and there were waiting lists because it is designed as having “many opportunities” and very “linked” to the sector, which currently requires an appropriate qualification to carry out a job.
In the other two training cycles that he teaches, the opposite happens: each year, his demand decreases because there are fewer opportunities and, in fact, he emphasizes that often, in the gardening, low-skilled professionals end up being hired. To change the trend, he considers that a good measure would be to ensure that having it is a requirement; an issue from which other specialties would also benefit.
Vázquez acknowledges that, to his extent, there has been a “dignity” in the design of PF compared to a decade or two ago. And he stresses that at the peak of registrations, this could be “a pivotal year”. Partly because he fears that with all the additions to the organizational level of education, teachers will experience an “overload” of work. And he questions the move to double FP, which includes a greater number of internship hours: “Not all companies are prepared” to welcome and train students: “They need dedicated staff” to this task.
