Twenty-five teachers from the Instituto Técnico Industrial Monseñor Carlos Ardila García del Socorro, ITIS, completed a diploma course offered by the Universidad Industrial de Santander, UIS, focused on problem- and project-based learning, with a STEAM approach. This training was made possible thanks to a partnership between the UIS, Electrificadora de Santander S.A., ESSA, and the Bucaramanga Chamber of Commerce, CCB.
The diploma course is part of the Pact for Education, an initiative led by the CCB since 2015, which seeks to strengthen human talent with the skills demanded by the regional productive sector. In addition, the project is integrated to ESSA’s corporate social responsibility programs.
During this stage, teachers received methodological tools to transform their teaching practices, especially in the areas of electricity and electronics, which are part of the ITIS specialties.
“This model has already been successfully implemented in institutions such as Colegio Técnico Dámaso Zapata, and now comes to ITIS thanks to its experience and technical capacity. The objective is to renew and strengthen the educational processes with a comprehensive and updated vision,” explained José Alejandro Amaya Palacio, director of the School of Electrical, Electronic and Telecommunications Engineering of the UIS.
The participation of the Chamber of Commerce has been fundamental to give continuity to the project. In this sense, Juan Hernando Puyana, vice-president of Human and Business Capital, stated that “we continue working so that the industrial sector has the qualified human talent it needs. These types of alliances allow us to directly impact the quality of technical education in the department”.
From ITIS, academic coordinator Andrés Tirado expressed his appreciation for this training, which is already beginning to be reflected in workshops such as industrial mechanics, metalwork, cabinetmaking, technical drawing, and now also in electricity and electronics. “We are taking firm steps towards the transformation of our practices. In the next phase we hope to have new laboratories and consolidate this change. During the Expoindustrial in August, on the occasion of our 60th anniversary, we will show these advances to the entire region,” he said.
This agreement between the UIS, ESSA and the CCB will continue with the delivery of laboratories and workbenches, which will strengthen the processes in the ITIS workshops. Undoubtedly a step in the modernization of technical education in the Communal Province.
