The future Cuevas Blancas Science and Technology Park, in Santa Cruz, promises to become a pole of attraction for technological companies, which will bring with it the hiring of numerous people with the appropriate qualifications, at least that is the promise. In the Southwest district, which is where this space is located, the only two schools that offer Vocational Training (FP) do not want their students to be left out of this promising employment niche and that is why they have turned to the Ministry of Education to incorporate new specialties into its centers, specifically those related to computing and all its derivatives, such as robotics and virtual reality. These are the María Rosa Alonso and El Sobradillo institutes, two centers in which close to a thousand students study in the Vocational Training branch, some 500 in each of the institutes.
Francisco Santana is the director of IES El Sobradillo, and explains to DIARIO DE AVISOS that “the Science and Technology Park is going to be a great employment niche in the district, so we contacted them to find out if our specialties fit into their that demand”. The answer is what has led them to address the Ministry of Education.
“They told us that they are looking for specialties that are more technical but not technological and that perhaps it would be good to ask the General Directorate of Vocational Training to have some specialty more related to computing, robotics, electronics, everything that has to do with new technologies”, explains Santana.
“It is time to make this request -he continues- because the General Directorate of Vocational Training is planning the next course, that is why we have decided to launch the proposal, so that they would think of us to grow in these specialties”.
The IES El Sobradillo currently has about 800 students, of whom slightly more than half, about 500, are studying one of the center’s FP specialties, which are Agriculture, Administration and Automotive.
In the case of María Rosa Alonso, the proportion of students is similar, and in her case the specialties offered are Auxiliary Nursing Care, Hairdressing, and Care for Dependent People.
As the director of IES El Sobradillo explains, “we also request these specialties because, beyond the Technological Park, we are in a district where we are the only two FP centers, and the Southwest is where the population grows the most , because it is an expansion zone, however the offer is limited with respect to other districts”.
The petition of the two institutes has the support of the Santa Cruz City Council. The Southwest district itself, directed by Javier Rivero, has sent the letter to the Ministry of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands.
The letter begins by recalling that the Southwest District is the second largest administrative area and population, with 50,910 inhabitants, being the area with the greatest potential for short-term demographic growth in the city, and in which neighborhoods such as La Gallega, Alisios or El Sobradillo has grown a lot in a few years, encouraged by the prosperity of the companies located in the area, the commercial areas and the availability of land. The City Council recalls that it must be taken into account that many of these nuclei began as “dormitory cities” to later become neighborhoods with their own infrastructures and lives. It is also noted that the 2022 census data for Santa Cruz show that the youngest population in the municipality is in the Southwest, 7,343 young people between the ages of 6 and 17.
This data, together with the fact that this district is the one with the largest population with professional training, with 6,336 people, encourages potential students for the academic offer in the training of future qualified professionals.
The neighborhoods that are included in this zone are: Llano del Moro, El Sobradillo, El Tablero, Alisios, La Gallega, Añaza, El Chorrillo, Santa María del Mar, Acorán, Barranco Grande, El Rosarito, Tíncer and El Draguillo.
The letter refers to the start-up of the Cuevas Blancas Technology Park and the professional families such as Electricity and Electronics, Computer Science and Communications, Energy and Water or Image and Sound and its Senior Technician in 3D Animations, Games and Interactive Environments , for example, as “fundamental allies for the training and professional development of the Southwestern District of Santa Cruz.”
