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"Discover your vocation" - The first Bolivian app to help young people discover their future profession

Bolivia
Initial vocational education and training
01.09.2021
Since 2019, Swisscontact promoted the development of a free application which guides high school graduates in Bolivia in choosing their vocational training. Around 10,500 young people have downloaded the app in the country, of which 5,855 are women and 4,730 men. It allows young users to find out about requirements needed for the future profession they may choose. 

Every year, around 196,000 students graduate from high school in Bolivia. At that point, many of them are not sure about which profession they want to pursue, especially in times of a pandemic where there are increasingly more school dropouts. In this sense, the application "Discover your vocation" (Descubre tu Vocación) takes into account the preferences entered by the high school graduates, pointing out a suitable career path or a training process, thereby encouraging them not to drop out of the higher education system.

In the 43 municipalities where the Professional Technical Training project works, the app was promoted in the 72 training centres that are supported by the project. It was so well received that teachers as well as local municipal authorities have become allies in promoting the use of the app through publicity spots and by sharing it directly with secondary school students.

"This application is very important because many of us do not yet have an exact idea of the degree we want to study for and we don’t have information about all technical institutes, so this application will be very useful to us. I know that in other places you have to pay for a vocational test, but with the application that was we can see that we have three different course options."
Paola Espejo, a high school 6th grader of the Juan Pablo II "B" Educational Unit in the city of La Paz

During the promotion of the app in the Juan Pablo II “B” Educational Unit in the city of La Paz, Professor Raúl Singa, Rector of the “Mirikiri” Higher Technological Institute, said: 

“We want the high school students to know that there are technological technical training opportunities and we want them to consider it as a great study option. Therefore, we cordially invite young men and women to become part of our study centre.”

An app that includes aptitude tests as well as information on available technical training centres

Lucia Marquez, advisor to the Professional Technical Training project, explains that the app contains a quick test and provides an automatic vocational training response. This allows pupils completing their high school studies to find quick, valuable, and alternative information that will allow them to make a decision for their future professional life. She clarifies that the app was built by combining two tests; the well-known vocational orientation test CHASIDE which is applied internationally, and the test for multiple intelligences. 

It is the only app in the country that includes details on higher technical training centres in different regions. For example, it shows the contact information of Technological Technical Institutes where they can choose technical careers (trainings of two or three years), Alternative Education Centres (one to two semesters and one year) and, in the case of undergraduate degrees, Universities according to the areas of interest identified by the test.

"We want to help our graduating students so they can choose a professional career that will develop them further so that, based on their knowledge, they will be able to contribute to their community. We believe that a technical career is an option for young people, you just have to make the options known, and you have to promote them continuously."
Prof. Crisostomo Tarqui, director of the Juan Pablo II" B "Educational Unit

The design of the application has been promoted by the Professional Technical Training project of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation since 2019. The project is implemented by a consortium of Swisscontact and FAUTAPO The Education for Development Foundation in collaboration with the local implementing partners Educational Multi-Service Centre CEMSE - Área de Educación and FAUTAPO consortium.

The app "Descubre tu Vocación" can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or accessed via https://oev-app.firebaseapp.com/

Watch a video preview of the app (in Spanish):