Martín Monteverde Martínez, a Hospitality and Tourism student from CIFP Zonzamas in Arrecife, has been one of the winners of the Extraordinary Vocational Training Awards corresponding to the 2017/2018 academic year, which in this edition have recognized 19 students from 15 educational centers in the Canary Islands.
Monteverde, who is 47 years old and finished his studies in 2018, has been the only student from Lanzarote awarded in this call. "The truth is that I am very happy, because I did not expect it and it has been a joy," said Martín Monteverde.
In order to be eligible for these awards, students had to have obtained a score equal to or greater than 8.5 as the arithmetic average of all the modules or subjects taken, and in the case of Martín Monteverde, he exceeded 9. "I don't remember if it was 9.4 or 9.7 but more than 9," he says.
As for the rest of the winners, eleven studied at educational centers in Tenerife and seven in Gran Canaria. As established by the rules of the call, a single prize is awarded for each professional family. In this sense, of the 22 professional families that are taught in the Canary Islands with higher-level cycles, prizes were awarded to 19 of them, with no candidates on this occasion in the Installation and Maintenance, Wood, Furniture and Cork and Transport and Vehicle Maintenance families.
"The future of the education system undoubtedly lies in Vocational Training"
The awards ceremony, which was held this Wednesday at the CIFP Los Gladiolos in Tenerife, was attended by the General Director of Vocational Training and Adult Education of the Government of the Canary Islands, Eva de la Fe, and the director of this educational center, Rosa María Sánchez, as well as family and friends of the awarded students who, with these distinctions, will be able to compete for the National Vocational Training Awards. The event also included the participation of students from the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Professional Conservatory of Music, who performed several musical pieces, delighting those who had gathered there.
During the event, the Minister of Education, María José Guerra, indicated that "it is necessary to reverse the idea, still present, that Vocational Training and excellence are conflicting terms, since the future of the education system undoubtedly lies in Vocational Training." The head of the regional department referred to the new state education law, which, in this sense, "promotes Vocational Training, modulates and makes it more flexible and reinforces the blended and online education formats."
"The commitment of this Executive is to pamper Vocational Training, revalue it, expand its offer by creating new degrees and promoting existing ones to adapt this training to the new needs of the productive and business fabric and of a society that prioritizes sustainability and socio-health aspects, and that has to face the new challenges of technological transformation," Guerra added.
