Making what is taught in schools relevant to the industry has always been an objective of the country’s governments. In reality, we have always worked with that objective; That is why we have technical and technological high schools and various education alternatives for work. A competitive advantage of Mexico is having trained people, especially for industrial work. It is an advantage that must be strengthened, especially so that more people can participate in productive activities with greater added value. The alternatives are to adapt the study programs to the needs of the industry and build microcredentials that allow students to have relevant skills and knowledge to be able to more easily enter highly specialized labor markets.
In the Secretariat of Economy, Education and Science, with private sector organizations, we are working to reduce the gaps between what is taught and what the country needs to produce. During the last few months, 15 sectoral tables were held that brought together representatives of the productive sector with universities and technical schools from all over the country: textile, footwear, pharmaceutical and medical devices, automotive, aerospace, chemical and petrochemical, consumer goods, agroindustrial, energy, creative and information technology, among others. The purpose was twofold: to listen directly to companies about the skills they require and to collect, from educational institutions, proposals to adapt training to these challenges.
The results were clear. There is still a gap between academic training and the skills demanded by the industry. The need to strengthen English proficiency, digital skills, communication and teamwork is repeated in all sectors. Limitations are also identified in the educational infrastructure – workshops, laboratories and technical equipment – and the urgency of updating teaching staff so that their teaching responds to the technological transformation of the economy.
The SEP is responsible for curricular updating, dual education, microcredentials and teacher training. It is up to the Ministry of Economy to align talent training with strategic sectors and value chains. The Ministry of Labor participates to ensure that training translates into quality jobs. The Secretariat of Science and Technology articulates innovation and knowledge transfer. Ceneval and Saber guarantee the validity and quality of the certifications. And the Business Coordinating Council, together with the industrial chambers, opens real spaces for young people to learn in productive environments. We are also looking for alternatives so that private institutions can also join in this task.
In the coming months this agenda will be consolidated: standardizing microcredentials, promoting dual teacher education, updating study programs and strengthening the shared infrastructure between schools and companies. But the essential thing has already happened: he sat down to talk about how to align knowledge with production, and education with well-being. Technical education in Mexico is good, we have been building it for years, but it faces very important challenges in the future, which are faced jointly with the country’s productive sector.
