Specialized education in tourism for students of the Margarita Cortes Educational Unit in Ecuador

Educación Especializada en turismo a estudiantes de la Unidad Educativa Fiscal Margarita Cortes en Ecuador

Salazar Tuárez, Emma Angelina; Sanchez Malat, Valdemar; Estupiñan Rodriguez, Luis David; Valdez Verduga, Jerson Ante

Emma Angelina Salazar Tuárez

emma.salazar@utelvt.edu.ec

Universidad Técnica Luis Vargas Torres de Esmeraldas Ecuador

Valdemar Sanchez Malat

valdemar.sanchez@utelvt.edu.ec

Universidad Técnica Luis Vargas Torres de Esmeraldas Ecuador

Luis David Estupiñan Rodriguez

luis.estupinan@utelvt.edu.ec

Universidad Técnica Luis Vargas Torres de Esmeraldas Ecuador

Jerson Ante Valdez Verduga

jerson.valdez@utelvt.edu.ec

Universidad Técnica Luis Vargas Torres de Esmeraldas Ecuador

Sinergias educativas

Universidad de Oriente, México

ISSN-e: 2661-6661

Periodicity: Semestral

vol. 7, no. 2, 2022

compasacademico@icloud.com

Received: 12 October 2021

Accepted: 07 January 2022

URL: http://portal.amelica.org/ameli/journal/382/38231463823146004/

Non-profit publishing model to preserve the academic and open nature of scientific communication

ePub generated from XML JATS4R

Abstract: The tourism activity originates a varied labor market, which involves different professional competencies that must be developed to meet the labor demand. The study aimed to analyze the Specialized Education in Tourism, for the technical baccalaureate in sales services and tourist information of the Margarita Cortes Fiscal Educational Unit, province of Esmeraldas, Ecuador; training given from July 15 to September 27, 2019, 160 synchronous hours; analyze the curriculum; occupational field of the technical baccalaureate in sales services and tourist information; indicators in tourism of establishments and employed personnel according to tourist activity. Constructivist paradigm, methodology with qualitative approach, hermeneutic method, exploratory, based on the development of skills and abilities of the students, analysis of the documentary review, interview to teachers of the educational unit. As a result, 23 university students of the tourism career of the Technical University Luis Vargas Torres of Esmeraldas, trained 69 students of the first, second and third year of technical high school. It is concluded that the curriculum of the professional figures of the technical baccalaureate in sales services and tourist information requires updating, adapting it to the context of the labor demand of the province, with the proposal to make the Specialized Education in Tourism viable.

Keywords: Tourism activity, specialized education, curriculum.

Resumen: La actividad turística origina un mercado laboral variado, que intervienen distintas competencias profesionales que deben desarrollarse para atender la demanda laboral. El estudio tuvo como objetivo analizar la Educación Especializada en Turismo, para el bachillerato técnico en servicios ventas e información turística de la Unidad Educativa Fiscal Margarita Cortes, provincia de Esmeraldas, Ecuador; capacitación impartida en el tiempo comprendido del 15 de julio al 27 de septiembre 2019, 160 horas sincrónicas; analizar la malla curricular; campo ocupacional del bachillerato técnico en servicios ventas e información turística; indicadores en turismo de establecimientos y personal ocupado según actividad turística. Paradigma constructivista, metodología con enfoque cualitativo, método hermenéutico, exploratorio, basado en el desarrollo de destrezas y habilidades de los estudiantes, análisis de la revisión documental, entrevista a docentes de la unidad educativa. Como resultado 23 estudiantes universitarios de la carrera de turismo de la Universidad Técnica Luis Vargas Torres de Esmeraldas, capacitaron a 69 estudiantes de primero, segundo y tercero de bachillerato técnico. Se concluye que el currículo de las figuras profesionales del bachillerato técnico en servicios ventas e información turística requiere actualización, adaptándola al contexto de la demanda laboral de la provincia, con la propuesta de viabilizar la Educación Especializada en Turismo.

Palabras clave: Actividad turística, educación especializada, currículo.

Introduction

Contribute to specialized education in tourism, to students of the technical high school, a profession that involves professional competencies that must be developed, especially when performing internships or work experience in tourism service establishments.

The different governmental efforts to strengthen technical training and the technical baccalaureate in particular have had the common objective of linking education with the productive sector, with (UNESCO, 2021).

With the aim of training young people with the necessary skills for employment, decent work, with a soul and entrepreneurial initiative.

In the 2030 Agenda it is fully embodied in Sustainable Development Goal 4: it aims to "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all". The Education 2030 agenda pays great attention to technical and vocational skills development, specifically in terms of access to affordable, quality technical and vocational education and training; the acquisition of technical and vocational skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship; eliminating gender disparities and ensuring access for vulnerable people (UNESCO, 2016).

As for Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), it can equip young people with the skills needed to enter the world of work, including skills for self-employment. It can also improve responsiveness to the changing skills demands of businesses and communities, and increase productivity and wage levels (UNESCO, 2016).

As cited UNESCO will provide advice to Member States and facilitate capacity building to make TVET more accessible to all disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, including through investments in information and communication technology, as an innovative means to expand access and participation rates (UNESCO, 2016).

Given the above conditions, the importance of specialized education in tourism in regular education institutions that offer technical vocational training, such as the Margarita Cortes Educational Unit, to achieve quality professional development, promoting their capabilities with inclusive educational centers, allowing the employability of the technical bachelor in the context of labor demand.

The purpose of the research is to analyze the specialized education in tourism for students, tourism indicators of establishments and personnel employed in tourism activities, and the curriculum of the technical baccalaureate in sales services and tourist information offered by the Margarita Cortes Fiscal Educational Unit, country Ecuador, in the province of Esmeraldas; Canton Esmeraldas; located in the urban parish of 5 de Agosto; type of regular education; educational level offered is initial, basic, high school; fiscal support and resources; coastal school system; Hispanic education; classroom mode; morning and afternoon; own tenancy of the property; land access.

The research, constructivist paradigm, qualitative approach, hermeneutic and exploratory method, based on the development of skills and abilities of students, analysis of documentary review of various sources and interviews with teachers of the educational unit. As a result, there was a need for an academic program in tourism with four modules on tourism administrative management, considering the activities with the highest demand for personnel, to train 69 students of technical high school in tourism, receiving four modules with a total of 160 synchronous academic hours. From July 15 to September 27, 2019, 23 university students from the tourism career of the Universidad Técnica Luis Vargas Torres de Esmeraldas (UTLVTE) participated as facilitators in the training.

The study is a product of the project of linkage with society entitled "Training of tourism students of the Margarita Cortés Fiscal Educational Unit of the Esmeraldas Canton". The research allows to verify the curriculum of the professional figures of the technical baccalaureate in sales services and tourist information, and the viability of the specialized education in tourism, in ordinary education units.

Specialized education "is aimed at children and young people with special educational needs associated with a disability (moderate, severe or profound) and who require specialized services. For this purpose, there is the National Model of Management and Attention for students with special educational needs associated with disability in specialized educational institutions and the National Bilingual Bicultural Educational Model for Persons with Hearing Impairment" (Ministerial Agreement No. MINEDUC-MINEDUC-2019-00057-A, art. 11) (Ministry of Education of Ecuador, 2020).

According to Waitoller (2020) cited in (Arnaiz et al., 2021), he considers that when measures to respond to the schooling of students with severe and permanent educational needs are more inclusive than special educational centers or therapeutic institutions, but separate students in differentiated classrooms, a paradox is created for inclusive education since it includes and excludes; the author calls this phenomenon selective inclusion.

Specialized classrooms are created in some Spanish autonomous communities in order to provide a more standardized response to the schooling of students who require extensive and generalized support, as well as significant curricular adaptations in most areas of the curriculum (Arnaiz et al., 2021, p. 145).

In Ecuador, Ministerial Agreement 0295- 13, in its Chapter II, Article 3, refers to the following definition of specialized education: specialized education is understood as that which provides attention to children and/or adolescents with sensory (visual or auditory or visual-auditory), motor, intellectual, autism or multidisability (sic) disabilities (Aimacaña et al., 2018) .

The 2030 Agenda proposes to work on twelve axes of public policy intervention. Axis 2 refers to lifelong education and training. Which focuses on promoting and enforcing the right to education and training without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunities; ensuring an inclusive and specialized education system at all levels; as well as generating lifelong learning opportunities (Aimacaña et al., 2018).

According to (Aimacaña et al., 2018), specialized classrooms are spaces for the attention of students with disabilities; which operate within regular educational institutions, in a multilevel manner. These classrooms are implemented in those districts that do not have Specialized Educational Institutions but have school-age population with disabilities that require specific attention within the supply of specialized education.

As mentioned above, specialized education, in regular education institutions, seeks the possibility of achieving quality professional development, fostering their capabilities with inclusive educational centers, allowing the employability of the technical baccalaureate.

According to (Fonseca, 2021), the new model of specialized education seeks to achieve greater progress in terms of care for children and young people with special educational needs associated with disabilities. The effective proposal is to move towards a truly inclusive model where functionality and flexibility are channeled taking into account universal learning parameters. In this way, specialized education is 100% collaborative, optimizing the possibilities of the population with educational needs associated with disability, where both subjects and agents are factors of change, where we seek not only to intervene but also to transform from the context where we are both family, school and community (Fonseca, 2021).

According to the study in the management model proposed by the Ministry of Education (Aimacaña et al., 2018), in the pedagogical-curricular specifications, it allows greater degrees of flexibility and curricular openness and responds to the objective of bringing the proposal closer to the interests and needs of the students, while allowing it to adapt in a better way to their different learning rhythms. The implementation of the workshops in the Specialized Educational Units will depend on the professional figure offered in the Technical Baccalaureate.

The school environment should be made up of as rich a student body as possible, where differences only add up and help to better understand the complexity of the world. However, without solidarity and understanding on the part of the entire educational community, the integration of these students in regular schools is a very complicated task (Rodríguez & Corrales, 2021).

The schooling of this type of students in regular schools requires commitment on the part of the entire educational community and society in general. However, different variables must be taken into account when carrying out inclusion processes for students with these characteristics, among the most important, material and human resources, specialization of professionals and generalizing, explicit and innovative methodologies (Rodríguez & Corrales, 2021).

Tourism according to estimates contributed 1.2% of Ecuador's GDP by 2020, while by 2020 the contribution was 2.2%. The Gross Domestic Direct Tourism Product (GDPDT) reached 1,117 million dollars in current values in 2020 (National GDP 98,808 million USD). According to the Ministry of Tourism, 182 thousand jobs were generated in the industries characteristic of tourism, which represent 2.3% of direct contribution. The number of people employed in different tourism employment activities was 409 thousand employees, contributing 5.22% of total employment. Of these, 63.1% are self-employed and 36.9% are salaried employees (Mintur, 2020).

According to (Barket, 2014), cited in (Javier & Angeles, 2019), for Ecuador tourism is one of the areas that generates foreign exchange, employment and redistribution of wealth that integrates and complements multiple activities, because for every direct job generated in tourism, between 6 and 3 indirect jobs are created.

In the tourism sectors, the group of companies is concentrated in gastronomy, followed by lodging and recreation, being the main activities used in the tourist destination, while transportation has a smaller number of companies due to the fact that each of them has several partners that provide their services inside and outside the destination (Santamaría et al., 2020).

The tourism business has taken different directions; on the one hand, specialization in theme parks, guides specialized in previously unthinkable subjects: paintings, fashion, art, jewelry, new models of accommodation, new ways of selling gastronomy and making it a real product model very broad from wine tastings, themed meals, new models of boutique restaurants, among many transformations, which also reach the way of traveling by air and land (Dachary & Arnaiz, 2016).

Gastronomic tourism brings vitality to rural communities, supports small local food producers and strengthens their position in the market (UNWTO, 2021).

The disappearance of travel agencies and their replacement by the Internet, not only to buy tickets or packages but also to obtain a better profile of what you want to buy, through rating agencies such as TripAdvisor and other evaluators, whose data is available to anyone (Dachary & Arnaiz, 2016).

Professional competencies in tourism, refers (Rivas et al., 2019), the ideal profile in terms of the competencies of "being" (attitudes and values), which are related to empathy, ethics, teamwork, honesty, creativity, discipline and, primarily, the positive attitude for the service and attention of the tourist.

Some researchers on curricular innovation agree that training in tourism should maintain a balance between theory and practice, as well as between traditional competencies and soft skills -regardless of whether the training modality is face-to-face or virtual-, and use technological tools that dynamize the learning processes (Castillo-Palacio et al., 2020).

In the studies identified on curricular innovation and educational innovation, some authors agree that tourism training should balance theoretical knowledge and practical training so that such training is aligned with the conditions of the environment and the needs of organizations (Castillo-Palacio et al., 2020).

António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, emphasizes that the tourism sector can provide decent jobs and help build resilient, sustainable, gender-equal and inclusive economies and societies that benefit all (UNWTO, 2021).

On World Tourism Day 2021; "Tourism for Inclusive Growth", the World Tourism Organization, "Reaffirmed the commitment to leave no one behind as we move forward and strive to rebuild a more prosperous and peaceful world through tourism (UNWTO, 2021).

Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization says "Our sector gives them the opportunity to earn a living. And to earn not only a wage, but also dignity and equality. Tourism jobs also empower people and give them a chance to find their place in their own societies, often for the first time" (UNWTO, 2021).

Education as a fundamental right and as a social right, becomes meaningful because it promotes free education for the less wealthy masses and begins to take on greater importance when the State is aware of its role and that it is part of the social, economic and moral progress of the individual, which establishes a balance of the popular masses (Chacón, 2011).

Educational policies should be State policies that pursue well-defined goals: equality, guaranteeing inclusion, fostering cooperation and integration with other countries, thus enabling innovations towards a more inclusive, humanistic and socially relevant education (Chacón, 2011).

Technical baccalaureate: in addition to the subjects of the common core, it will offer complementary training in technical, craft, sports or artistic areas that will allow students to enter the labor market and initiate social or economic entrepreneurship activities" (Ministry of Education of Ecuador, 2016).

In Ecuador, the baccalaureate is the last level of education in the National Education System, for admission it is a requirement to complete the General Basic Education.

"The curriculum of the Technical Baccalaureate and the Productive Technical Baccalaureate will be based on labor competencies and its structure will be modular, which will be defined by the National Education Authority" (Dirección Nacional de Normativa Jurídico Educativa del Ministerio de Educación, 2017).

As established (Dirección Nacional de Normativa Jurídico Educativa del Ministerio de Educación, 2017), in Art. 29.- Malla curricular. The Central Level of the National Educational Authority defines the official curricular mesh of the Baccalaureate, which contains the number of hours per subject that are considered pedagogically adequate. In Art. 35.- Professional figures. The educational institutions that offer Technical Baccalaureate must include, in the hours determined for this purpose, the training corresponding to each of the professional figures, defined by the Central Level of the National Educational Authority.

School-based education leads to obtaining the following degrees and certificates: the certificate of attendance to Initial Education, the certificate of completion of General Basic Education and the Baccalaureate degree (Dirección Nacional de Normativa Jurídico Educativa del Ministerio de Educación, 2017).

As of 2016, a conservative figure that does not include educational units registered as BGU, but which offer the technical alternative, indicates that around 50% of the educational establishments in Ecuador offer technical baccalaureate, it is possible to see the institutions that offer the technical alternative, which allows generating an idea of the distribution of the technical offer within the country. There are four provinces that stand out for having more than a hundred establishments with technical offerings, three on the coast: Guayas, Esmeraldas and Manabí and one in the highlands: Pichincha (UNESCO, 2021).

Profile of those who studied technical baccalaureate in Ecuador, according to (Tomaselli, 2018) the first characteristic worth highlighting is that the technical baccalaureate attracts more strongly poor and vulnerable families, it occurs in those young people whose mother had no formal education or whose last level reached was basic education.

We research in Education to change a reality that surrounds us and hurts us; we research so that better decisions are made in educational policy, in the school or in the classroom; we research to build a better society through better education (Murillo et al., 2017).

Materials and methods

Between July 15 to September 27, 2019, as facilitators in the training process 23 university students of the Universidad Técnica Luis Vargas Torres de Esmeraldas (UTLVTE) conducted their practices of linkage with society, providing training 69 students of the technical baccalaureate in sales services and tourist information of the Fiscal Educational Unit Margarita Cortes, from first baccalaureate were 27 students, from second 29 and from third 13 students. From a constructivist paradigm, trained in four modules on tourism topics that contribute to their curricular formation, they completed 160 hours of synchronous training.

The modules taught were etiquette and protocol, design of tourist packages, management of tourist services and information, tics in travel agency management, with training activities such as participatory workshops, simulations, dramatization, relevant feedback.

From the process of progress, control and follow-up of the project, the analysis of Specialized Education in Tourism arises. For which a study was applied with a qualitative approach, hermeneutic method, with a documentary review framed in the Educational System in Ecuador; Curricular Curriculum of the Technical Baccalaureate in Services - Sales and Tourist Information; number of the main provinces with schooled institutions that offer technical baccalaureate, by type of financing; tourist establishments according to their activity; employed personnel according to tourist activity. And exploratory, because it allowed interviewing teachers of the educational unit.

Results

The Educational System in Ecuador describes the School-Based Education Subsystem, which is cumulative and progressive, has a school year and is certified according to standards and curricula in accordance with the National Education Plan. This education is structured around three levels: Initial Education (EI), Basic Education (EGB) and the Unified General Baccalaureate (BGU), which are linked to the Higher Education System (Borja et al., 2021).

The Bachillerato General Unificado (BGU) provides three years of compulsory education after EGB, offering students two types of baccalaureate from a common core of general subjects. On the one hand, the baccalaureate in science develops subjects with a humanistic scientific approach and, on the other hand, the technical baccalaureate with technical, craft, sports or artistic subjects focused on developing skills for employment and/or entrepreneurship (Borja et al., 2021).

Image 1. Educational System of Ecuador

(Borja et al., 2021).

It can be noted that the Technical Baccalaureate professionals is 292,408, of this total 116,175 are women (39.7 %) and 176,233 are men (60.3 %). In the period 2017 -2018, of the total number of students enrolled in the Technical Baccalaureate (BT) by technical area according to sex, women represent: services (54 %) (Education et al., 2021).

Of the areas of the technical baccalaureate, services is the one that receives the largest number of enrollments, with 69 %, the second being industry with 21 % (UNESCO, 2021).

According to UNESCO (UNESCO, 2021), the main provinces with institutions offering technical baccalaureate within the country are Guayas with 310 institutions, followed by Pichincha with 166, Manabí 138 and Esmeraldas 115, accentuating the greater offer in establishments with fiscal financing.

Table 1. Number of school-based institutions offering technical baccalaureate by province and type of financing, 2016.

Province | Prosecutor | Fiscomisional | Municipal | Particular | Total
Guayas | 154 | 8 | 2 | 146 | 310
Pichincha | 97 | 14 | 4 | 51 | 166
Manabí | 101 | 3 | 2 | 32 | 138
Emeralds | 82 | 23 |  | 10 | 115

Own elaboration according to (UNESCO, 2021)

Specifying once again in what is established in the General Statement of the Curriculum (Ministry of Education of Ecuador, 2015a), the Specific Objectives of the Curriculum are: (a) Execute the procedures inherent to the sale of rights of use of national and international tourist services and packages; (b) Provide tourist information and orientation services to national and foreign users, using different communication tools and techniques; (c) Perform group assistance and mediation activities in different cultural scenarios; d) Analyze the organization and characteristics of the tourism system, its historical development and the regulations that govern it nationally and globally; e) Recognize the particularities of the destinations and tourist packages in Ecuador and the world, to support the management in the sale of tourist packages and services; f) Recognize the particularities and importance of the administrative and accounting process of travel agencies, as a complement for job performance; g) Use the English language in basic communication processes with clients and users, during the development of sales activities, information and mediation of groups in the tourism field; h) Execute the procedures for the management of global distribution systems and other programs applied in the management of travel agencies; i) Recognize aspects related to the socioeconomic situation, professional insertion, legal and labor framework of the tourism sector in Ecuador; j) Carry out practical activities related to the sale of tourist packages, management of information and tourist services, assistance and mediation of groups, in institutions or companies of the tourism sector.

Image2 . Curricular Curriculum Technical Baccalaureate in Services - Sales and Touristic Information (Ministry of Education of Ecuador, 2015a).

In accordance with the guidelines established in the Guide for the implementation of the Work Center Training module, issued by the National Baccalaureate Directorate. With the objective of carrying out activities concerning the sale of tourist packages and services, tourist information, and assistance and mediation of groups, considering the policies established for the tourism sector and providing visitors with quality attention (Ministry of Education of Ecuador, 2015a).

Curricular Design of the Technical Baccalaureate has its own methodology of Curricular Design Based on Labor Competencies, understood as a set of knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes that allow the exercise of professional activity in accordance with the demands of production and employment (Ministry of Education of Ecuador, 2016).

In the review of the professional figure of the technical bachelor's degree in sales and tourist information, the three units of competencies, the occupational field they propose, and the fundamental knowledge were synthesized in a matrix (Image 4).

Table 2. Professional Figure Technical Baccalaureate in Sales and Tourist Information.

Competency Units
Occupational Field
Fundamental knowledge

UC1 Sell tourist packages and services. Manage
Tourist service companies. Public and private institutions. Actual and potential clients.
Tourism products, packages and services: national and international tourism products and destinations; types of tourism services; criteria for putting together tourism packages. Public and private institutions related to tourism. Travel agencies: types; administrative and financial organization; internal and external company documents. Sale of tourism packages and products: customer service techniques; sales strategies and techniques; invoicing; sales and post-sales follow-up; customer loyalty. General accounting: concept and objectives of accounting; general accounting plan; basic accounting process applied in travel agencies; accounting books.

UC2. Manage tourist information services.
Public and private entities related to tourism activities. Tourism companies. Airlines and transportation companies. Local, regional and national tourist sites. Entities of complementary services. Groups of visitors and private clients.
The tourist information service: types of offices, characterization and functions. Relations with other tourist activities and companies. Basic and complementary services. Tourism information sources: manual, mechanized, internal and external sources. Evaluation of the sources of information. The process of information analysis. The documentary process: document retrieval, banks and databases. Archiving systems, cataloging and documentary analysis. Procedures for updating information. Tourist information, orientation and assistance: personal and impersonal information service. Reception and communication techniques. Social skills for personal tourist information service. Protocol and personal image techniques. Quality in tourist information services.

UC3. Perform group assistance and mediation activities.
Travel agencies, museums, recreational sites, interpretation and heritage centers. Tourist groups and private clients. Tour guides.
Assistance and mediation of tourist groups: definitions. Typology and characteristics of assistance and mediation activities. Profile and functions of the professional mediator. Tourist groups: typology of tourist demand. Formation and characterization of the groups. Tourist motivation. Communication techniques: definition, elements and stages of the process. Types of communication. Communication as an element that generates behavior. Group management: group dynamization techniques. Tourist animation and sociocultural animation. Leadership in group management. Nature and art as tourist resources: art and environment. Methods for the explanation of cultural and natural resources.

Own elaboration according to (Ministry of Education of Ecuador, 2015b).

Based on information from the Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador's Tourism Indicators for January to December 2020 describing the number of establishments by tourism activity and the number of personnel employed.

Table34. Tourism Indicators (January - December 2020)

Activity | Registered establishments | Staff employed
Food and beverages | 16.443 | 88.889
Lodging | 4.211 | 28.333
Operators and Travel Agencies | 2.311 | 9.697
Tourist Transportation | 583 | 3.329
Intermediation | 364 | 1.726
Stable attraction parks | 306 | 1.580
Community tourism centers | 39 | 987

Own elaboration according to (Mintur, 2020)

As seen in the visualizer (MINTUR, 2021) in Ecuador the number of tourism service establishments registered 87.78% are microenterprises, 11.72% small, 0.46% medium, 0.05% large. In the review of the Ecuadorian Tourism Services Registry viewer, establishments registered by canton, in the province of Esmeraldas, the activities with the highest number are lodging, food and beverages, leading the cantons of Atacames and Esmeraldas, most of the registered travel agencies are located in the canton of Atacames.

Table 4. Register of Establishments by canton in the Province of Esmeraldas, Ecuador.

Cantons of the Province of Esmeraldas | Food and beverages | Lodging | Operators and Travel Agencies | Tourist Transportation | Intermediation | Stable attraction parks | Community tourism centers
Atacames | 30 | 255 | 15 | - | - | - | -
Eloy Alfaro | 1 | 23 | 2 | - | - | - | 2
Emeralds | 67 | 56 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -
Muisne | 6 | 18 | 2 | - | - | - | -
Quinindé | 15 | 16 | - | - | - | 5 | -
San Lorenzo | 3 | 21 | 1 | - | - | - | -
Rio Verde | 2 | - | - | - | 1 | - | -

Own elaboration according to (MINTUR, 2021)

While the first, second and third year high school students of the tourism career of the Margarita Cortes Educational Unit, with the central problem of the training project, "Lack of basic knowledge on issues related to the management of tourism companies for high school students of the Margarita Cortes Educational Unit."This allowed us to interview the teachers who transmitted the need for students to perform their student practices require additional knowledge in protocol and etiquette, because the tourist service establishments where they do their academic practices are in the hotel sector of the canton of Esmeraldas, becoming a limitation in the performance of their practices, due to lack of knowledge.

So a training program was implemented for high school students of tourism of the Margarita Cortes Fiscal Educational Unit through a partnership agreement with the Technical University "Luis Vargas Torres" of Esmeraldas (UTLVTE); They learned how to design, quote and establish commercial policies for tourism products, facilitate technological tools to optimize tourism operations in travel agencies, identify basic aspects of customer service, the service cycle, the route of the satisfied customer and the internal customer.

Therefore, the teachers and students of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Services Tourism Career, proceeded to carry out a project of linkage with the community to be implemented, developing a training plan for students of the Margarita Cortes Educational Unit. With modules on etiquette and protocol, design of tourist packages, management of tourist services and information, tics in travel agency management.

As a result, the interviewed teachers of the educational unit agreed that the methodologies for the instruction process to the students of the educational unit, the main activities carried out were practical in the classroom based on the topics covered, practical-theoretical workshops were implemented, collective works of research and exhibition, relating to each of the modules taught, with the participation of students were carried out integrating dynamics for a better understanding of the topics, demonstrative workshops, readings, dramatizations, dynamics. Considering that in the execution of the project, meetings were held to evaluate the progress, control and follow-up visits that allowed to observe the motivation of the students to know the importance of studying the career of tourism, for the development of the sector in the province and the country.

On the other hand, a record was obtained of beneficiaries of 69 students trained in the technical high school in sales services and tourist information of the Margarita Cortes Fiscal Educational Unit, 68% were women and 32% were men. They lived in the urban parish of Esmeraldas 64%; August 5 22%; Bartolomé Ruiz 4%; Simón Plata Torres 4%, and in the rural parish of Tachina 6%. It should be noted that, to date, two graduating classes have graduated, one on February 26, 2020 and the other on February 23, 2021, with the title of Bachelor of Technical Services, Specialty Sales and Tourist Information. It should be added that there are currently some students with disabilities in the Educational Unit.

Discussion

Analyzing the results obtained, the Ecuadorian Education System offers the technical baccalaureate, according to (UNESCO, 2016), the largest number of enrollees is in the area of Services, it should be noted that Esmeraldas in the geographical distribution is among the main provinces with institutions that offer the technical baccalaureate. On the other hand, the Curricular Grid of the Technical Baccalaureate in Services - Sales and Tourist Information (Ministry of Education of Ecuador, 2015a), due to the fact that more than five years have passed, it is likely that it requires updating.

On the other hand, when reviewing the professional figure of the technical bachelor's degree in tourism sales and information, it is evident that, among the proposed occupational field in contrast to the register of registered tourism establishments, the labor supply of travel agencies in the canton of Esmeraldas is limited; moreover, the largest number of registered establishments are the activities of food and beverages, accommodation, therefore, are those that occupy more staff.

It should be noted in relation to the size, the companies registered in the tourism cadastre (MINTUR, 2021), lead the microenterprises with 87.78%, it should be noted that based on the number of employees we have the micro of 1 - 9, small 10 - 49, medium 50 - 199. In addition, in the province of Esmeraldas, similarly the activities registered in the cadastre (MINTUR, 2021), the main activities are lodging, in the canton of Atacames; food and beverages, in the canton of Esmeraldas; unlike operators and travel agencies with a minimum number of registered establishments; most of them are located in the canton of Atacames.

It is worth mentioning that the Margarita Cortes Fiscal Educational Unit, located in the canton of Esmeraldas, offers a Technical Baccalaureate in Services - Sales and Tourist Information, so the students of the technical baccalaureate need to do internships in companies in the tourism sector. It is worth mentioning that there are six tourism establishments in Esmeraldas canton (Image 6), perhaps all of them are in activity or perhaps not.

It should be noted that the outreach project developed the skills, theoretical and practical knowledge of the knowledge acquired in the classroom, strengthening the learning of students. This demonstrates the importance of continuing to encourage students of the tourism career to participate in social outreach projects. At the same time, with the registration of the students who benefit from the training, the graduates who will enroll in the UTLVTE will be followed up.

Another point, currently the Margarita Cortes Fiscal Educational Unit has some students with special abilities, in view of, the proposal of Specialized Education in Tourism, in regular education institutions, given that the Education 2030 Agenda (UNESCO, 2016) pays great attention to the development of technical and professional skills, access to affordable and quality technical and vocational education and training; with a view to employment, decent work and entrepreneurship; ensuring access for vulnerable people.

Similarly, tourism is an activity that generates employment, the (UNWTO, 2021) in the World Tourism Day pointed out "Tourism for inclusive growth". Likewise, Waitoller (2020) cited in (Arnaiz et al., 2021), considers that when measures to respond to the schooling of students with severe and permanent educational needs are more inclusive than special educational centers or therapeutic institutions, but separate students in differentiated classrooms, a paradox is created for inclusive education since it includes and excludes. The author calls this phenomenon selective inclusion. He further proposes specialized classrooms, as well as significant curricular adaptations in most areas of the curriculum (Arnaiz et al., 2021).

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