The President of the Government announced that 40 new vocational training courses for young Azoreans will open in the next school year in order to adapt this area of education to the needs of the Region and the economy.
 
"In the next school year, there will be 90 courses that will contribute to the improvement of the skills of Azoreans. About half of these new courses are directed to young Azoreans and are the result of the adaptation of vocational training to the needs of our Region and our economy," said Vasco Cordeiro.
 
The President of the Government spoke at the delivery of diplomas to 14 young Azoreans who were recently awarded medals in the 42nd National Skills Competition. The Azores were the national region with the best performance regarding the number of national titles won."
 
Organised by the Employment and Vocational Training Institute (IEFP), the competition was held in Coimbra and mobilised about 400 young people aged between 17 and 25 from vocational schools, training centres, training organisations and companies across the country.
 
All representatives of the Azores won medals in the National Championship: eight gold medals, three silver medals and three bronze medals. They were distinguished in areas such as Accounting, Construction Design, Electricity, Computer Network Management, Health and Safety at Work, Information Technologies, Web Design, Culinary, Hotel Reception, Industrial Electronics, Table Waiting and Bar and Pastry.
 
"The Azores have pride in what you have achieved. They have pride in the potential that these medals show and will certainly have pride in the way that everyone will do the area to follow," said the President of the Government. In this context, Vasco Cordeiro recalled that, over years, almost one hundred young Azoreans won medals in the European and World Skills Championships.
 
"This is important for those who were distinguished with the medals. However, this is also very important for the Azores as a Region, because it shows that the path we have followed allows us to compete on equal terms with other participants. In this context, Azorean youngsters have demonstrated their quality and excellence," said the President of the Government.
 
In the diploma-delivery ceremony, Vasco Cordeiro also highlighted the effort that has been made in the training of Azorean youth in several areas, not to provide them a final solution for the future but the tools with which they can build their future.
 
"Between 2007 and 2015, eight thousand young Azoreans attended vocational training schools, which represents more than four than four hundred vocational training courses," said the President of the Government. For Vasco Cordeiro, these medals serve as inspiration and motivation for many young Azoreans who are starting or completing their training in the various education systems in the Region.