The TOUS Jewelry & Artisans School (ETJOA), the jewelry brand’s pioneering project for excellence in vocational training, has started its third edition in a totally digital format. Having adapted its format to the current context, the School is to deliver its curriculum to more than 190 students from Mexico, Portugal and Spain with the aim of continuing to promote the preservation of an age-old trade, and to advocate craft as a way of providing career outlets.

Under the hashtag #ETJOA GoesDigital, the study program covers theory and practice, as well as specific techniques of the trade that students can put into practice, such as restoring pieces of jewelry made by TOUS. In addition to learning about the brand’s jewelry-making techniques, the course supplements knowledge about making and restoring jewelry, which are not normally included on foundation degree courses on jewelry techniques and other specific vocational courses.

For the first time since it opened its doors, ETJOA has made all of its numerous learning resources (capsules, videos and webinars) available to the students from the nine partner schools. This has been possible thanks to the process of digitization that the School has undertaken, which not only made it possible to run the course in the current situation, but also introduces a methodology that is here to stay and that can reach more students than ever before.

“The School has adapted the format of its contents in order to continue being a leader in the training of young craftspeople. Thanks to a wide range of online resources, we are able to keep track of the students, as despite the complex current situation, our commitment to the future of the sector is stronger than ever before”, said Rosa Tous, Corporate Vice-Chairwoman of TOUS.

A transformational project

Set up in 2018, the collaboration agreement between TOUS and the various jewelry schools came about because the brand wanted to promote the preservation of an age-old trade. Under the guidance of mentors with long-standing experience in the company, young apprentices are given the chance to learn about TOUS’ values, amongst which sustainability stands out, as the brand believes pieces of jewelry to be everlasting and sustainable because they can be reused, recycled, and re-experienced. As the School understands sustainability to be a way of making an impact on society, its digitization makes it viable in the long-term by providing a methodology that ensures its continuity over time in order to continue training up-and-coming talent in the jewelry sector.

TOUS wishes to go beyond the training framework and make an impact on the students’ real job prospects, an aim that was tangible in School’s first stage. More than 15% of the students who took the first course in 2018 obtained a job, either directly at TOUS’ workshops, indirectly at external workshops with which the company works or at other workshops that required specialists in jewelry restoration.

“ETJOA is a project that really excites us because it links up the fundamental values of our firm, such as the fusion of innovation and craft, and our engagement with sustainability through restoration”, added Rosa Tous, Corporate Vice-Chairwoman of TOUS.

A new international edition

The course that started this month was attended by students from the schools that took part in the School’s second edition who come from the Canaries (La Palma), Galicia (Vigo), Catalonia (Vilafranca del Penedès and Barcelona), Andalusia and Madrid. The next course, which will start next September, will also have students from Mexico and Portugal. Indeed, one of the ETJOA’s founding principles is its international outreach, with the aim of taking its know-how of the sector and its commitment to the trade all over the globe.

Thus, a total of 190 students will take part in this third ETJOA course, which will be totally digitized. Moreover, between this course and the one in September, 18 of them will take a module to complete their training that will involve practical sessions and tutorials supervised by experts from TOUS.

Candidates are chosen in accordance with academic excellence and performance and, when they complete the course, tutors and students prepare an evaluation to ensure the training remains at a high standard.

ETJOA’s nine partner schools are: Escuela de Joyería JORGC (Barcelona), Escuela de Arte Manolo Blahnik (La Palma), IES Barajas (Madrid), Escuela de Arte Arsenal (Vilafranca del Penedès), Escuela Ténica de Joyería del Atlántico (Vigo), Escuela de Joyería de Córdoba, Prezzi Escuela de Joyería (Mexico), Escuela de Artesanías INBA (Mexico) y Escuela Cindor (Portugal).