The special education school Raquel Payá is betting that their students acquire a training that allows them, when they are old enough to leave the center, to have an occupation. Therefore, two years ago they introduced Adapted Vocational Training in the area of Basic operations of restaurant and bar, which trains nine students in the hotel industry.
Since then there have been several actions that have taken place to disseminate the work of their students, actions that have gone from exhibition of their capabilities in the Shopping Center Portal de la Marina to contacts with different associations and companies in the world of tourism and hospitality in the region.
The next one is going to happen next week. On Wednesday, 3 of April, in the CDT of Dénia, the day will be celebrated Inclou-me, which will serve to bring personalities from the business world of the Marina Alta the work that is carried out from the center and the possibilities of contracting its students.
The day will begin with four presentations in the auditorium that will address different aspects of Adapted Vocational Training. In the first place, from the Office of Innovation and Creativity of Dénia, the role of diversity in Denia's name as the Creative City of Gastronomy will be discussed.
The center itself will take the floor to explain its training program and how to establish relationships between its students and the company. The third presentation will be carried out by representatives of the Plena Inclusión association, which will explain how it is to hire people with functional diversity. The last presentation will be carried out by the Creama, who will explain the employment project with tutored support.
The second part of the day will consist of a meal, which will be served in the dining room of the CDT, prepared and served jointly by the students of the Raquel Payá school and the María Ibars Institute. All with the aim of showing in a practical way what these students are capable of, whose dream is to be part of a company like any other worker.
To make this event possible, the school has the important support of the Cercle d'Empresaris de la Marina Alta, (CEDMA); the association of local innkeepers (AEHTMA); and the CEFIRE.
Sonja Dietz, president of CEDMA, has shown her support for this initiative, recognizing that "it has come a long way" as far as inclusion is concerned, but that "there is still a long way to go". From their point of view, the biggest inconvenience presented by the Marina Alta companies when it comes to making the hiring of people with functional diversity a reality is that "they're too small", reason why it considers that the objective to persecute is the growth of the companies "so that the opportunities also grow" towards this collective.
On the other hand, the manager of Aehtma, Reme Cerdà, has ratified the support of its associates to this initiative, and has remembered that, beyond the hotel trade, tourism offers many job opportunities for the students of Raquel Payá who can pass through the hotel world, among others.
European help
To carry out the Adapted Vocational Training projects, the Raquel Payá school has the financial support of the European Union. From 2016, through the program Erasmus +, 93.929 euros have been invested in the center, of which, 40.942 have been allocated to the FPA.
In this sense, the director of the María Ibars Institute, Pepe Toni Server, has highlighted the important work done by the school's human team when it comes to managing these important economic resources with the few means at their disposal.
Thanks to the aid of the Erasmus + program, five students of the center will do a week of practices in Finland next May, and several teachers will go to different European cities to expand their knowledge about the training programs taught there.
The director of the center, Miquel Ivars, and the technician of the School's Restaurant and Bar, Juan Cervera, have agreed to praise the work of the students and the importance of the support of different entities to ensure a future of inclusion.
