A strong 58-member Indian contingent was given a grand ‘Vijayi Bhava’ send-off ceremony in New Delhi on Thursday as they gear up to compete against the best in the world at WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition.

What is WorldSkills Competition?

It is the only the Olympics of skills. WorldSkills is the world championships of vocational skills where countries from across send their most skilled youths to win medals for them. Countries first conduct skill competitions in the national level and then send the winners to the international level. The competition is held every two years in different parts of the world.

How did it begin?

It began in Spain in the 1940s after the Second World War. Spain started a national skills contest to encourage men to learn trades by challenging them with competition and prizes. In 1950, the national contest went international when Portugal joined. Competitors from more countries joined in the following years.

By 1957, a proposed set of rules was established, and the International Vocational Skills Organisation created which in time would become WorldSkills.

Today there are 85 member countries.

What is its mission?

WorldSkills’ mission is “to raise the profile and recognition of skilled people, and show how important skills are in achieving economic growth and personal success”.

Its objective is to inspire young people to develop a passion for skills and pursuing excellence, through competitions and promotions. WorldSkills aims to develop skills through global training standards, benchmarking systems, and enhancing industry engagement. It brings together young people, industry, government, education, and institutions, to promote the benefits of and need for skilled trade professionals.

How many skills are included in WorldSkills?

There are 65 skills included in the competition. The variety of skills include 3D digital art game, bakery, mobile robotics, beauty therapy, aircraft maintenance, renewal energy, jewellery, web technologies, welding, painting, and decoration, etc.

Why is this year’s edition called WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition?

This year’s competition was scheduled to be held at Shanghai, China but it had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. Therefore, WorldSkills Shanghai 2022 was replaced by WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition.

In this edition, instead of organising the competitions in one country, it is being held in 15 countries and regions over a period of 12 weeks between 7 September and 26 November 2022.

Where does Team India stand in this edition?

In the current edition of the competition, Team India will compete in six new-age skills, including Industry 4.0, Robot System Integration, Additive Manufacturing, and Renewable Energy. All Indian competitors have undergone robust training to polish their skills with support of industries and academia like Toyota, Maruti, NIFT, Mahindra & Mahindra and more.

India already has a bronze medal in its pocket with Likith Kumar YP winning the medal in prototype modeling in the first leg of the WorldSkills Competition 2022 (WSC2022), held in Bern, Switzerland.

India had sent 48 contestants to the 2019 edition of WorldSkills International at Kazan, Russia. The team won one gold (Water Technology), one silver (Web technology), two bronze (Jewellery and Graphic Design Technology) and 15 medallions for excellence.