Adelante: Jóvenes con oportunidades (2018-2021)
According to the National Society of Industries (SNI) of Peru, there is a mismatch between academic offerings and the skills demanded by companies seeking qualified personnel. In fact, 77 percent of employers report a lack of qualified labor for technical positions and a lack of socio-emotional skills among young workers. Misperceptions about the value of a technical career compound the problem, resulting in a lack of motivation in young people to pursue a technical career path.
From 2018 to 2021, through the generous support of the Anglo American Group Foundation (AAGF) and the Caterpillar Foundation (CAT), IYF partnered with Centro de Servicios para la Capacitación Laboral y el Desarrollo (CAPLAB) and the Dirección de Educación Regional de Moquegua (DREMO) to develop Adelante: Jóvenes con Oportunidades. The goal of this program is to train young people using proven methodologies to improve their professional and soft skills.
IYF worked with the local secondary public school system to train 190 teachers and 5,500 young people at 23 public high schools in life skills and career guidance methodologies. Additionally, IYF worked with 152 teachers and 1,781 students at four technical institutes. In 2020, the regional teachers’ college participated in life skills, job placement, and project-based learning trainings.
“We started by getting our teachers on board, and they saw the benefits. We then built partnerships with each educational institution and their directors. Now, the directors have all seen positive change in the culture of their organization. Not surprisingly, they want to maintain it.”
—Dominga Castro, Head of the Continuing Education Unit,
Mercedes Cabello Pedagogical School.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, the Adelante program restructured its methodologies by turning the in-person components into a virtual modality. This included a host of offerings such as PTS Traveler, Desafío Tec, and My Career My Future Online. Teachers and students were able to access educational platforms that promote learning in socio-emotional skills, active pedagogies, and vocational guidance—all while remaining safe during the pandemic.
To ensure sustainability, the Adelante program assisted eight schools and four institutes in the formulation and integration of the methodologies to their Institutional Education Plans. Furthermore, the Regional Education Management Bureau passed a bill (No. 00943) which declared the incorporation of soft skills in regular basic education and higher education as a regional priority. This incorporation of Passport to Success (PTS), Project-Based Learning, and Descubre tu Vocación into the regional education system will allow the transfer life skills to continue beyond the program through the continued training of trainers in these methodologies.
“Passport to Success (PTS) and My Career My Future helped me [and other participants] to make good decisions regarding the career paths we want to pursue. It helped us figure out what we want to be in the future."
—Yamile Shamira Catari (18), student