Cargando...After many years in the bowels of the Antonio Guiteras colossus, Idelmeris Ávila Zaldívar has retraced his steps and experiences in technical and vocational training, and is now happy to train new generations of workers.
«I am a professor in the Department of Agroindustry at the Oscar Alberto Ortega Lora Industrial Polytechnic (IPI), in Delicias, in the municipality of Puerto Padre, where I teach Unit Operations and Sugar Analysis, and right now we are doing cooperative internships.
He says the students act as if they are already workers, but under the guidance of experienced workers, so they are trained in a safe way.
Shared Emotions
Idelmeris assures that at this stage two other groups, with more than 20 students each, are doing their internship, stressing: «Here, the doors are open to us and we are well looked after, with the requirement that we comply to the letter with occupational health and safety measures and with the discipline to guarantee our physical integrity due to the complexity of the work».
In the student areas, they act as if they were already workers in the mill, although to a certain extent they are because of the tasks they undertake, and so they are trained in the requirements of the trades that are essential for the proper functioning of the complex technology and the manufacturing process.
From the classroom to the Industry
In the sugar mill, young Brayan Pérez Polo feels like a fish in water. He was born and raised in Delicias, surrounded by people with a deep-rooted sugar vocation, founded by a colossus that has long been the pride of the community, the province and the country.
Brayan, who is studying to become a sugar technician and is already in his third year at the Industrial Polytechnic (IPI), affirms that «since the first year, I have been combining theory with practice here at the sugar mill, which is very useful because we learn a lot of things that are necessary for our future working life».
He appreciates the importance of the career he has chosen and is excited to be preparing to work in this industry and to be able to contribute a «grain of sugar» to the recovery of the sector and the production of an essential item for the national economy.
Inside the Forge
Master of Science José Lorenzo Hernández, director of IPI, has entered the school with the same solidity of the structures of the old building, which, despite the passage of time, has maintained its attractive exterior.
We spoke as if we had known each other all our lives. He is a consecrated educator who arrived at the Center on October 24, 2024, full of positive energies to give continuity to the teaching-educational process and to keep the formation of new generations at a high level.
«We have full coverage of the teaching staff and all the programs covered,» he says, emphasizing that in the agro-industrial sector – the academic institution’s strength due to the peculiarities of the territory – they have specialized and categorized professors, «it’s a strength because they contribute to the sustainability of the workforce in these fronts of local economic development,» he says.
Enrollment, the Program
At the center, 86 instructors and 23 service personnel ensure the quality and efficiency of training for the 396 students enrolled in the eight middle-level technical and skilled trades specialties.
All of them prioritize the development of skills and values in the exercise of their future professions in strategic programs of the nation related to agro-industrial activities, mainly related to the sugar industry.
«In Sugar Manufacturing Technology we prepare 64 students and they are present in the three years of the career, and we also train in Sugar Machinery and Industrial Mechanic, but there are others that benefit the sector,» says Lorenzo Hernandez and speaks of intermediate technicians in Accounting, Human Capital Management and Logistics.
They also lead learning in essential areas such as social work, civil engineering and electricity, the latter focusing on the promotion of works aimed at the use of renewable energy sources.
Attached Classrooms and Future…
The knowledge imparted in the classroom is just as important as the knowledge acquired through direct contact with potential jobs: «They are essential to the goal of completing the training,» notes Lorenzo Hernández.
In order to achieve the objectives, they have annexed classrooms through agreements signed with Azcuba, Mincons, Public Health, Transportation, Education and Municipalities, and relations are very good».
In the coming school year, they foresee an enrollment of 536 students and the incorporation of the specialties of Thermoenergetics and Transportation Operations, in response to the local need for professionals in these branches of knowledge.
«We think it’s possible,» emphasizes Master of Science José Lorenzo Hernández, director of IPI, as spokesman for a collective that characterizes:
«They are very committed, very responsible. They put aside the daily problems that burden them, such as the difficult access to cash for their salaries, blackouts, transportation, high prices … and they are still here, at the blackboard, always with the desire to improve the teaching-educational process and raise the quality of our graduates, seeking their best contribution to the economic and social development of the territory, «he said.
Acerca del autor
Licenciado en Periodismo (Universidad de Oriente, 1986), máster en Ciencias de la Comunicación (Facultad de Comunicación Universidad de La Habana, 2010). Inició como colaborador (1999) y desde el 2008 es corresponsal de Las Tunas. Profesor adjunto de la Universidad de Las Tunas con categoría de asistente. Cumplió misión en la República de Haití (2000) y en la República Bolivariana de Venezuela (2018-2021). Es colaborar del Periódico 26 y de la emisora provincial Radio Victoria.
