Have people's perspective on Vocational Education changed compared to previous years?

We do not have conclusive data on the social perception of Vocational Education, but my feeling is that parents who have attended our conferences do not have the stigmatized view they had a few years ago. Moreover, the continuous increase in students suggests that it is the main choice for more and more people. From the point of view of the companies, we have no doubt that they have focused on vocational training to obtain workers, especially in the industrial sector, in which they emphasize that they need many profiles in Electricity and Electronics or Mechanical Manufacturing, for example. In this sense, our current challenge is to follow the trends that prevent us from responding to this job demand, since there are few women in STEAM fields and there is little diversity in the cycles that students choose.

What is Dual Vocational Education?

Dual Vocational Education is a training modality in which learning in the educational center is combined with professional performance in a company, so that you learn in real work situations. Currently, Dual Vocational Education in the EAC is done through a training contract or through a compensation system through scholarships, so that the student receives financial compensation for the work, but we have also established a model reaching over 30% of students who participate in a Dual VET from the first year of the cycles.

The new law states that at least 25% of the duration of a training must be spent in the company and gives it greater responsibility for academic results, laying the foundations for making the entire training offer dual. The compensated contract model is reserved for intensive vocational training, when the percentage of training in a company is greater than 35%.