The Canary Islands Special Zone (ZEC) is promoting, together with higher education institutes of the Canary Islands, the modality of Dual Vocational Training in 3D animation, video games and virtual reality, within the strategy of connecting companies with local talent.
The objective of the new organic law of Vocational Training, approved in March of this year, is that students complement theoretical training with learning through real experiences in the workplace, with which they gain experience and improve their employability.
The president of the ZEC, Pablo Hernández, explained in a statement that the project began at the IES César Manrique, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the only one in the Canary Islands that taught the higher cycle in digital arts, and is already underway also at the IES Felo Monzón in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
The president said that the work of the consortium began a year ago and consisted of "bringing the interests of the productive fabric and the needs of the students closer together to configure an academic structure that fits the expectations of both parties." For Hernández, it has been very "satisfactory" to be part of the project that "lays the foundations for something profound."
The companies that participate
Mondo TV, Tomavisión and No Wake, are some of the studios that participate in the training project and the best academic records are integrated into professional teams from the first year until completing 10 months of practical training.
With the aim of implementing this model, the teaching center has worked together with the ZEC, which has allowed companies positioned internationally to open their doors to local students to enrich their learning and motivate them with a future full of opportunities.
B-Water Animation Studios is one of those companies that is part of the ZEC and participates in the educational project, with clients and partners such as Walt Disney Pictures, Cartoon Networks, Rai, TVE, Sky and France Tv.
Manager Angélica García has pointed out that this experience is "very important for the students because being in the studio, surrounded by professionals, gives them a lot of knowledge."
According to the manager, her company has already hired several students in a "strong commitment to juniors", from whom she values "their attitude, the desire they put into it and how persevering they are" because "they arrive with less knowledge than we would like."
The creator of the 3 Doubles Producciones animation studio, Darío Sánchez, who next month will premiere in cinemas one of the great bets of Spanish animation, with the children's thriller 'Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow', has valued "very positively the dual training", for which they receive two students with "a lot of potential, so much so that we could even hire some of them" when they finish their training.
From his point of view, this dual format "is loved by the students and helps us to fill vacancies in artistic profiles for which there is a lot of demand in the Canary Islands."
The production of computer entertainment began to develop in the Islands in the last decade and is now a consolidated activity within the ZEC, with more than 1,000 employees in the sector, according to data provided by the companies.
The rise of the audiovisual and video game sector, with users among 40% of the world's population, represents an "opportunity" for the Canary Islands due to its combination of legal security, tax incentives, high-performance technology, connectivity, quality of life and local talent, said the president of the ZEC, Pablo Hernández.
To promote these industries, the consortium is creating bridges between companies and training centers, and is even innovating in its way of promoting the islands as an investment destination.
Thus, in the last edition of the Tokyo Game Show, held in August, the ZEC went to the capital of Japan together with the IES César Manrique, to publicize the dual training project that is underway.
