Aurelio Martínez pointed out that “we will work with the Generalitat to establish a vocational training centre in this area in order to promote the generation of qualified employment in logistics and international trade”.

Valenciaport is once again a pioneer, creating a logistics-port specialisation programme that will provide opportunities for all students of the higher degrees in International Trade and Transport and Logistics.

The president of the Port Authority of Valencia (APV) attended the conference “Companies and port, committed to vocational training”.

The president of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV), Aurelio Martínez, has indicated that work is underway to “set up, together with the Generalitat, a Vocational Training centre in the Nazaret area. A further commitment by the port community to training and job creation in a sector such as logistics, which requires professionals of all categories”.

The president of the PAV took part in the conference “Companies and port, committed to vocational training”, an event organised by the Valenciaport Foundation in collaboration with the PAV. The session was also attended by the regional secretary for Education and Vocational Training, Miguel Soler; the general director of Vocational Training, Manuel Gomicia and the president of Propeller Valencia, Pedro Coca, where they discussed the novelties of the new Vocational Training law as a unique opportunity to renew the current VET.

Aurelio Martínez explained that “the employability rate of vocational training stands at 42.2%, four points higher than university studies, however, only 12% of young Spaniards are enrolled in vocational training, compared to 29% in the European Union. Therefore, we must continue to promote this training, and bring the reality of logistics-port companies closer to the students”. “More than 102,000 students, 3.5% more than in 2020, have opted this year for vocational training cycles to continue their education beyond compulsory education. Moreover, in our country there is a vacancy of one million jobs due to the mismatch between demand and supply. In this context, it is important to highlight the high point of the logistics sector, which requires professionals of all categories. Hence, the commitment we want to make with a vocational training centre in Nazareth”.

The president of the PAV pointed out that “Valenciaport is once again a pioneer, creating a logistics-port specialisation programme that will give all the students of the higher degrees in International Trade and Transport and Logistics the opportunity to find in our sector, through dual internships, their first immersion in the labour market”. Along these lines, the Valenciaport Foundation has begun training the port’s most operative profiles and has opened the line of professional certificates. Thus, it has been accredited by LABORA to teach the CP MAP0712 of Stevedoring, being the only entity that has trained 80 students in this certificate with guarantees of handling all port machinery. In addition, work is being carried out with the Generalitat de Catalunya to set up a project to certify the accreditations of certain jobs that have not yet been recognised through a specific programme, which will be accredited through work experience (identification of competences).

Likewise, the PAV is currently collaborating with the IES El Grao in the training practices of the students of higher level training cycles in the speciality of Administration and Finance, as the students’ first contact with the world of work. This year we intend to go a step further and have already begun the procedures, as a public organisation, (El Grao Secondary School), to be able to develop the DUAL vocational training of students in the higher training cycles of this centre: Administrative Management and Microcomputer Systems and Networks. They also teach higher level training cycles in Administration and Finance, International Trade, Administration of Networked Computer Systems and Development of Multiplatform Applications.

Valenciaport, pioneer in a specialised programme

The event was attended by representatives of all the companies that have welcomed the students of the Dual VET Port Immersion programme, as well as the organisations that have taken part. During the event, Antonio Torregrosa and Ana Rumbeu, Director General and Director of Training of the Valenciaport Foundation, presented the results of the “Study of the professional profiles required by companies in the port community of Valencia”, carried out within the framework of the European project YEP MED, financed by the ENI CBCMED programme. The general objective of this study is to identify the most sought-after occupations, which are difficult to cover, by the companies of the Valenciaport cluster, and also to identify the training needs from the perspective of Vocational Training (VET) in order to adapt them and satisfy this demand.

According to the representatives of the Valenciaport Foundation, some of the conclusions of this study were that there is an urgent need to facilitate and promote the incorporation, especially in international trade and transport and logistics cycles, of curricular content linked to new technologies: specific software for companies, Big Data, 4.0 technologies, blockchain technology, etc. They have also highlighted as relevant that vocational training centres and universities make the relevant efforts to incorporate and even prioritise curricular content related to or focused on raising awareness and providing new skills in energy transition and ecological sustainability.

Training and Employment Observatory of the Port Cluster

On the other hand, during the conference it was announced the constitution of the Training and Employment Observatory of the Valencian Port Cluster, another initiative of the YEP MED project, framed within the Valenciaport Innovation Cluster. This training and employment working group materialises the desire for cooperation between public and private institutions and will contribute to the design of training programmes that guarantee learning, both in training centres and in companies, adapting future professionals to the needs of the labour market in the port logistics field and its characteristics and specificities, the entry of young people and new professionals into this labour market in an efficient and effective way. This working group, which will meet every six months, has the following priorities for 2021-2022: to adapt the programme of higher degrees in International Trade and Transport and Logistics Management to the needs of the market; to involve the companies in the cluster in the training of VET teachers and students and to promote guidance, advice and dissemination actions of the Dual VET Port Immersion to attract students, especially female students.

The Entities making up the working group at the time of its constitution were the following: Direcció General de Formació Professional i Ensenyaments de Régim Especial de la Conselleria d’Educació, Cultura i Esport; Labora; Asociación Naviera Valenciana (ANAV); ATEIA (Asociación de Transitarios, Expedidores Internacionales y Asimilados); Fundación Valenciaport; Autoridad Portuaria de Valencia; Colegio Oficial de Agentes de Aduanas; Federación Valenciana de Empresarios del Transporte (FVET); Institutos de Educaciones Secundarias (Manises, Alzira, Valencia); Propeller Club Valencia; plus the companies: TIL; CSP Terminal; MSC Shipping Company; Cosco Shipping; Romeu Group; IFS Newtral; Torres Group, and the secondary schools: Pere Boïl de Manises, Ausiàs March and Abastos de Valencia, and Lluis Sunyer de Alcira.