There is a difference between knowing a technique and being able to apply it.
Between knowing how something is done and being able to do it well. It is in this difference
that knowledge becomes competence: when what is learned can be applied, improved and used to solve real-world problems.
At ADPP Vocational School Bissorã, learning also means doing.
Established in 1997, the school was created with the purpose of equipping young people with technical and entrepreneurial skills, providing them with the tools to respond to professional challenges and contribute to the development of their communities.
Over the years, thousands of young people have attended the school. EVB combines theoretical knowledge with practical experience, seeking to keep training connected to the needs of young people and the professional realities of the country. The schools own history reflects this commitment to applied learning: technical training has been updated to respond to new areas and needs, including electricity and solar energy.
Vocational training does not end with acquiring knowledge. It is necessary to know how to apply, experiment, improve and find solutions to real-world situations. It is this process that allows learning to become competence.
And this competence can open up different pathways.
One example is the story of Fatumata Fate, a former EVB student. After completing her training in Electricity, she works as an electrician and carries out solar panel maintenance. Her experience shows, in a concrete way, what can happen when a technical skill moves from training into professional life?
It is also within this pathway that a new training programme will begin at ADPP Vocational School Bissorã: Electricity, Solar Energy and Entrepreneurship, exclusively for young women. The initiative is being implemented under the Solar Energy Access and Expansion Project (SESAP), funded by the World Bank, and will provide training for 56 young women.
The focus is significant: strengthening women's access to technical skills in an area where their presence remains limited, creating new opportunities for learning, specialisation and participation in the energy sector.
Because competence is not measured only by what we know.
It is measured by what we are able to do with what we have learned.