This year in May, the first generation of young bankers successfully completed the first pilot course of dual vocational training for financial consultants in Latin America. In July, the second training round organised by the finance group FEDECRÉDITO under the auspices of the Sparkassenstiftung für internationale Kooperation (Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation) was launched. In El Salvador, this dual vocational training programme takes two years.

In the next two years, 22 new apprentices will be trained at 15 institutions and acquire all skills relevant for an encompassing and profound financial consulting of customers. The framework curriculum of the training programme has been extended and now includes all other important fields of operation, a financial institution deals with. Thus, the young financial consultants are empowered to develop into sought-after specialists in all financial issues – an encouraging upshot of the first-generation pilot programme.

The introductory ceremony, which lasted an hour and a half, was attended by all executives of San Salvador’s association FEDECRÉDITO, the managing directors of all participating financial institutions, the representatives of Sparkassenstiftung and the new apprentices and their families. The President of FEDECRÉDITO, Macario Armando Rosales Rosa, welcomed the 22 new trainees and all the other guests. What will definitely stick in the trainees’ memories are the President’s motivating but also warning remarks about his own professional career: “If you want to be successful, you need to work hard – but it’s worth it.” You do not need to have a university degree to be successful in your job, Macario Armando Rosales Rosa could tell from his own experience. The career path from apprentice to president is not a fairy tale, but also within reach for newcomers. Rolf Grempel, Sparkassenstiftung’s Project Leader in Mexico and El Salvador, supported this message by underscoring that: “Success does not come by accident, but from consistent efforts”. Finally, Mónica López, Special Consultant for dual vocational training of Sparkassenstiftung’s Latin America team explained the process and methods of the training programme to give the new trainees and their family members an impression of the training route lying ahead of them.

The number of 22 apprentices, thereof eight females, was fortunately again achieved like in the first-generation course, which is attended by four female trainees. Another promising development lies in the fact that in addition to seven financial institutions, which have already participated in the first-generation training programme, eight new institutions have decided to take on apprentices within the scope of this year’s dual vocational training programme. “For us this is a recognition of our training programme and a good sign for the sustainability of our work”, emphasized Rolf Grempel.

The introduction of dual vocational training in the financial sector of El Salvador is unique within the eight project countries of the BMZ-backed regional project. Therefore, it serves as an outstanding model. At the beginning of 2017, the third round of dual vocational training will be launched with further new institutions taking part in this programme.

Contact partners:

Inka Rank / Carina Lau
Sparkassenstiftung für internationaleKooperation
Simrockstraße 4
53113 Bonn

Phone: +49 228 9703 6631 / 6608
Fax: +49 228 9703 6613