Argentina Programs: In 24 hours more than 124,000 people signed up to learn to program

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – More than 124,000 people signed up for programming training on the first day of the new call for applications of “Argentina Programa”, a training initiative of the Ministry of Productive Development that seeks to facilitate labor insertion in the software industry.

“Argentina Programa” is a free training course carried out virtually and asynchronously, consisting of two stages.

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In the first, #SéProgramar [I know how to program], students learn the basics of programming; currently, some 20,000 people are being trained in programming-related topics. While in the second, #YoProgramo [I program], they acquire skills and tools to become a programmer; currently, more than 700 people are being trained.

Of the total, 322 Banco Nación Cards have already been granted, each one with a ARS100,000 subsidy to purchase computers and, in addition, an incentive from Enacom that will grant cards for free Internet connection.

Those who pass the final exam will receive a piece of basic knowledge in programming certificate endorsed by the National Ministry of Productive Development and the Argentine Chamber of the Software Industry (Cessi).

“Argentina Programa is an instance of recruitment that we want to transform into a right so that everyone can access and learn to program to generate quality work, which has a positive impact on the development of a more egalitarian Argentina,” highlighted the Undersecretary of Knowledge Economy, María Apólito.

In its first call, “Argentina Programa” had 65,000 applicants. More than 4,000 accessed the vacancies for students with no previous knowledge in programming, with a gender perspective and federal scope criteria, and 1,403 passed the course.

In 2019, the Knowledge Economy industry generated exports for US$6.03 billion; it is the third export pole of the country, behind the soybean and automotive complexes; and it, directly and indirectly, employs some 450,000 people and can generate more than 100,000 jobs.

Ninety percent of the jobs require workers to have digital skills, and software development is one of the fastest-growing branches in terms of employment generation.

Currently, this industry has more than 9,000 open searches for well-paying jobs with the possibility of professional growth.

According to Abeceb’s sectoral economist, Santiago Manoukian, by March 2021, the average remuneration of a worker in the knowledge services sector was ARS102,500, 20% more than for the rest of the country’s private staffing. “Wages in this sector have to grow more than the rest,” the economist pointed out.

Within the sector, the juiciest salaries are in computer activities (ARS$175,400 on average), computer consultants and software supplies (ARS132,000), and advertising services (ARS112,000).

HOW TO REGISTER

To register, it is necessary to access the Ministry of Productive Developmewebsite and go to the Argentina Program application. Once there, the system will ask for some data such as name, age, marital status and other information to know the applicant’s socioeconomic situation: if he/she is working or not, what are his/her working conditions, if he/she is satisfied with his/her job, among other questions.

To access the application it is necessary to have a minimum knowledge of e-mail, web browsing, keyboard and basic mathematical functions; have access to the Internet and a computer; reside in Argentina and be over 17 years of age. The official application form is already available on the official website of the Ministry of Productive Development.

Once the application has been completed, the productive portfolio will send an e-mail within the next seven days to the applicant to confirm the process and with a first test. The official programming course has a first “filter” stage and two training stages.

One of the main ideas of Argentina Program is that those who are about to finish their training can be “recruited” by the companies that need that labor force.

According to official sources, they even plan that in the last part of the course, companies can incorporate what they call a “facilitator” who will get to know the students, who can provide them with exercises and work methods needed by each company to increase the employability of the applicant once he/she graduates.

This is explained because one of the postulates of the current Knowledge Economy law determined that in order for companies to be registered in the regime and be beneficiaries of tax incentives, they were required to allocate part of their investment in training. The companies that act with “facilitators” could consider this requirement of the law to be fulfilled, they indicated.