Schneider Electric creates a new centre of excellence in Colombia to further support its actions towards vocational training

Schneider Electric announces the signature of a three-way partnership agreement between the French Ministry for National Education, Higher Education and Research, and the Escuela Tecnologica Instituto Tecnico Central (ETITC) in Colombia. Under this agreement, a training centre of excellence will be set up in Colombia to develop knowledge and skills in the energy sector. It was signed on January 26, 2015, at the French Ministry for National Education, Higher Education and Research, during a ceremony attended by Jose Gregorio Contreras Fernandez rector of the ETITC, Geneviève Fioraso, Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research, and Gilles Vermot Desroches, Sustainability Senior Vice-President of Schneider Electric and Managing Director of the Schneider Electric Foundation.

Strong commitment, profitable approach
Through its foundation and its BipBoP energy access programme, Schneider Electric has launched a concrete initiative to support vocational training in various countries. In Colombia, Schneider Electric previously set up a partnership with the Colombian National Apprenticeship Service (SENA) and the French Ministry of National Education’s Office of European and International Relations and Cooperation (DREIC) to update the training programmes in line with the market’s real needs. This successful collaboration enabled to further develop the Bogota training centre and paved the way for a national action plan to ramp up the number of projects in other cities across the country.

The centre of excellence will be installed in premises made available by the ETITC. The French Ministry for National Education, Higher Education and Research will offer technical and teaching expertise, with a French teacher made available in Colombia. More specifically, Schneider Electric will provide training for the teaching staff and equipment, solutions and training resources.

This agreement is one of the measures put in place by the French Ministry for National Education to create a network of centres of excellence for technical training abroad in order to:

• Support ETITC to sustain  its goal to become a technological university;
• Develop ETITC academic community’s skills in terms of energy management and industrial process automation;
• Carry out a comprehensive review and put programs and laboratories in place for  ETITC, focusing on training in the energy sector;
• Offer university-level training in energy management and industrial process automation;
• Bring together the resources and experience needed in order to update  professional skills and knowledge of teaching staff and students in the electricity sector, particularly by developing new technological approaches and training methodologies, as well as modernizing the training facilities;
• Update training programmes in this area;
• Facilitate access to these training programs for underprivileged young people from the various communities.

With this agreement, the French Ministry for National Education, Higher Education and Research, the Escuela Tecnologica Instituto Tecnico Central (ETITC) and Schneider Electric have set out their respective commitments to promote and benefit from academic, scientific and technological cooperation through their shared experiences.

About Schneider Electric
A global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries, Schneider Electric offers integrated solutions across multiple market segments and has leading positions in Utilities & Infrastructures, Industries & Machine Manufacturers, Non-residential Buildings, Data Centres & Networks and the Residential sector. Focused on making energy safe, reliable, efficient, productive and green, the Group’s 150,000-plus employees achieved sales of 24 billion euros in 2013, through an active commitment to helping individuals and organisations make the most of their energy.
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