The largest showcase of Vocational Training (VT) offered in the Canary Islands opened its doors yesterday at the Exhibition Center in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Canarias Skills 2024, the championship where students from all the islands showcase their skills in different training areas, brings together almost 600 students from 90 centres across the Archipelago in what has become the most ambitious edition of this competition to date due to the number of professional families involved. Competitions and exhibitions will take place today and tomorrow, not only to allow young people to demonstrate their knowledge but also to promote Vocational Training among Canarian society, to bring these studies closer to potential students in the future.
Yesterday morning at the Exhibition Center, while students from IES Las Galletas in the south of Tenerife in Social and Community Services were giving a percussion exhibition with basketballs, other young people were showcasing their DJ skills. Competition also took place in the Pharmacy and Parapharmacy family, where students had to face specific challenges such as creating medications.
The Vice-Councillor for Vocational Training and Professional Qualifications of the Ministry of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands, Francisco Rodríguez Machado, stated yesterday morning that this is the largest Canarias Skills held to date, closely resembling the national competitions that take place every two years. “Stage fright is one of the main issues a young person may face when competing, and this is a way to help them improve,” said the Vice-Councillor, who indicated that this initiative was born with a dual purpose: “We want teachers and students to demonstrate the work they do in the classroom and also to interact with people from other centres in the Canary Islands.”
But Canarias Skills is much more than a showcase for the VT family; it also opens its doors to make these training programs known to the rest of society and, who knows, attract future students. To achieve this, the Ministry of Education has set up a live broadcast during the two days of activities so that those who cannot visit the Exhibition Center these days can discover what is happening in this new edition of Canarias Skills.
Aarón Martín and his tutor Alexis Machín came from IES Las Breñas, in the municipality of Breña Baja in La Palma, to participate in the carpentry competition, where young students are shaping a wooden substructure and a modular upper assembly. The teacher, who is participating in this competition again with his students, highlighted the great learning opportunities offered by this initiative, with students who have been preparing for the past few months and are eager to put into practice the knowledge acquired in the classroom. “All this goes on the students’ resumes, but what I would highlight the most is the personal experience that the participants take away because this allows them to work but in a different way than they are used to,” he commented during the first day of Canarias Skills.
Jonathan Barrera is a judge of the competition and a teacher at the CIFP César Manrique in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. He is coordinating the electrical installations test, where students have to establish an electric vehicle charging point through photovoltaic panels. The participants have a day and a half to carry out this work, with around fifteen young people competing this time. Barrera emphasized the high turnout of competitors and the public in this edition of Canarias Skills and spoke about the “motivational aspect” of this participation that allows them to interact with students in the same training field from other centres in the Archipelago, as well as prepare for other competitions they may face in the future and, above all, “they see that the things they are studying have real-life applications.”
Enrique Fernández is the coordinator of the Electrical and Electronics professional family at the Canarias Skills. After attending this initiative for five editions, he stated that this one held at the Exhibition Center is the largest to date, highlighting the importance of young people participating in these competitions or exhibitions because, “when they return to the classroom, they are noticeably more eager to study, and that is very satisfying.”
