SENAI recognized by the UN

Our biggest educational partner, the National Service for Industrial Training, SENAI, has been recognized by the UN as one of the best educational institutions of the south hemisphere. This is great news for Dream Learn Work, as 65% of the courses we sponsor for our participants are at SENAI. We met with Andrea Marinho, SENAI’s Educational Director, to talk about this important recognition and the organization´s strategies for the future.

In recent years, SENAI has actively participated in the implementation of the South-South and Triangular Cooperation. South-South Cooperation is an exchange of knowledge and resources in a diversity of areas, between players in developing nations. Triangular Cooperation (TC) involves two or more developing countries in collaboration with a third party, typically a developed country government or organization, contributing to the exchanges with its own knowledge and resources. This participation enables great international collaboration and access to new technologies.

“SENAI has been created to meet the needs of our industrial revolution, educating people to support the industrialization of the country. Our Board of Director is constituted by businessmen, and course curriculum and portfolios are established with the participation of the industry and to meet skilled labour needs,” Andrea explains.

Because of its links with the industry, SENAI often research nationally and internationally for production processes that are trending in the world. This is then reproduced in terms of equipments and training. An example is the LEAN Manufacturing method that focuses on the efficiency of processes. It is a method where the central objective of all actions is to deliver the most value with the least amount of resources possible. Andrea said that “as from next year, SENAI´s Technical in Mechanics course will include a LEAN Manufacturing module. Not all companies have this manufacturing method in place, but it is the future of production.”

SENAI main focus is on vocational training within a wide range of areas. Some are more established and others are the result of the changes in the labour market. One thing these areas all have in common is that through these courses young people are a step closer to the world of work.

Dream Learn Work has a strong partnership with SENAI and as from 2013 we started diversifying the courses offered. “We are also diversifying, the creative industry is an example of our investments in other prominent sector”. Another way to diversify is offering certification services to several areas. Andrea said that “evaluation systems have been put in place and for the young person has practical knowledge as a welder, or as a dressmaker, or as an automotive mechanic, but do not have a certificate, he/she can sit specific exams and earn a certificate recognized by the industry.”

We have learnt that SENAI is undergoing a review of its entire portfolio of courses and have already removed a numbers of courses, some outdated and others had new versions already. New professional profiles are being developed through the sectoral technical committees that are made up of companies and experts from different areas.

”It is difficult to predict what the future holds, but we know, for example, that the oil and gas industry will be active again in Rio de Janeiro. The focus will be different and there is no way to tell when this will happen, but it will. A team from Senai was at OTC in Houston and we know that companies will return to work in this market, maybe not this year but in the future and we need to prepare for this demand. We are studying, thinking about the future. I do not know if we will grow in terms of number of courses offered, but surely, we are, all the time, evolving and transforming to support the industry and keep us relevant,” the educational director explains.

This is very good news for Dream Learn Work, as we have also been created by companies to give opportunities to youngsters from less developed areas. One of the objectives from the start was to educate skilled professionals to the labour market. This is an important factor to have in common with SENAI so we always have excellent results with the youngsters that study there.