The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, inaugurated this Thursday the IV Vocational Training Congress of the Canary Islands, held at the Integrated Vocational Training Center (CIFP) Tony Gallardo, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where he positioned VT as a key tool for the economic transformation and social of the archipelago.
The meeting brings together students, faculty, companies and institutions to analyze the role of these teachings in strategic sectors for the islands, such as port and airport connectivity, the blue economy, transport or emergency management.
President Clavijo, who was accompanied by the Minister of Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sports, Poli Suárez, by the Minister of Public Works, Housing and Mobility, Pablo Rodríguez, as well as by the Deputy Minister of Vocational Training and Professional Qualifications, Francisco Rodríguez Machado and business and institutional representatives linked to strategic sectors of the islands, stressed that “the Canary Islands is a fragmented, Atlantic and strategic territory, where connectivity is not a complement, but our economic and social backbone”.
In this regard, the head of the Canarian Executive highlighted that linking Vocational Training to sectors such as ports, airports, blue economy, transport or emergency management “is not a coincidence, but a strategic decision”, since VT has become “one of the great transformative policies of the Canary Islands and a strategic line of this Government” to guarantee its own talent and respond to the real needs of the archipelago's productive fabric.
Likewise, Fernando Clavijo pointed out that “Canary Islands bets on a more flexible, more dual, and more connected Vocational Training with business reality and with the singularities of each island,” while explaining that the congress symbolizes “a Canary Islands that does not wait for the future, but designs it,” convinced that “education is not an expense, but the most profitable investment we can make as a society,” and that the professional future of the islands “begins here, in our classrooms, begins in Vocational Training.”
For his part, counselor Poli Suárez focused on the planning and the results achieved in this legislature. “Vocational Training is going through an excellent moment, with more students, more training offer and more groups since the legislature began. These are figures that reflect the determined commitment to this type of education,” he pointed out.
In addition, Suárez explained that this growth has been accompanied by a reinforcement of teaching staff, with nearly 4,000 VET teachers and the incorporation of thirty prospectors responsible for strengthening the relationship with the business fabric. “Canarian VET is being built from permanent dialogue with more than 5,000 collaborating companies and with an update of the island map based on objective criteria, to adjust the offer to the real needs of each island,” he added.
In the current legislature, Vocational Training has expanded its offer to exceed 150 training cycles distributed in twenty-six professional families and has reinforced its territorial presence with the creation of new integrated vocational training centers in all the islands.
In the 2025/2026 academic year, the CIFP Valverde, in El Hierro, and San Sebastián de La Gomera were added, as well as those of Morro Jable in Fuerteventura and Santa María de Guía in Gran Canaria, responding in both cases to historical demands of the two regions. With these additions, a network of specialized centers is consolidated that brings training closer to each island reality.
The IV Vocational Training Congress of the Canary Islands brings together over two days students, teachers, companies, and institutions around content focused on port and airport infrastructures, connectivity in a fragmented territory, emergency management, and new profiles linked to the ecological transition. The program includes sectoral roundtables, professional experiences, technological demonstrations, and the awarding of the Tony Gallardo distinctions.