Ternium held the groundbreaking ceremony for the Roberto Rocca Santa Cruz Technical School (ETRR) in Brazil on the 21st of this month. The event took place on a 16-hectare plot of land located near the company's plant, where the third educational center of the Roberto Rocca network will be established. The school is named after Roberto Rocca, who was a strong advocate for education as a tool for transformation and progress.
Paolo Rocca highlighted the transformative power of education during the ceremony: "Only through education can we achieve social and economic development, promoting well-being and reducing inequalities."
"All students will receive a unique education and will be prepared to enter the workforce, contributing to the region's development. This school shares the same values of our industrial culture: safety, the environment, excellence, innovation, and transparency," Rocca stated.
He reiterated the pride in the project and the company's commitment to education: "We have been operating in Santa Cruz since 2017. We have fully renovated 5 schools, awarded over a thousand young people for excellence in public education, and more than 5,000 children and young people participate in our projects daily. Private investment in education reinforces our contribution to the growth and development of the State of Rio de Janeiro and to the growth of the Brazilian industry."
The ceremony was also attended by the Governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro; the President of the Municipal Chamber of Rio de Janeiro, Carlo Caiado; the Municipal Secretary of Economic Development, Innovation, and Simplification of Rio de Janeiro, Chicão Bulhões; the CEO of Ternium, Máximo Vedoya; the President of Ternium Brazil, Titus Schaar; the Global Director of Community Relations for the Techint Group, Erika Bienek; the Director of the Ternium Institute, Fernanda Candeias; the Director of ETRR Santa Cruz, Julio Egreja, and other executives from Ternium and the Techint Group.
"Our schools have a significant impact on the community. Previously, in Pesquería, only 2 out of 10 children continued to high school. Today, almost 8 attend high school, and with the technical school, families have started to see the difference that education can make in their lives," said Vedoya. "I am very happy and proud that we can initiate this major project, which should be ready by early 2025. It's a significant challenge, but I have a lot of confidence in our people," he added.
According to Erika Bienek, investment in education is one of the pillars of Techint Group's project development worldwide: "Through education and a culture of effort and overcoming challenges, sustainable long-term development can be achieved."
"Today, we are launching a transformative project that will change the reality of many young people and their families. This is how our company operates; we are committed to growing alongside the community," said Fernanda Candeias.
For Governor Cláudio Castro, the partnership between public and private initiatives is a differential in promoting social development. "Ternium, which employs so many people and is already making a difference in the region's development, is investing in the most important raw material: our children. This project fills us with hope for the future of a region that needs initiatives like this. Thank you very much, and you can count on us to further strengthen this partnership," he affirmed.
The Roberto Rocca Technical School in Santa Cruz will offer a three-year technical training program with a focus on quality and excellence in education, specifically tailored to the industry. With nearly 9,000 square meters of built area and a total area of 160,000 square meters, the school will provide state-of-the-art equipment and a unique architectural design. Offering a total of 576 spots for technical programs in Mechatronics and Electromechanics, the inaugural class is scheduled to begin in the academic year of 2025. All students will receive some level of scholarship determined by socioeconomic criteria. The school will also serve as an educational hub, offering training for education professionals in the region. With an investment of R$ 210 million, the school is part of the Roberto Rocca Technical School network and is the third of the Techint Group, of which Ternium is a part. The group has two other schools, one in the city of Pesquería, Mexico, and another in Campana, Argentina.
During the ceremony, Paolo Rocca mentioned that out of the eight thousand people working at the industrial center of Ternium Brazil, 60% are residents of the region. He emphasized that this step represents progress for the community. "Our schools value merit and commitment to education in order to create opportunities for inclusion and social advancement in the communities where we operate," he concluded.
