The government delegate in Galicia, Pedro Blanco, highlighted in Lugo the effort that the government is making to modernize Vocational Training and make it the basis of qualified jobs of the future. He did so from the Integrated Vocational Training Center Las Mercedes, which he visited accompanied by the mayor of Lugo, Paula Alvarellos; the subdelegate of the Government in the province, Isabel Rodríguez; the provincial deputy Pablo Rivera, and the territorial delegate Javier Arias, who were received by the director of the center, Joaquín Expsito.
“The CIFP Las Mercedes is the best example of how the Government, through the Recovery Plan, is transforming Vocational Training in this country,” said the delegate, recalling that the Recovery Plan finances the entrepreneurship classroom and the applied technology classroom that this center will have in this academic year. The CIFP Las Mercedes received in recent years 1.2 million euros of funds from the Recovery Plan through the programs of FP Centers of Excellence, Professional Training Innovation Programs, Entrepreneurship Classroom and Applied Technology Classroom (ATECA).
The government delegate took the opportunity in a week as unique as this, in which the course begins, to wish the entire educational community a good year. He stressed, in this regard, that in the last year the Government allocated a total of 132 million euros to Galician students in the form of study grants, which benefited about 54,000 students and also their families. “By investing in scholarships and direct grants, we strengthen equal opportunities and the quality of the education system,” said Pedro Blanco.
Vocational Training Centres of Excellence
The CIFP Las Mercedes acceded to the category of Excellence of Professional Training in the year 2022, being among the best scoring centers throughout the Spanish territory. Specifically, it obtained the highest score in aeronautics, and was second in the global score of all centers.
The programme is part of the Government’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and, in particular, the Strategic Plan to Boost Vocational Training, which has a total budget of 2 billion euros. Galicia currently has five Centers of Excellence in VET, to which the Ministry allocated 4,395,000 euros to have been integrated into this network: the CIFP Carlos Oroza of Pontevedra, the CIFP Las Mercedes of Lugo, the CIFP Ánxel Casal of A Coruña, the CIFP of Someso (A Coruña) and the Polytechnic CIFP of Santiago.