Improvements in vocational training: 7,000 fewer students have fallen behind than last year

BarcelonaOne of the main objectives announced during the term of Salvador Illa's government and the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, is to enhance the prestige of Vocational Training (FP). Within this mission, the biggest challenge facing the Ministry was finding a solution to the chaos that plagues the system every year with FP pre-registrations and the resulting difficulties. 30,000 students started last year without a place.

To cope, Educació has modified the deadlines and the procedure for pre-registration in vocational training, and, among other things, has published a map with all the vacancies in the system and has carried out exhaustive monitoring of students who had not obtained a place. Now, according to the data published by the Government this Friday in a statement, it seems that the changes have borne fruit: after closing the retake period, there are almost 7,000 (6,902) fewer students left behind than last year.

Specifically, in October of last year, the Department of Education acknowledged that There were 8,294 students who had tried to enter a middle-level vocational training program, had not been given a place and had ceased to be recorded in the student register of the Catalan education system (RALC)This meant that the department didn't know what these students were doing, or if they had dropped out of their studies. This year, this group has shrunk to 1,392, representing 2.4% of all pre-registration applications for intermediate-level vocational training. Although these students have fallen out of the education system, the government insists that those no longer listed in the RALC (Registry of Students with Disabilities) "may have opted for studies not included in this registry (such as adult education centers or private online vocational training) or may have found employment." As for the remaining students who aspired to enter an intermediate-level vocational training program and were left without a place after registration, almost 40% have ended up obtaining one in another intermediate-level program; 16.5% have opted to pursue upper secondary education (Bachillerato); and 2.4% are studying other courses within the Education Department's purview.

Almost 78,000 registered

Beyond the reduction in students falling out of the system, the Department of Education has also argued that, with the new map of vacancies published at the beginning of September, a third of the 15,000 places that remained unfilled in the first enrollment period were filled in just one week. That same week, 5,545 students enrolled in intermediate and advanced vocational training programs, bringing the total number of students enrolled in vocational training this year to 75,982; 17,109 more than last year.