The Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic (AIRD) highlighted the importance of dual training for the generation of quality jobs in the Dominican industry, especially for young people in the country within the framework of the theme breakfast carried out by the AIRD and the National Institute of Technical-Professional Training (Infotep).
The first vice president of the AIRD, Juan José Attías, welcomed Rafael Santos Badía, general director of Infotep, who spoke on the subject “Dual Training: Quality jobs for the Dominican industry”.
Attías expressed that the industry seeks to be competitive and participate with chances of success in the dynamics of international markets and the domestic markethighlighting dual training as a key response to this requirement, a modality that promotes continuous training and contributes to embracing the opportunities that exist in the training of human resources in the sector.
“The Dual training is the possibility that our companies become schools in which workers and interns learn more every day through practice in real situations or problems, from a job position”, said Attías, who spoke on behalf of Julio Virgilio Brache, president of AIRD.
assured that encourage This modality contributes to a change in the face of the Dominican labor marketto improve employability, increase opportunities and reduce levels of social inequality.
dual formation
Rafael Santos, general director of Infotep, affirmed that technical-professional training plays a preponderant role in the development of technical and professional skills to access employment. He highlighted that elements that contribute to the quality of training are the relevance of training programs and the link with the productive sector.
He explained that technical-professional training seeks to offer availability of training in different areas of knowledge, updated according to the needs of the labor market and with the development of technical skills in the workplace. “There is a tendency for companies to look for more and more technical graduates,” he assured.
He presented the benefits of dual training that alternately combines practice in a real work environment with theory in a training center and that it is aimed especially at young people, regardless of gender and with little or no experience, training people with a global vision of an occupation.
For the development of this program, Santos considered that it is essential to maintain a strategic alliance between the companies and Infotep. AIRD member companies have opened their doors to this modality.
He highlighted as reasons for favoring dual training the fact that brings together the demand for and supply of skills and abilities, reduces recruitment and training costs and the staff turnover rate, it allows apprentices to access a stable and quality professional career, and increases the employability of young people, among others.
When presenting the progress, he pointed out that 9,376 people have graduated from the Program in the period 1990-2022 and that in 2020 175 companies were linked to this modality and that there are currently 510 linked companies and that it has gone from 66 to 113 programs designed . He offered figures of INFOTEP’s achievements in this program and said that 1,559 apprentices are expected to be recruited this year.
international experts
International experts Gonzalo Graña, an ILO/Cinterfor official, and Álvaro Ramírez Bogantes, an adviser on vocational training issues with extensive experience in transforming technical training institutions, intervened in the panel on the importance of dual training.
At the meeting, Graña highlighted the work of Infotep as an example of good practices in the implementation of the dual program together with companies in the Dominican Republic.
“But we cannot leave Infotep alone, Dual Training can only scale when the business sector is committed,” argued Graña.
On his side, Álvaro Ramírez Bogantes, explained that there is three fundamental factors to promote the dual training program: business leadership, legal certainty and an assured rate of return.
He added that when countries analyze the labor market through impact studies, they note that dual training is higher than traditional training.
“The issue of the dual is gaining strength in Latin America, because an industrial revolution is being experienced that generates a need for highly specialized human talent and this personnel must be aligned with the technology of the companies. The best way for this to be achieved is through the Dual Training program”, said Ramírez Bogantes.