Gov’t, Automeca sign post-secondary technical studies pact
By John McPhaul
jpmcphaul@gmail.com
Automeca Technical College and the Department of Education recently signed a collaborative agree-ment that guarantees the creation of an innovative educational program aimed at offering post-secondary technical studies to 11th and 12th graders enrolled in vocational schools throughout the island.
The program’s main objective is to help students continue their technical preparation after graduating from high school and achieve a technical degree at Automeca Technical College, a recognized post-secondary educa-tional institution specializing in the automotive industry.
“With this new educational tool we help hundreds of young Puerto Ricans to continue with their academic goals by acquiring quality technical preparation with-in one of the industries with the greatest demand and growth,” Automeca Technical College President María Pagán said in a written statement.
The program will offer the tools, work structures and resources necessary to effectively articulate the transition of students from high school to the post-secondary level. Automeca Technical College will offer the students up to a maximum of nine credits of general basic courses or basic concentration courses at the post-secondary level, per academic year, within their program of studies in the specialties of: Technology in Mechanics, Advanced Automotive Technology, Advanced Marine Mechanical Technology, Diesel Technology and Advanced Systems, Automotive Collision Repair Technology, Automotive Electromechanical Technology, and Automatic Trans-mission Technology.
“The opportunity that this collaborative agreement offers us represents a great challenge for us that we accept with a high sense of responsibility,” Pagán said. “The effort made by all our administrative employees and especially our team of teachers is offset by the opportunity to provide future post-secondary students with the opportunity to learn more about the automotive industry.”
Automeca Technical College has campuses in Bayamón, Ponce, Aguadilla, Caguas and a Fajardo satellite center. It is authorized by the Board of Postsec-ondary Institutions (formerly the Puerto Rico Council of Education) to operate through the respective licenses on its campuses and is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges.
It is duly approved by the Veterans Educational Services Agency and the Department of Labor and Hu-man Resources’ Vocational Rehabilitation Program. In addition, it maintains alliances with large companies in the automotive industry to which its students have access to broaden their educational and work experience in various areas of mechanics. Automeca additionally provides its students with specialized laboratories, workshops, and state-of-the-art facilities that offer a real teaching scenario.