RRP-Azores investment in adult skills development and lifelong learning reaches over 10,000 participants - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Juventude, Habitação e Emprego

The Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing and Employment, Maria João Carreiro, announced today that the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) investment for adult skills development and lifelong learning in the Azores, with an overall budget of €21.5 million, has already reached more than 10,000 participants. 

The government official spoke at the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Horta, Faial Island, noting that this European funding instrument has contributed to strengthening the skills of the working population, both employed and unemployed, through short- and medium-term training measures involving learning in a real-world work context. 

This is the case with “Qualifica.IN,” a measure involving more than 3,300 employed and unemployed people, with more than 390 training courses—proposed by vocational schools and certified training entities—having been approved. It has contributed to strengthening professional skills, employability and business productivity. 

Also under the RRP, 1,391 adults received support to further their post-secondary education, including undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, through the “Qualifica.Superior” measure, and more than 2,849 Azoreans enrolled in courses focusing on employability skills, foreign languages and digital skills. 

“It was this Regional Government led by the PSD/CDS-PP/PPM coalition that decided to place skills development and training at the heart of the public response to the Region’s economic, social and demographic challenges,” stated the Regional Secretary. She noted that €7.4 million has already been invested in training for the Region's workforce through a combination of regional and EU funding. 

“Vocational training is no longer an option. It is a strategic necessity to address the labour shortage in key sectors, to reskill adults and encourage career transitions into areas with recruitment needs, and to promote the inclusion of vulnerable groups and those with low employability in the labour market,” she said. 

With this in mind, the Regional Secretary announced that the Regional Government will establish an Advisory Committee for Vocational Training in the Azores, so as to facilitate broad institutional coordination on matters about professional qualifications, education and training, lifelong learning, and the alignment of qualifications with the labour market.

Maria João Carreiro also noted that the Regional Government has invested, through EU funds and the regional budget, €2.5 million in the modernisation of vocational schools, specifically for the acquisition of new training equipment, at a time when there is an increase in both supply and demand for vocational courses. 

“We have more courses and more young people in vocational schools, with €3.8 million being invested, through the Regional Government and the RRP, for their modernisation. This amount is also intended to compensate for the penalties these schools suffered due to student dropouts during the previous Community Support Framework,” whose funding model was negotiated by the PS/Azores government and resulted in serious financial constraints for the vocational schools.

Also, as part of the investment planned under the RRP-Azores for adult skills development and lifelong learning, there are plans for the refurbishment of the Azores Training Centre (formerly the Capelas Vocational School), a new public training service working in partnership with businesses to train skilled workers. 

“Whilst many saw EU and regional funding as useful tools for perpetuating support measures, we have chosen to invest in promoting real employment and encouraging the self-reliance of the Azorean people,” stated Maria João Carreiro. In this regard, she highlighted the differences between the approaches of previous socialist governments and those of the current Regional Government.

“Whilst many saw precarious working conditions as an opportunity to govern, we chose to reverse a mindset that, for years, had trivialised precarious employment relations and the job insecurity faced by thousands of workers and their families,” he emphasised.

With employment at an all-time high and unemployment at an all-time low, unemployment in the Azores registered last April 3,987 unemployed, decreasing by 46.2% compared with April 2019, the pre-pandemic reference year.

As regards unemployed people enrolled in work programmes, there were 4,338 Azoreans in April 2019 and 1,842 last April, corresponding to a 58% reduction in the number of Azoreans “trapped in the uncertainty and job insecurity of work programmes, and are now in proper employment.” 

With unemployment halved in the Azores and below the national average, the employed population exceeds 120,000 Azoreans. According to her, this “means families with greater stability, young people with prospects for the future, workers with greater dignity, businesses with confidence, and growing economic activity.” 

Maria João Carreiro stated that these “positive results are the basis of a commitment” by the Regional Government to continue promoting the best responses to the challenges persisting in the Region, which arise from “an economy that is growing and demands greater ambition, rather than one that is stagnating.”