About 350 students have already participated in the free courses in new technologies of Benidorm TIC

Benidorm TIC, the media literacy program of the Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development Strategy (EDUSI) of Benidorm, has already reached 342 students. After starting classes at the beginning of September, this ambitious program in new technologies already offers courses in the use of the Internet, basic computing, digital skills for people with functional diversity, and handling smartphones for all types of groups.

"Only in its first month in operation, more than 300 students have enrolled in the free courses in new technologies of the Benidorm TIC program," declared the mayor of Benidorm Toni Pérez. "Our goal with this free educational initiative was to reduce the digital gap of groups at risk of exclusion and we are achieving it by far."

The students registered so far belong to groups as diverse as retired associations, people with functional diversity, or students at risk of exclusion who, thanks to Benidorm TIC, can continue training completely free of charge. According to the satisfaction surveys carried out, 100% of the students would recommend the Benidorm ICT courses and 88% are satisfied or very satisfied with the training received.

"At the moment, only a dozen courses of the more than 100 that are planned in Benidorm TIC have been carried out or started," explained the mayor. "The complete and varied offer of courses, their duration of up to 40 hours, and the strong social character make Benidorm TIC a pioneering educational initiative in the Valencian Community".

The free courses, aimed at residents of Benidorm with difficulties in accessing these technological tools, are being developed in classrooms of municipal offices such as the training classrooms of Benidorm City Council, the Pepita Puchades Training Center for Employment, and the social centers of La Turret and José Llorca Linares. The investment of Benidorm TIC, which amounts to 139,939 euros and has the financing of 50% of the European ERDF funds, has also covered the equipment of fixed and portable computers with which the students take the courses.

The initiative, which follows Benidorm's line of betting on quality education as a tool for social integration, responds to the second thematic objective of EDUSI Benidorm, which seeks to "improve the use and quality of information and communication technologies" to contribute to “social inclusion and the fight against poverty”.
ABOUT THE EDUSI OF BENIDORM:

The Pluriregional Operational Program of Spain 2014-2020, and the Operational Program for Sustainable Growth (POCS) promote the DUSI strategy, for Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development, of which Benidorm, as established by the Resolution of May 4, 2018, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) of the Order of the Third Call HFP/888/2017, has managed to opt for and obtain financing from the FEDER aid of 10 Million Euros, through its EDUSI BENIDORM strategy.

The EDUSI BENIDORM is made up of a series of thematic, specific, strategic, and operational objectives, encompassed through 13 Lines of Action, whose social, environmental, economic, and urban impact on the city aims to transform a delimited urban area of ​​the city into the to intervene and regenerate comprehensively, for the sake of producing an impact and global improvement in the city.