Virgen de la Candelaria High School: “Start-ups and entrepreneurship are essential for the Canarian economy”

Virgen de la Candelaria is a higher education center located in Gran Canaria. The educational offer of the center is varied, among the studies that can be taken are: Specific Intermediate Vocational Training, of various Professional Families: Hospitality and Tourism, Food Industries, Administration and Management, Installation and Maintenance, Transportation and Vehicle Maintenance ; Specific Higher Level Vocational Training, from various Professional Families: Hospitality and Tourism, Administration and Management, Installation and Maintenance, Physical and Sports Activities and Mechanical Manufacturing; Basic Vocational Training, of various Professional Families: Hospitality and Tourism and Mechanical Manufacturing. Now, they have given part of their time to conduct an interview with the Impulsa Startups channel.

What objectives do you want to achieve with the center's entrepreneurship classroom?

Our objective is basically to promote entrepreneurial initiative. And in practice, in my opinion, the fundamental objective is for students to acquire the basic foundations of what a company is, that they understand how business management works, what the relationship is between costs and income and what the risks are that it can imply to undertake, the mistakes that they can commit. That is the general initiative. The basics, promote entrepreneurial initiative, then develop that.

What is the average number of students per class?

The average is 10 or 14 students per class. But maybe, in a cycle, these are always working with second-year students. There are 20 students enrolled, but many of them have already validated the entrepreneurial initiative module because they have completed another cycle before. So, when the convalidados leave, those 10, 12 or 14 students per class remain.

And among these students, what is their attitude in the classroom?

They are at a time when in a few months they are going to go to internships to do the Training of Work Centers, and their main interest is to finish the cycle. Do the internships and try to get them hired in the internships. That's the attitude.

And what do you think is the main objective of the students before entering this training? I guess to get into the entrepreneurship classroom you have to pass an exam or something.

No, that is to say, the entrepreneurship classroom fundamentally, although it can be used by all the students of the center, it is used by the students of the “Business and entrepreneurial initiative” module. And they enter there because they have to take that subject, that module, which basically consists of drawing up a business project and developing it.

And what teachings are taught in your center?

In the center are the professional families of personal image and textiles, clothing and leather and there are cycles such as, for example, “aesthetics and beauty”, “integral aesthetics and well-being”, clothing and fashion“, ”image consulting“.

And how are these teachings directed towards entrepreneurship?

Through modules and entrepreneurial initiatives and the entrepreneurship classroom.

What projects or activities have you previously carried out in the entrepreneurship classroom in order to promote it?

The classroom has been operating in our center for two years and workshops related to entrepreneurship, courses, conferences are held. Competition projects are also presented. Basically it is this.

And do you have that information archived to make it known?

We have what the Ministry of Education asks for.

Are there activities planned in the near future?

Classroom activities are linked to the business project, which is part of the business initiatives and entrepreneurship module. Sometimes courses and workshops are held. And sometimes we also carry out, now especially in the third term, when second-year students are doing training in workplaces, we carry out awareness-raising actions dedicated to first-year students. These awareness-raising activities are intended so that students, when they reach second grade, have a greater interest and knowledge about what awaits them there.

Do you see the possibility of students creating start-ups?

Generally speaking, no. I don't see the possibilities. Some may come out sporadically in the Canary Islands. I have been to several centers and in general terms I do not see the possibility of creating startups among students at this point in their professional career when they are still being trained.

And how do you guide students in the process of creating the entrepreneurial project?

The project is developed by them. An idea is generated. That's the first thing we do, generate a business idea, let them work on it, let them see the possibilities, the pros and cons. We give them the opportunity to rectify, to create a new project or a new idea if it does not convince them. When they study it a bit, they realize that it is not viable and later, during the months that they are using the business and entrepreneurship module, they develop the project on how they would put that idea into practice.

In the 2020 academic year, was there any entrepreneurial project that was viable?

Some could be viable, but at the moment the students are not at the moment of undertaking, but in the short term they are beginning to finish the cycle and reconcile a job as a salaried employee.

So none of the students' business projects have been launched?

No. Indeed, some may be viable, but they are not there at the moment, nor do they have the economic capacity, nor do they want to take the risk. In other words, the objective, and in my particular opinion, the main objective of the module is that if in four, five or six years, throughout their professional career, they decide to start a business, which, I am sure, many of them will , or several, because they know what they are going to get into and do not make basic mistakes. There is a lot of mortality of companies at the beginning because they make basic mistakes. There is always a risk, of course. Personally, I think that the important thing is that they understand how a company works and that if they decide, they have the greatest chance of success.

Is there any business project carried out by the students that has surprised you?

Some of them are good projects. But in general they are not put into practice. And then there are others in which I would not get into them.

Do you think that the new dual Vocational Training will help entrepreneurship and the creation of startups among students?

To create new companies, no. What it helps is that they know better the business fabric in which they are going to work and the context of the positions, the companies in which they can get to work. But I think that maybe it increases their employability, but not their entrepreneurial initiative.

And do you think that among the aids or tools that facilitate the classroom you are missing any?

Well, we always have a deficit of material means: latest generation computers, printers, computer applications. It's what we miss.

Will students take this learning into account when starting a business?

I believe that what they learn there will help them, above all, not to make basic mistakes and to understand the key aspects for the success or failure of a company at the moment they decide. And many of them do it without having a vast knowledge of business management. I hope that what we are doing now will serve so that in 10 years fewer mistakes will be made because it is not now that they are going to undertake. Some students will leave here and maybe start their own business in a few years. Most are not going to undertake in the short term. Some are going to install as standalone, but beyond that no.

Do you think that more classrooms of this type are needed to promote entrepreneurship in young people?

I believe that in the coming years most vocational training centers will have an entrepreneurship training classroom. I agree with that. It is something that is being done now and that is being done well.