As the training company behind their educational proposal, they are very happy to be able to contribute to this process which was largely done in person, going through different stages, and which had to be reinvented because of the pandemic.
We talked with Lucía Varela, Coordinator of the social area at ÁNIMA and Esteban Ventura, project coordinator at IDATHA, to know the details of Animín.
ÁNIMA is a technological high school born in 2016 with the aim of providing new educational opportunities and first experiences in the world of work to young people in Uruguay. It offers two study orientations (Administration and ICT) and incorporates the world of work as a quality learning space, complementary to the classroom.
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Its proposal is aimed at young people from vulnerable contexts, who are between 14 and 16 years old and want to study 4th, 5th and 6th year of high school in administration or ICT (computer science). "From the beginning, we have sought to encourage women to get to know the proposal and get closer to ICTs. In this sense, we are going to carry out small actions to bring them closer. This is the first year that we managed for the first time that the generation that entered was half women and half men in ICT. "Lucía tells us.
Pyxis supports ÁNIMA in 3 ways: as a Leader partner, as a training company and through annual SCRUM workshops. As a partner we support financially with an annual donation for the comprehensive training of students and as a training company we receive students to perform their training practice. Animín is one more case that results from this synergy. "We are proud to support them with our humanistic spirit. It motivates us to collaborate in reinventing their processes in such a changing world, which is deepening with the pandemic, and which demands new and innovative models", says Diego Sastre, CEO of Pyxis.
Applications vs quotas. Opportunity for Animín
"Every year we receive around 300 applications for 50 places. With the pandemic it was difficult for us to carry out the different stages (mostly face-to-face). We had to think of something virtual but at the same time in a medium that would ensure that we could reach everyone," says Lucía.
ÁNIMA learned about the chatbots developed by IDATHA both for the Municipality in the Digital Closeness program and for Enlace Solidario, a bot that connects people seeking help with institutions that provide assistance. "This could be interesting for Pre-ánima", they thought. And they contacted the Pyxis team. "It has the advantage of working via whatsapp and that gives us the peace of mind that it reaches everyone," says Lucía.
Stages of registration
The call for the registration process is divided into four phases: online registration form, online activities on Instagram, personal interviews with candidates and families, and final draw.
"This is the pre-enrollment stage. Here we give information to see if ÁNIMA is what they expect, if they qualify, and so on. We want them to know about the proposal and its requirements, as well as answer frequently asked questions," Esteban explains.
IDATHA took on the challenge of configuring the bot to inform and advise each interested party and then analyze whether their profile matches the one targeted by the baccalaureate. These chatbots incorporate intelligence or natural language processing (interpreting what the user is asking for) and is updated to include improvements and new answers as it progresses in its use. In this case, it provides information about different aspects of the ÁNIMA proposal through a whatsapp menu.
In addition to incorporating whatsapp as an accessible means to reach the applicants, ÁNIMA wanted to incorporate videos and some questions are answered by videos on Instagram (a network used by most of the young people), giving more richness and dynamism to the exchange.
The next stage, from September 10 to 20, is the Pre-anima activities stage. "Through the chatbot we will send broadcasts related to different challenges that the kids can do to prepare for the next stage, the personal interview," explains Lucía.
How does the process continue?
In ÁNIMA 153 young people are studying and for 2021 there is room for 50 new students (25 for administration and 25 for ICT). Registration will be open until Sunday, September 20. The application form can be accessed through the ÁNIMA website (anima.edu.uy), its social networks and WhatsApp 091808132 (Animín).
Pyxis and ÁNIMA plan to work on solutions that allow to share study alternatives to the young people who dedicated their time to the selection process and did not remain in this proposal.
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