Several department heads of the IES Zonzamas have signed a joint letter rejecting the plan proposed for the next course by the Ministry of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands. "After so many years of demand, we believe that Lanzarote deserves an Integrated Vocational Training Center (CIFP) in proper conditions and that correctly offers all services," say the heads of the Electricity and Electronics, Hospitality and Tourism, and Vehicle Maintenance areas.
The problem they denounce is that the decision has been made to maintain Basic Vocational Training, with which they show their "complete disagreement", as they consider it incompatible with an integrated FP center. "We would be the only CIFP in the Canary Islands and possibly in the entire State with this type of training. In the Basque Country, a reference community for the Canary Islands in this matter, Basic FP is considered completely inadvisable in CIFPs," they state in their letter.
As they explain, Basic Vocational Training is aimed at a mostly underage student body, which "would imply problems with opening the center's doors to society", which they point out is an "indispensable requirement for the correct development of the Integrated Center, such as attention to entrepreneurs, business incubators, guidance and professional attention to the population".
"Students who demand special attention"
In addition, they warn that "these students require specialized educational and psycho-pedagogical attention, which is not found in the Integrated Centers." In their opinion, "adequate attention for these students should be in a Secondary Education Institute", which is the one that meets the conditions they consider necessary, "with students of their age, and not in a center with a mostly adult student body." In this regard, they add that the institutes on the island "have adequate spaces for these teachings".
Therefore, they ask that Basic FP be left out of Zonzamas in the next course. "This type of student demands special attention due to their conflict, which requires excessive dedication for the management team, which will not be able to correctly develop the rest of its activities as a new integrated center," they insist.
To this, they also add that "the spaces and workshops of the center occupied by Basic FP prevent the expansion of the educational offer in the levels of intermediate, higher and professional qualifications, all of them direct competence of the integrated center".