The program, which starts at the Faculty of Education and Social Work on the Ourense campus, seeks to improve the low figures of access to higher education for this group, as only around 3% of young people leaving the Xunta's child protection system manage to pursue post-compulsory studies such as university.
Pias is conceived as "a tool for cooperation between the University and the organizations and institutions involved in adolescent protection," explained the rector, Carmen García Mateo, who emphasized that public universities "must continue to be one of the great social elevators of our society" and that "it is not enough to keep the doors of the university open; we must ensure that all people have a real possibility of accessing it".
The director general of Family, Childhood and Demographic Dynamics of the Xunta, Jacobo Rey, highlighted the importance of inter-institutional collaboration and noted that there are approximately 2500 minors in Galicia in the protection system, calling those who reach university life true "heroes and heroines." The program aims to facilitate their path, with a qualitative impact on the vulnerable group.
The dean of the Faculty of Education and Social Work, Isabel Mociño, and the director of the Diversity Unit at UVigo, Raquel Rey, joined in expressing satisfaction with the program, which seeks to "break down the barriers of exclusion" and "guarantee the necessary support so that initial inequality does not determine the future".
Deibe Fernández Simo, the professor responsible for the program, detailed the four lines of action: individualized information and support activities, guidance for accessing scholarships and grants, residential support measures in university residences, and the organization of training and awareness-raising activities for university staff and child protection system professionals.
