SENA (Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje), or the National Training Service, is a Colombian public institution that provides free vocational and technical training to around 9 million Colombians annually. It is the country’s largest public institution, with full national coverage through 117 industry-specific training centers and an extensive online platform. SENA aims to develop and expand a technically-skilled workforce to respond to the needs of Colombian national development and an increasingly international economy. SENA’s training centers, the heart of SENA instruction, each act as a specialized technology hub to train students in a particular industry. The centers strive to provide hands-on professional experience and frequently reflect the realities of the industry, from functioning hotels and call centers to working farms and active forensic analysis laboratories. SENA students, referred to as apprentices, graduate with the practical, transferable knowledge and skills ready for application in the Colombian economy and across the globe – as SENA builds its international industry partnerships. 

To learn more, please visit SENA’s website.


SENA has partnered with the Innovation Fund to foster higher education partnerships and student academic training & exchanges on these grant competitions: