FP has experienced a real explosion in recent years. The kids –and their parents– have detected that many of their courses are direct bridges to enter the world of work, and hence the demand has skyrocketed. In the current academic year alone, a record number of 136,802 students began classes, 5.7 percent more than the previous year, and more than all those who decided on the Baccalaureate. For the next academic year 2022-23, the Ministry of Education plans to increase the offer with another 10,000 public FP places.
These 10,000 are added to the 15,000 that have been created in the last two courses, so that in September, there will already be 25,000 new opportunities to study FP that have been offered since 2020.
This educational stage, which decades ago was clearly undervalued, has experienced extraordinary growth in recent years, directly linked to its high level of employment. In fact, they explain in the Ministry of Education, directed by Enrique Ossorio, “there are some training cycles in medium grade, which are very technical, such as air conditioning, and companies go directly to the centers to take the kids to work.” They literally take them off your hands.
This has also led to an increase in demand that has overwhelmed supply, causing hours of queuing the days before registration to get a place. For this reason, these are now going to be expanded, always orienting them not only to the studies that students demand the most, but also to those that have more labor insertion.
This is essential: expand the offer in the specialties most demanded by companies, not get carried away by fashions or trends of the moment, which may be very attractive but do not help to enter the labor market later. Phenomena such as the television Master Chef, for example, generated an increase in requests for places in the Hospitality branch, which later fell. The same happens with some proposals that can be very attractive, such as the DJ cycle, which includes sound practices: “What we want is to guide them towards careers with more job opportunities,” they insist on Education.
The increase in places is accompanied by an increase in teachers: 600 more will be hired, and new vocational training centers will be added in Aranjuez, Humanes, Alcalá de Henares or Fuenlabrada. And two new ones will be incorporated into the network of integrated VET centers in the Community: the CIFP Barrio de Bilbao and the CIFP Federica Montseny.
Among the new training cycles that are being considered, some are basic, such as Access and Conservation in Sports Facilities; others are Medium Grade, such as the Use and Conservation of the Natural Environment; and others of Higher Degree, such as Training for Safe and Sustainable Mobility.
The idea is also to increase places in the profiles with the greatest impact in the current economic situation: in the intermediate level of Hospitality and Tourism, a complementary training has been established in ‘Restaurant Services’, which will add content related to culinary techniques; and ‘Cooking and Gastronomy’, with studies on restaurant and bar operations.
Other sectors that will see their offer increase are those in which qualified professionals are in demand: with degrees in renewable energy, health, the automotive industry, IT and communications, sustainable construction, transport and logistics or digital marketing.
Also as a novelty, next academic year specific aid will be created for Intermediate Vocational Training students, an initiative in which more than 2.4 million euros will be invested and which the Ministry of Education calculates will reach 1,100 beneficiaries.
In the last academic year, 12,264 students studied in Basic Vocational Training, 49,027 in Intermediate Level –of which 27,978 in public centers, 12,189 in concerted centers and 8,860 in private– and 75,511 in Higher Level –with 42,288 public students, 1,721 in concerted centers and 35,502 in private.
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