Cosentino has joined the European Apprenticeship Alliance (EAfA), an initiative launched in 2013 by the European Commission with the support of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which aims to improve learning and training opportunities for European citizens through dual training and international student mobility.
The EAfA brings together companies, non-profit organisations, educational institutions and governments with the common goal of creating a more inclusive and effective learning ecosystem. The Alliance is based on the idea that learning is a continuous process that should be available to all, regardless of age, background or socio-economic status.
In line with its commitment to quality training and public-private collaboration, Cosentino will work with EAfA partners to develop and implement new innovative learning solutions, improve the quality of education and training, increase training places, and promote inclusion and equity in learning.
The Almeria-based company, a benchmark in Andalusia and at national level in training programmes, especially in its Dual mode, allocates more than 77,076 hours to training and invests more than €1.5 million a year in the qualification of its workers in subjects such as cybersecurity, web development, energy efficiency or chemistry and environmental health, among others. These apprenticeships are increasingly aligned with the dual ecological and digital transition.
For its part, as an employer with more than 6,000 employees worldwide, Cosentino is firmly committed to quality education as a lever for generating job opportunities and quality employment. In this regard, Cosentino collaborates with 18 study centres in the provinces of Almería, Granada and Jaén to implement around 26 different Dual Vocational Training qualifications. This commitment means that during the 2022-2023 academic year, these cycles will have 76 students, 21 more students than in the 2021-2022 academic year.
‘We are joining the EAfA as a further step in our commitment to training and contributing to the employability of our young people. The Alliance demonstrates the relevance of public-private collaboration in education, and will be a new framework in which we can gain knowledge, as well as share experiences and good practices. In our case, especially with regard to the high degree of success achieved by Dual Vocational Training in the industrial field, a modality we have been committed to for years,’ concludes Paco Robles, Global VP of People at Cosentino.