The round table was held as part of the Social Responsibility of The Chamber of Mines of Peru.
In its constant search to optimize the educational panorama related to the extractive sector, The Chamber of Mines of Peru brought together more than 60 university deans and authorities from the north, center and south of Peru, as well as from the Colombian educational sector, in a round table.
The objective of this round table was to analyze the current training scenario and present alternative solutions to improve the training of future workers in the sector. This event, unprecedented in Peru, was held on June 24 and 25 at the Bolognesi Hall of the Congress of Peru and was entirely financed by The Chamber of Mines of Peru.
The members of the Board of Directors and Advisory Council of The Chamber of Mines of Peru, headed by its CEO, engineer César Gallardo, led the development of this round table.
Representatives from Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Universidad Nacional de San Agustín of Arequipa, Universidad Nacional Alcides Carrión (Cerro de Pasco), Universidad Micaela Bastidas de Apurímac, Universidad Nacional del Altiplano (Puno), Universidad Nacional de Cajamarca, Universidad Nacional San Cristóbal de Huamanga also participated.
Likewise representatives from Universidad Andina Néstor Cáceres Velásquez (Juliaca), Universidad Nacional del Centro del Perú (Huancayo), Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, Universidad Nacional Amazónica de Madre de Dios, as well as Universidad Nacional del Santa (Chimbote), Universidad César Vallejo of Trujillo, Universidad Santiago Antúnez de Mayolo (Huaraz), Universidad Jorge Basadre Grohmann of Tacna and Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
“We are interested in listening to the needs of the institutions because this way we can develop an action plan and analyze the best way in which we, as The Chamber of Mines of Peru, can
contribute to improve aspects such as curriculum planning, and create bridges to enhance the access of students to pre-professional internships and also guarantee a better infrastructure”, said engineer César Gallardo Vela, CEO of The Chamber of Mines of Peru who also added that it was important to promote the development of research.
“For us, training is not enough; it is also important to work on research, innovation and creativity, since we live in a country and in a world in permanent change and the only way to face this successfully is by developing different innovation strategies, which is what The Chamber of Mines of Peru promotes, both in Peru and in the rest of Latin America.”
As part of this round table, a series of activities were carried out, including the development of a SWOT analysis, led by MBA Kurt Goldman Zuloaga, Training Advisor of our institution.
In this regard, Dr. José Noguera Gómez, Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Gran Colombia Gold Corporation and professor of Mining Geopolitics, Mining, Energy and Government Relations at Universidad Sergio Arboleda of Colombia, referred to the characteristics and skills that future professionals in the sector need to develop.
“Workers within the mining field require comprehensive and ethical training, where natural skills and abilities are prioritized, as well as a constant social and environmental commitment.”
Within this exercise, it was also observed that currently there is little or practically no promotion of research by the teaching staff. This is one of the main differences in the educational model of Peru and Colombia, in relation to other countries such as Chile, where research is a central theme in the education of young students and teachers are properly trained to promote this activity among their students.
For this reason, this round table established that, in the coming months, The Chamber of Mines of Peru will carry out a series of activities to contribute to improve the training of deans, directors, teachers and students in each of the respective national and international universities.
The development of this initiative was approved by the deans and university authorities; such is the case of the Dean of the Faculty of Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Engineering of Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Dr. Carlos Franco Méndez.
“These types of events are very valuable to establish stronger bridges between the university community and the mining industry, in order to produce an efficient development of mining for the benefit of all of Peru”, said Dr. Méndez.
Engineer Celso Quispe Ojeda, Director of the School of Environmental Engineering of Universidad José Faustino Sánchez Carrión of Huacho, said:
“This event is important because it empowers us directors and teachers to be able to provide a better service to our students, because through the implementation of innovation we can instill an entrepreneurial level education in our students.”
Another highlight of this event of unquestionable importance for the optimization of the mining sector is the initiative presented by The Chamber of Mines of Peru to establish support and collaboration agreements with the main universities related to the extractive sector. This possibility was welcomed by the deans and directors.
“The initiative of The Chamber of Mines to approach universities is very important. We hope that in the shortest possible time an agreement can be established with The Chamber of Mines of Peru, so that it can help us in the development and projection of future professionals”, said Dr. Raúl Soto Pérez, Director of the School of Metallurgy of Universidad Jorge Basadre Grohmann of Tacna.
The Dean of the Faculty of Mining Engineering of Universidad Nacional del Altiplano (Puno), engineer Oscar Yanque Maquera, mentioned that “the
invitation to this type of event is a unique opportunity to establish strategic alliances with leading institutions such as The Chamber of Mines of Peru. The possibility of establishing an agreement is important to promote research studies that are so lacking in universities, especially in the provinces, where we do not have all the technological resources or infrastructure. For this reason, I am appreciate the invitation of The Chamber of Mines to our institution”.
During the second day of this round table, The Chamber of Mines of Peru organized a visit to the facilities of the Museum Andrés del Castillo, owned by engineer Guido del Castillo Echegaray, CEO of Minera Aruntani.
At the site, the deans and other university authorities were able to witness the most important collection of crystallized minerals that exists in Peru. This sample is composed of admirable pieces of various shapes, sizes and colors, gathered entirely in the Peruvian territory.
“The convening power of The Chamber of Mines of Peru is remarkable, and this is reflected in the number of representatives from different universities that have gathered at this important event. The work carried out has been of the highest level, from the group exercises to the visit to this important museum. To be honest, I am greatly impressed. I hope that this type of activities will serve to establish bridges that will generate an exchange of students and professors between Peru and Colombia”, said engineer Néstor Rojas Reyes, Director of the Materials and Minerals Department of Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
At the end of the visit, the deans and other authorities enjoyed a fellowship lunch in which engineer César Gallardo thanked the collaboration of distinguished personalities who contributed to the organization of this important event.
“I would like to thank my friend, engineer Guido del Castillo, for giving us access to this important museum, and to each of you for your presence; also, I would like to tell you that this is only the beginning of the activities that The Chamber of Mines of Peru is carrying out to contribute to the development of Peru and Latin America so that students and teachers have a more adequate training, and thus achieve the consolidation of mining.”
Through the organization of this type of events, The Chamber of Mines of Peru contributes permanently to the consolidation of a mining activity where future generations of workers have the necessary tools and knowledge to guarantee the sustainable development of the sector.
