The Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, Pilar Alegría, and the Government delegate in Cantabria, Eugenia Gómez de Diego, accompanied H.M. Queen Letizia at the official inauguration of the Vocational Training course, which took place at the IES Dr. Zapatero Domínguez de Castro Urdiales. This year, the FP once again set a record in enrollment with 1,193,260 students, which is 48,460 (4.2%) more than the previous one.
The 2024-2025 course will be marked mainly by the implementation of the new Vocational Training system in the first year of the Basic, Middle and Higher Degree training cycles, as well as in specialization courses and VET master’s degrees. This implies that the students will premiere the new dual modality, with periods of training in company. Degrees C (professional certificates) will also be developed in this modality.
Dual training is one of the novelties introduced by the Vocational Training Law approved in 2022, which transforms and modernizes the entire VET system. To carry out all the changes involved, more than 6.5 billion euros have been invested in Vocational Training since 2018. In the educational field, it has grown by 550.12%, going from the 187 million invested in 2018 to the 1,219 million in 2023. If VET is taken into account for employment, the investment has grown by 865%.
The Government’s commitment to Vocational Training is reflected in the greater interest of young people in these studies. Hence, part of this historic investment has been destined to the creation of new squares. In particular, since 2020, 842 million euros have been distributed to the autonomous communities to create 376,187 seats, well above the initial commitment of the Executive to create 200,000. The last budget line – EUR 88.6 million – was approved with the Council of Ministers last week.
In addition, the permanent updating of degrees and qualifications is being carried out in line with the demands of the population and the needs of the labor market, and in collaboration with the main companies of the country. Just yesterday, the Council of Ministers approved the creation of five new qualifications and the updating of another 88 existing, which means the updating of more than 11% of the National Catalogue of Professional Qualifications.
To this must be added 42 new training offers created: 11 degrees, 26 specialization courses and 5 certificates. It is expected that, in the coming months, the Government will give the green light to the most extensive catalogue in history, exceeding 9,000 formations aimed at the active population.
The inauguration was also attended by the President of Cantabria, María José Sáenz de Buruaga; the General Secretary of Vocational Training, Clara Sanz; the Cantabrian Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Universities, Sergio Silva; and the Mayor of Castro Urdiales, Susana Herrán, among others.