The UPC relinquishes management of the Martorell Vocational Training Center.

BarcelonaThe Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) has stopped managing the Generalitat's Automotive Vocational Training Center in Martorell. The Catalan government is now taking over management of this large-scale vocational training (FP) center through the Catalan Employment Service (SOC).

As the rector of the UPC, Francesc Torres, stated in an interview with this newspaper last June, the university is ending its relationship with this center just three years after win the public tender to manage it"Vocational training is very necessary for the country, but it's an obligation that doesn't fall to the university," Torres said at the time, adding that other entities were interested in managing the macrocenter.

Finally, the Generalitat has opted to grant management to the SOC, the administration body that manages training and job placement policies, as published in the Official Journal of the Generalitat of Catalonia This Friday. The SOC was already the owner of the center, but with the executive agreement approved this Friday, it will be "integrated into the mechanisms of governance, management, definition, planning, and programming of employment policies" of the Generalitat.

Low capacity

The center is located near the Seat automobile factory in Martorell and was inaugurated in 2016 by the then President of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), Artur Mas, following an investment of 17 million euros. It is a 100,000-square-meter building with capacity for around 10,000 students, which the government and the industry wanted to turn into a leading training center for automotive professionals.

The lack of students is mainly due to the limited offer of intermediate and advanced courses related to the automotive world. However, last March, the UPC announced a new itinerary at the macrocenter that would allow students to obtain a technical or higher technical qualification through professional certificates.

Despite the will, however, the reality is that the project has encountered difficulties from the beginning and, despite having won management in 2022 (in 2019, an initial tender had been unsuccessful), it is currently operating at less than 10% of its capacity. The UPC had obtained the management contract for the center over two proposals: that of the Eurecat technology center and that of the international automotive sector consultancy MSX International Techservices.