Basque vocational training and the Basque Country Technology Park bring together more than 1,000 secondary school students to show them the job opportunities available in scientific and technological companies

The event, which will take place at the Zamudio/Derio Campus on 10 March and at the Donostia Campus and Vitoria-Gasteiz Campus on 12 March, aims to show these students the opportunities offered by vocational training in the companies located in the Technology Park.

A total of 39 companies, 10 in Álava, 9 in Bizkaia and 10 in Gipuzkoa, will show students their facilities and their day-to-day activities

The FP/Parke initiative has been recognised with the STEAM Euskadi seal from the Basque Government’s Department of Education and Innobasque, and seeks to show upper secondary school students the opportunities offered by technology companies

More than 1,000 first-year upper secondary school students from 21 schools in the Basque Country (8 in Bizkaia, 7 in Gipuzkoa and 6 in Álava) will take part in two days at the Basque Country Technology Park Campus. Specifically, the first will be held on 10 March in the Auditorium of the Zamudio/Derio Campus and the second on 12 March simultaneously in the central buildings of the Vitoria-Gasteiz Campus and the Donostia Campus.

The event aims to raise awareness of the strengths and job opportunities offered by different vocational training pathways, while companies and technology centres located in the Basque Country Technology Park in Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa will showcase their activities and their need for specific STEM vocational training profiles.

In search of vocational training talent

Of the 23,600 people working at the Basque Country Technology Park, more than 6,000 come from vocational training. The priority sectors that have vocational training profiles in their workforces are ICT, Electronics, Energy and Environment, Biosciences and R&D. Thus, in Energy and Environment, 37% of people have studied vocational training; in Electronics, 36%; in ICT, 33%; and in Biosciences, 28%. In the period 2022-2024, a total of 1,917 people were hired at the Basque Country Technology Park, of whom 765 came from vocational training, almost 40% of new hires. The number of total hires and vocational training hires in recent years has been on the rise, and this positive trend is expected to continue in the coming years, highlighting the importance of upper secondary school students learning about the job opportunities and companies at the Technology Park and the opportunities offered by vocational training.

The initiative involves collaboration between vocational training centres in the Basque Country – members of the HETEL and IKASLAN associations, which bring together more than 100 centres and 43,000 students – and the Basque Country Technology Park, which has more than 670 companies employing around 23,600 professionals.

The conference

The three-day conference will be organised into two shifts for attendees, one from 9.30 am to 12 noon and the other from 11 am to 1.45 pm, so that they can visit the companies in smaller groups.

After the presentation to attendees in the Auditorium and the institutional welcome, there will be a round table with presentations and experiences on scientific and technological vocations and the importance of connecting vocational training with technology companies. In addition, the prize for the best CV, developed this February by students from the participating centres, will be awarded. Each team has to develop a CV tailored to the company they have been assigned to visit.

The second part will consist of a visit by the students to one of the 29 participating companies. During the visit, the companies will show the young people what their day-to-day activities are like, as well as the possibilities for professional growth in leading sectors of the industry through vocational training.

The participating companies are: