The 42nd World Skills event is taking place in Leipzig, Germany this week, providing a global showcase for vocational education and training. National teams will compete to win podium medal places in different categories covering six main skills sectors and around 1,000 competitors will be taking part in the event from 54 countries.
Construction and Building Technology; Creative Arts and Fashion; Information and Communication Technology ; Manufacturing and Engineering Technology ; Social and Personal Services; and Transportation and Logistics are all represented in the biennial platform designed to raise the bar for skills-led training globally.
This year’s conference programme is “Our Youth – Our Future”, and national teams will be aged typically between 18 and 25, as is the case for Team UK (pictured), who will compete in 30 skills ranging from Electrical Installation, Welding, Autobody Repair to Cooking, Landscape Gardening and Bricklaying.
Co-sponsor of the event, Fluke International, which makes test tools, announced it was sponsoring teams from Australia, Brazil, Columbia, India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE via donation of test tools that would be used in the competition.
Fluke’s VP of Worldwide Marketing, Clement Feng, commented, “By creating such a highly prestigious Competition, WorldSkills provides a standard of excellence and gives students and their instructors a victory to strive for. The global stage elevates the prestige of vocational training worldwide, supporting the workforce development that global industry depends on.”
The whole event, formerly known as the Skills Olympics, takes place in 1.2 million square feet of expo space.
