Miguel Sieteiglesias (UNIVERSAE (): "It is not about debating about Public or Private VET, but about whether it responds to the needs of young people"

An international study centre of Professional Training, with presence in Spain, the united States and Latin americawith a wide range of more than 50 official diplomas from the Ministry of Education in the study more than 7,000 students and employs more than 350 professionals. Son algunas de las características de UNIVERSAEthe centre of FP face-to-face and distance learning, which has developed a training model that is able to integrate the technology-immersive, with activities gamificadas and 3D simulations.

Un grupo en plena expansión, con planes de futuro internacionales que acaba de poner en marcha un nuevo proyecto, Campus23 (actual OpenUNIVERSAE), to bridge the gap between companies and students. We talked with Miguel Sieteiglesias, its commercial director, on its peculiarities and Vocational Training, the fashion studies.

UNIVERSAE (has three aspects that distinguish it from any other institution of Vocational Training in Spain. In the first place, offers the largest educational offer of vocational training officer on the market with all the qualifications existing middle and higher level of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training in Spain, in addition to a full range of double degrees and masters.

Another difference lies in its innovative educational method. Aware that the Vocational education and Training must be updated in line with the current society – digital and connected - from UNIVERSAE (we have designed a model of training based single in an educational ecosystem (virtual UNIVERSAE360), which integrates technology, immersive, activities gamificadas and 3D simulations. Thus, from the institution we claim that the distance training is just as effective than the face-to-face and, most importantly, completely aligned with the current needs of the students.

Por último, se encuentra nuestra apuesta por poner en contactos desde el inicio a empresas y alumnos. Este espíritu ha tenido como consecuencia la creación de Campus23 (actual OpenUNIVERSAE) para cerrar la brecha que existe entre el ámbito académico y el laboral.

Campus23 (actual OpenUNIVERSAE) es una red de espacios físicos localizados en los diferentes campus de UNIVERSAE y cuyo objetivo es crear lugares de encuentro donde alumnos y empresas puedan identificar sinergias y oportunidades mucho antes de la inserción al mundo laboral de los estudiantes.

In this way, from UNIVERSAE (we want to become the essential piece and the starting point that articulates the rapprochement between the student world and the labour market during the training stage, without having to wait for the practices. In this way, we want to build relationships win-win in the business world can share in a way customised with the students what are their needs and advance the requirements of the professional of the future; at the time that the students identify new avenues of professional development that will facilitate further their integration into the working world.

And is that our campuses are incubators of professionals and companies, in which companies of all sectors can interact with the students during the entire cycle of their education through the organization of conferences, workshops, or bootcamps.

We have identified that many titles have seen multiplied your demand exponentially. In our case, the enrollment is concentrated in the higher grades of Administration and Finance, Education of Children, Social Integration, and Marketing and Advertising, as well as in the average degree in Systems Microinformáticos and Networks. There is also a widespread interest for studies related to the world of computing, as the degrees of Development of cross-Platform Applications (DAM) and Development of Web Applications (DAW), and also the Automotive.

It is evident that the Professional Training is in full swing as it represents an output and labor effective, fast, and with a future. In this aspect, I want to highlight the high rate of employability, which stands at almost 50% on average, and that in some specific degrees is practically 100%.

The main reason for the boom of the FP is precisely its high rate of employability. So much so that, in the past few years, the FP has experienced a continuous increase in enrollment, adding almost 30% in four years. According to the data provided by the Government, the Vocational Training is the mode that most looks to increase the number of enrollment, with 152.291 students in total, and an increase of 9.5% compared to the previous year (+13.167). Of these, 84.692 will be a Grade Higher, with an increase of 10.2% over the course 2021-22, and other 54.766 that have been tilted by a mid-Grade (+9,1%).

The Professional Training is not a fad, it is an educational option with a future that allows people who opt for she not just into work almost immediately, but also to become a qualified professional highly sought-after by organisations.

We must not forget that, the digitalization of the economy and the unstoppable process of globalization have disrupted the labor market in the past few years, and, today, the profiles most in demand companies have ceased to correspond to the main university degrees. The context of accelerated change these demands, it also requires workers to bet on continuous training throughout their working life.

This double phenomenon provides a great opportunity to the professional training to stop being the “plan B” for those who may not have access to a higher education, and position in change in an educational option more dynamic and experiential learning that provides enterprises with the profiles they need to remain competitive in the TWENTY-first century and allow for the continuous training of its professionals.

In my opinion, I believe that this is not a debate about the Professional Training Public or Private, but that we must put the focus on whether the Vocational Training that responds to the needs of the young people of today.

In this aspect, it is essential to ensure a Professional Training up to date, that has an innovative and disruptive with which the students will feel identified, and their teaching is according to the current times. In this aspect, it is essential to give you options that will allow them to study how, when and where they want, so they will combine their studies with a possible employment.

In UNIVERSAE this what we have built into our DNA and therefore we encourage and foster day-to-day.

In UNIVERSAE we have a multidisciplinary team of over 350 professionals, both to provide central services (finance, sales, human resources...) as well as to integrate the teaching staff who has designed the supply of qualifications and experience, training from scratch.

In this aspect, our teaching team is comprised mostly by professionals, with a strong base pedagogical but that make up people who continue to exercise the crafts that teach. So, we want professionals in assets teach professionals of the future.

UNIVERSAE will continue its international expansion in the coming years by the opening of new campuses, both in Spain and in Latin america and the united States.