Due to coronavirus pandemic, the number of skills was reduced from 17 to nine: electrical, welding, fitting and turning, brickwork, hairdressing, mechatronics, and railway transport operation and maintenance. Students and young workers will show their skills. For participants' safety, one day is dedicated to compete in one skill.
From September 29 to October 13, Zaporizhia, Kyiv, Dnipro and Glevakha (Kyiv region) will be picking up the baton of WorldSkills Ukraine from Mariupol. You can follow the contest online on worldskillsukraine.org. Online broadcasts of the competitions in Mariupol from September 29 to October 1 and in Zaporizhia on October 7 and 8 will be available on Metinvest's FB page at https://www.facebook.com/metinvest/ and on youtube at youtube.com/MetinvestHolding. The winners of the competition will be announced online on October 13.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, Chief Executive Officer of Metinvest Group:
"The development of vocational education in Ukraine is impossible without the support of large business. We became the general partner of the competition in 2016, right after Ukraine had joined the International WorldSkills Association.
We understand that only by working together as business and the state we will be able to achieve quality changes in the education system. We will be trying to create the necessary conditions for young people to want to study and work in Ukraine."
Dmitry Oleynik, the Head of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine:
"WorldSkills is not just a professional competition for young students, it is a reflection of the future. Today, the trend of blue collar jobs has become more positive in Ukraine as coronacrisis continues to make adjustments. Many of the workers who left Ukraine have returned to the country. I hope that these qualified talents will create stimulus for economic growth.
Unfortunately, the state was not paying attention for a long time to the importance of blue-collar jobs for our country. Ukraine has traditionally been an industrial country. Therefore, the society and the politicians of the country should grow up to understand that the blue-collar jobs are prestigious and that working at an enterprise, it is possible to receive a decent pay and be respected."
Worldskills Ukraine is a part of Worldskills International competition, also called olympics for the students of vocational and trade schools, university students and workers aged 18-22.
The competition is organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Institute of Education Content Modernization, the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, and is supported by the Federation of Metallurgists of Ukraine and Ukrmetallurgprom association.
Worldskills International was founded in 1946. This is the largest skills competition in the world holding its events in 85 countries. Ukraine has been a member of Worldskills International since 2016.