Por Pablo Arranz 
The day on which these teachings will be discussed as a new opportunity coincides with the 40th anniversary of the implementation of this training.
The Adult Education Center Alto Guadalentín, which combines the municipalities of Lorca, Puerto Breras, and Mazarrón, has 1,400 students and 50 teachers.
Rosa María Medina Mínguez, Councilor for Education: «The initial profile of the first students who wanted to learn to read and write differs greatly from the current one, which seeks to enrich their knowledge and improve their technical or professional skills and reorient them.»
Friday, May 9, 2025. Lorca is once again hosting a massive day. Around 800 adult education students and teachers in the Murcia region will gather on Friday at the Margarita Lozano Auditorium, in the fairs, and at the well-known Ifeilor Palace, to discuss these teachings as a new opportunity. The regional meeting coincides with the 40th anniversary of the implementation of this training in the municipality, as emphasized by the Councilor for Education, Rosa María Medina Mínguez, who opened the day with Luis Quiñero Ruiz, general manager of vocational training, special regime education, and lifelong learning. At noon, they plan to join the Mayor, Fulgencio Gil Jódar, and the Minister of Education and Vocational Training, Víctor Javier Marín Navarro.
«Since the beginning of adult education in Lorca, many of the teachers who weekly carry out their responsibilities at the Adult Education Center in Alto Guadalentín can speak to us. Among them, their director, Francisco García Rodríguez, who was a direct witness to all those that took place in these four decades and who accompanied the United States,» «
He then mentioned that the economic weight of these teachings has practically decreased in the municipalities. They not only participated in the significant increase in the number of teachers but also in the local premises and the staff needed to open and close them. Now, the responsibility for this education lies with the regional government, through the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. The profile of that student differs greatly from the current one. The heading of these beginnings leaves no doubt: «The regional plan for adult literacy and education.» It was an effort to reduce the illiteracy rate that, in those years, exceeded 30 percent of the population of our municipality. «
In those years, he added, the teaching staff was dedicated to teaching students to read and write, although there were many responsible for preparing others to achieve their school diploma. «These profiles have changed a lot, fortunately. Adult education has evolved a lot and has done it better. Now, those who go to the different centers distributed throughout the regional geography are doing so to resume these studies. Studies that one day Aber Aberned and Chan to Fulte. The way to reintegrate into the learning process and achieve a recycling of knowledge. And they improve their knowledge and improve their knowledge and improve their knowledge.
The initial profile of the students, he insisted, has greatly reduced in age. «There are no longer as many adults, to the detriment of young people who see their profession with basic classes in commerce, cooking, and administration.»
For them, he explained, are added those who come to participate in initial access, secondary, university, and higher diploma classes. «Adult education has evolved a lot to adapt to the current needs of a population that is probably the best educated in history.»
And they offered data. «The results are tangible. 80 percent of students achieve the set goals. Dropout is minimal, especially in vocational training. And more and more are those who go to adult education at a curricular level.
Lorca remains one of the largest adult education centers in the Murcia region. «And the only one with greater access to distance learning, with 160 students studying remotely.» But we are not satisfied. We want to continue advancing so that many who have dropped out of their studies can resume, and adult education is a way to do it, due to its adaptability to our family and work life,» he added.
This meeting includes the round table, «Adult Education: A New Opportunity,» but also the award ceremony for the literary contest «I Was Here» and activities such as yoga workshops, scientific experiments, recycling, soap making, and ceramics. «Once again, our city is a series of massive events. Lorca is, for a time, the city of festivals, conferences, fairs, sports, musicals, dance, theater, and cutting-edge activities that Almanzora and Vélez show, but also those from the provinces of the region and the border,» said the mayor of education.
The participants will go to the wheel garden fairs where there will be a meal. «This after -Being will have the opportunity to visit the castle, the Old Town, and some of our many museums. It’s a taste of what Lorca is, so we’ll invite you to come back as soon as possible to enjoy what is still unknown to many and that, when appropriate, is just around the corner.»