The Vice-President of the Government stated in Angra do Heroísmo that "the available training offer and its funding are the best demonstration of the Regional Government's investment in the qualification of Azoreans."

For Sérgio Ávila, this is a "strategy designed to facilitate" the integration of Azoreans into the labour market and, simultaneously, "enhance their levels of literacy."

Sérgio Ávila spoke on behalf of the President of the Government at the delivery ceremony of diplomas to the students of "Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Angra do Heroísmo" Vocational Training School last Thursday. The government official stressed "the success and quality of training" provided in the Region as an important factor in the personal and professional fulfilment of trainees.

According to the government official, this will be reflected in the "growth of companies' productivity" and will become "a driving force in the creation of new companies with a qualified staff to meet coming challenges."

The courses on Hygiene and Safety at Work and Hotel reception taught by the "Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Angra do Heroísmo" Vocational Training School are part of a total of 218 vocational education courses taught in the Azores.

In his speech, the Vice-President of the Government revealed that "these courses covered a total 4,239 trainees only in 2014, which corresponded to an overall investment of nearly 20 million Euros. Globally, the main training activities covered more than 9,000 Azoreans, representing an investment of 26 million Euros."

"In order to promote employment as well as to emphasise training and qualification and stimulate an entrepreneurial culture, especially among youth audiences between 9th and 12th forms, the Government promoted several initiatives that covered 2,327 unemployed; the alternative of self-employment was presented as a solution for unemployment. The certified training entities promoted a total of 12 training courses in this area last year," said Sérgio Ávila.

In addition to the two aforementioned training courses, the "Reativar Escolar" courses - secondary level that were being taught by the same school were formally completed last Thursday.

"Under the 'Reativar Escolar' courses, regional vocational training schools taught 22 courses in 2014, which enabled 302 unemployed to complete secondary education (12th form)," said the Vice-President of the Government.

According to the government official, the main goal was to "improve the skill levels of these unemployed in order to facilitate their reintegration into the labour market. This measure involved an investment of 1.7 million Euros."

Sérgio Ávila praised the role of vocational training schools as partners of the Government "in the goal to enhance the skills of Azorean workers by promoting their employability and contribute to their self-fulfilment at a professional level." In this regard, he assured that this partnership will continue with the implementation of the Azores 2020 Operational Programme.

Moreover, the Vice-President stressed that the new Community Framework requires "a greater degree of commitment of entities towards the stipulated goals. As for double certification courses - level IV, it is expected that nearly 80% of participants will be certified by 2023.

"With regard to training courses for adults, school and/or professional certification courses (known as 'Reativar' courses), the Government took the commitment to certify 65% of trainees by 2023," added Sérgio Ávila.

"We believe that vocational training can make a difference and benefit people in order to create better professionals that are capable to boost our economy and make our companies more competitive in a labour market with growing levels of demand," said the Vice-President of the Government.