This Tuesday morning, the tenth edition of the Professional Opportunities Fair Planéate opened its doors at the CIFP Zonzamas facilities, for the inaugural tour of island, local, and regional authorities, and the reception of the first groups of students. Over three days, around 3,000 students from 4th year of ESO (Compulsory Secondary Education), 2nd year of Bachillerato (Upper Secondary Education), Aula Enclave (Special Education Classroom), Basic Vocational Training, and Adapted Vocational Training will pass through Planéate 2025, who are facing a change of cycle this year.
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, led the delegation of authorities that toured the venue together with the Minister of Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity, and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, Poli Suárez, and the Councilor for Education and Inclusive Employment of the Cabildo, Ascensión Toledo. During the visit, the president expressed his commitment to maintaining this student advisory event for students and families "which has demonstrated its merits and value over the last ten years. It is about being with the students of Lanzarote and La Graciosa and their families, to provide all the information and support necessary for the best decision-making about their future," he added.
The regional minister, for his part, congratulated the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the educational communities of the island for this initiative and highlighted the success of an initiative that "once again, continues to offer attending students possible professional opportunities, through different proposals offered by universities and vocational training centers." In addition, Poli Suárez stressed the importance of "collaboration between the public and private sectors in education if we want to generate quality employment in our archipelago."
Councilor Ascensión Toledo highlighted that "in this edition, a special effort has been made to incorporate training options for students with functional diversity and recalled the informative session on Wednesday at six in the afternoon aimed at this group."
The inaugural event was also attended by the mayor of Arrecife, Yonathan de León, the mayor of Teguise, Olivia Duque, the island director of Education, Carmen Pellón, and the director of the General State Administration, Pedro Viera, among other authorities.
A consolidated event
Planéate brings together representation from nine Vocational Training centers, the universities of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, La Laguna, UNED Lanzarote, Navarra, Atlántico Medio, Fernando Pessoa, and Hespérides, the Navy, the Army, and the Air and Space Force, private professional education academies, the Lanzarote Chamber of Commerce, the Official Language School, the Mercedes Medina Association, the Adult Education Center (CEPA) Titerroygatra, and the Security and Emergency Consortium.
In addition, as is customary on the second day, on Wednesday afternoon, April 2, the doors will open to families and the communication of exemplary experiences, in a fun and close environment and with free access. Thus, between 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., the auditorium of the CIFP Zonzamas will host talks on university and vocational training given by the University of La Laguna, the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and the Professional Guidance Service of Lanzarote.
Adapted and inclusive education will have its space between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. with the activity "Future and Diversity" by the Inserta Empleo program, of the ONCE Foundation and the ADISLAN and ADEPSIS associations.
Next will be the turn of the popular Serendipia meeting, moderated by Amalia Martínez Fajardo. In this edition, university students from different specialties and higher education centers and Vocational Training, and a person with a university degree with functional diversity will share their experiences. The activity will close with performances by members of the Picón urbano project.
On the morning of Thursday, April 3, with the last rounds of visits, a tribute will be held to ecca.edu, on its 60th anniversary of training generations of Canarians through radio.
Two sold-out sessions
On the other hand, the El Salinero Island Theater hung the sold-out sign in the two sessions of the conference The Script of Your Life, given by Miguel Ángel Tobías in the morning, for students, and in the afternoon, for the general public. The film director and social documentaries, speaker and writer, offered an impactful and motivating talk, a review of those experiences that have become life lessons and that he shared with the public, from the unexpected conversation in Leganés with an old man to the occasions when he has been between life and death.
Courage in the face of paralysis and complacency, acceptance in the face of resignation, the will to fulfill dreams and seek a happy life were just some of the approaches presented as an invitation to reflect on the way to live the life we desire.
The inaugural conference of Planéate 2025 opened with a tribute to the promoter of the fair a decade ago, Carmen Rosa Márquez, who received a bouquet of flowers and words of thanks from the current head of the educational department, Ascensión Toledo: "If we are here today, if we have completed a decade and continue forward, it is thanks to the work of a professional councilor in the educational field and very aware of the difficulties of young people when making decisions about their future," she stressed.