WCED representatives attend World Skills Conference and Competition in Russia
10 October 2019
Neil Simons and Edrich Williams of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) attended the 45th World Skills Conference and Competition in Kazan, Russia at the end of August 2019.
More than 1 300 competitors from 63 World Skills member countries and regions competed in 56 skill areas. This was reported as being the largest international event in Russia in 2019.
The ages of the competitors ranged between 16 and 22 years for the seniors and 13 to 15 years in the junior skills categories. Gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded to the winners in each category at the closing ceremony.
The theme of the two-day conference was ‘Skills for change: building blocks for impact’.
Attending the conference was an ideal opportunity for the WCED representatives to meet with leaders in industry, policy makers, education and training providers, researcher and change makers.
It is envisaged that attending the conference will increase the capacity of Senior Curriculum Planners to support Technical Vocational subjects at FET level through infrastructure and skills development. It was also an opportunity to get acquainted with the global standard of the skills competition in order to assist the WCED with the provincial skills competition and explore the promotion of local learners entering the national and international junior skills competition.
