The number of visitors to the Education, Training and Youth Fair surpassed the record of the previous edition. The debut of the Masters, Postgraduate and Executive Training Fair was a success.
The 16th edition of Qualifica – Education, Training and Youth Fair brought 42,206 people to Exponor – Porto International Fair, between March 12th and 15th, with a special predominance of young people from more than 500 schools from the North to the South of the country.
The number of visitors surpassed the record for the 2024 event (40,731), proving its growing attractiveness, which brought 160 exhibitors to the largest fair and congress venue in Portugal, located in Matosinhos, at a time when youth unemployment is at worrying levels, above 20 per cent.
“The Qualification is an event of undeniable importance, for what it represents and the impact that we hope it will have on the choices of the thousands of young people who passed through here and also in what is the need of our companies, resulting in a better use of the most valuable resource that Portugal has: its people. We cannot have a country with about 20% youth unemployment and the solution is to adapt supply to demand”, says Luís Miguel Ribeiro, chairman of the Exponor Board of Directors.
The event presented four distinct areas, including a Teaching Space – with professional outlets, higher education courses and technical-vocational offer -, a Vocational Guidance space, a Study Abroad Space and an Institutional Space.
“There was a very great receptivity of the visitors of Qualifica about our courses, knowing that we seek to constantly adjust our offer, with new areas of teaching, meeting the needs”, says Amélia Abreu, from the Rectory of the University of Porto.
“It is very important for the Portuguese Catholic University to be in events like Qualifica, where we can present and enlighten young people about the 19 academic units and more than 40 courses that we have to offer. Qualifica provides us with this contact with thousands of potential stakeholders, who can dispel all their doubts directly at the counters of the Faculties”, says Ana Vidal, Director of Marketing and Institutional Communication of the Portuguese Catholic University.
One of the novelties of this edition was the creation of an exclusive escape game, in partnership with ESCAPE IN, bringing visitors to the fair and exhibitors in an original and captivating way. “It was a fun, gamified way to take young people to see some stands. The main challenge was the risk backpack, with an associated logic: the backpack we carry has to have new learning every day”, recalls Carlos Ferraz, General Director of Escape In.
Held in conjunction with the Education, Training and Youth Fair, between Friday and Saturday, the 1st Master’s Hall, Post-Graduation and Executive Training received a more adult audience, interested in the proposals of 24 exhibitors, among business schools, universities and polytechnic institutes.
The growing need for lifelong learning, the theme of this edition of the event, was highlighted in the contacts between 1,332 visitors and representatives of institutions in the foyer of Pavilion 6 of the International Fair of Porto.
“It went very well, we had the effective interest of more than a hundred people in our advanced training”, summarizes Sara Costa, Head of the Division of Service and Attractiveness at the University of Coimbra, with a balance similar to Bruno Mata, Program Advisor of Nova SBE: “We had during these two days very enriching conversations. For example, a CEO who wants to do an Advanced Executive Master in Management and a professional who is in the 12th year and almost 60 years old, but who wants to continue on his learning journey. This is a trend that has been growing.”
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