The Diriamba City, part of the Carazo department (Nicaragua), has a high percentage of rural population and young people aged between 15 and 39. The high school dropout rate makes the access to higher education more difficult. The vocational training is an alternative for this population sector to get educated. However, there is a shortage of centers that offer these training programs.
Therefore, in 2009, ACOEN, which has 19 years of experience with working in Nicaragua and which maintains a strategy with the FPSC since 1998, has launched the Social Center Vega Baja, located in Diriamba. The work of the Center is focused on offering training to women and providing them with the right tools to enter the labor market. Since the initiation of the Social Center Vega Baja in November 2010, the Center has trained 465 women.
With the FPSC’s project “Empowering of poor rural women of the Department of Carazo, Nicaragua, through the implementation of a technical and vocational training programme oriented on leadership and empowerment“, funded by the Junta de Castilla y León, a Practice Center will be built for the students of the Social Center Vega Baja.
The purpose of this action is to provide a basic training, accredited by the National Institute of Technology (INATEC), so that the students can do their internships next to their studies in order to receive quality training before entering the job market and therefore ensure that they can effectively and efficiently carry out the work that they are trained for.
The Practice Center will provide training in the food and services area. Also, the center will offer gastronomy services and the rental of rooms for events to be organized by the private and the public institutions, which will ensure a sustainable economic development of both centers.