Vocational training studies of the first degree arrived in Lanzarote by order of the Vocational Training Board, dependent on the Ministry of Education and Science, back in 1975. Mrs. Mercedes Cabrera Sastre (RIP) was in charge of carrying out the functions of the first director of the two professional branches that were taught, the administrative and the electrical one. The chosen teachers did not have exclusivity at that time. Antonio Hernández, Vicente Plata, Domingo Ortega and others, would be among the first to teach these new teachings in classrooms attached to Blas Cabrera Felipe.
Once the autonomous stage began, FP opened its own building in 1984, under the name of Polytechnic Institute of FP, "La Profesional". The educational system in force at that time gave preferential treatment to baccalaureate education, despite the range of possibilities offered by this professional itinerary, which gave access to subsequent university studies, in addition to accrediting a qualification for immediate employment. The continuous changes in legislation led FP to undergo various metamorphoses. First it housed baccalaureate studies and then compulsory secondary education, with their respective baccalaureates, in addition to being a hegemonic center in intermediate and higher level training cycles.
In the peak moments of greatest tourist development (eighties and nineties) under the name of IES Zonzamas, "La Profesional" was the reference training center in charge of nurturing the island's labor fabric in all sectors, mainly the branches of administration, hospitality, electricity, maintenance and others. Thousands of students from this center completed their training in work centers on the island where they got their first job, some even created their own company.
Now, in the 21st century, the professional demands of the complex market demand highly qualified personnel. It is the time of the Integrated FP Centers (CIFP), capable of incorporating updated and avant-garde qualifications that the market requires, in addition to a line of continuous and occupational training for active and unemployed workers. For the latter, the offer of exits in the new National Catalog of Professional Qualifications is expanded.
The new Decree for the Network of Integrated Centers opens a wide range of possibilities where links with the productive system of the environment can be developed. The training of students in work centers allows the development of innovation projects in local companies, as well as promoting entrepreneurship and advice actions "linking" the training center-company binomial.
In short, the dimension offered by the new Integrated Vocational Training Center of Lanzarote is a great opportunity for training and qualification for the present generations of students. The CIFP of Lanzarote, together with the IFP Nautical Fishing, (which this year celebrates its 75th anniversary), the century-old Pancho Lasso School of Art, the University studies of Tourism and Nursing and the UNED can provide solutions to the training and employment of the conejera society, dependent on a single productive sector and with worrying figures of unemployment and social inequalities.
By Juan Cruz Sepúlveda, Teacher
