Download Good afternoon, I am Efraín Gonzales de Olarte, Vice

Good afternoon,
I am Efraín Gonzales de Olarte, Vice-Rector of the PUCP.
I wish to thank PROPARCO for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today.
The issue of employability of young graduates is of great importance to the PUCP. The
economic context of the last 12 years in Peru has been one considerable growth, leading to
great demand for skilled, university-trained workers. The PUCP has adapted its teachings to
the changing needs of the labour market and to social requirements for knowledge that come
with economic transformation.
Evidently, the labour market in Peru today is completely different from what we have seen in
the past. Its most prominent feature is perhaps the changing nature of the careers and
specialisations that public- and private-sector employers expect.
In view of such developments, the PUCP has dedicated strategy, based on four main
pillars. First, the curricula we implement are very flexible and we ensure that the 47 different
career options we offer are in keeping with social and professional realities. Our goal is that
our graduates, throughout their working life, be able to work different areas and industries, in
order to seize the best opportunities.
The second pillar of our strategy is a conjunction of fundamental and technical skills. Please
allow me to return to this point later.
The third pillar of our strategy is the international dimension of the training we offer. We have
established exchange programmes with several foreign universities, which allow our students
and graduates to develop a comprehensive view of the professional challenges they will
encounter.
Lastly, the fourth pillar of our model is the system of continuous and open learning, which
complements initial education at the PUCP. Having received a first degree and having left the
university, students can later study for an additional diploma (a master's degree, a secondary
degree, a specialization programme, an in-depth training course). By offering this service, we
hope to stay by our students’ side, well into their professional life.
We also have an open university for those who wish to develop new skills or learn new
subjects. This also allows us to confront the needs of the labour market, which are typically
very changing, given the fast economic growth in Peru and the realities of globalization.
To return to the second pillar of our strategy, it is very important to us that our students
develop certain fundamental skills:
 Languages are the first of these. Each of our graduates, having studied for 5 years at
the PUCP, must speak English as a minimum. In addition, we teach several other
foreign languages (5-6 languages in total) and we expect that our post-graduate
students know at least 3 languages upon graduation.
 Logical reasoning and mathematics are, of course, fundamental, be it for science
majors and engineers or indeed students of the humanities and social sciences.
 Communication is further skill that we encourage, along three lines: oral
communication, written communication and information and communications
technology (ICT).
 We are also very attentive to what we call “additional learning”. Today, there is a vast
amount of information in the so-called “cloud”. We want our students to make use of
this additional knowledge in a critical and organized way. By doing so, students can
continue to learn long after leaving the PUCP.
 Teamwork and project work are also very important to us. We want to offer our
students the ability to work with others and share their views, in an interdisciplinary
way, which is one of the main characteristics of our academic model.
 Finally, we attach great importance to ethics, morality, citizenship and social
awareness. We are, of course, a Catholic and Christian university and it is very
important to us that tuition is based on certain fundamental ethical principles.
To further our policy of matching education with employment, we have built an observatory
of new careers and as well as labour exchange that allows students and graduates find a job
more easily after completing their training, in the public or private sector.
Thank you very much for your attention. We would be honoured to welcome you to Peru and
show you, first hand, our university.