The Vocational Training sector of the Salesian school of Atocha, in Madrid - the same Carlos attended his first year of the higher education course in Telecommunications – has recorded an increase in the number of new students coming from university.
The association "FP Empresa" estimates that in the last five years between 10% and 15% of those enrolled in integrated centers of Vocational Training are young people who have left university or who, after completing their studies, decided to follow specialization modules in this sector to improve their chances of finding a job. "Many think that if I've left university for Vocational Training it's because I can't handle university studies, but that's not the way it is. They are different realities. Here they teach you a trade," Carlos explains, defending his choice.
Certain, widespread, considerations are also at the origin of another paradox: despite there being over a third of young Spaniards of working age who are unemployed, companies have difficulty in filling job positions of a technical nature. This is a special condition of Spain - and not only Spain - that comes from afar. Ten years ago, the La Caixa Foundation published a study according to which, while in Europe almost half of the population had intermediate levels of education, among the most requested by businesses, in Spain the percentage of the population with such titles did not even reach a quarter of the total.
In the field of Vocational Training, moreover, those young people who are still undecided as to what their life or career path is, are also given the opportunity to try out various paths, until they find theirs. This was the case of 17-year-old Sara Pérez Díez who began attending a basic level course in Electricity and is now pursuing a mid-level degree in Telecommunications.
The Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Spain animate a total of 60 Vocational Training centers, with 1400 educators, for the benefit of about 18,700 recipients.
