2010 Jamaica WorldSkills Week a success
LAST week Kingston, Jamaica came alive when the 53 remaining member countries of WorldSkills International, came from across the globe to celebrate the 60th anniversary of WorldSkills International and Jamaica’s National World Skills Week.
The celebrations started with an inaugural welcome reception on October 3, for the board of directors of WorldSkills International at the Wyndham Hotel. This was followed by the official opening ceremony of WorldSkills Jamaica National skills competition on Tuesday, October 5 at the National Indoor Sports Complex.
During the opening ceremony, Sir Patrick Allen, the Governor General of Jamaica, officially launched the start of the competition. During his address he gave advice to the competitors and wished them luck while competing both on a local and on the global platform.
“We are pleased that WorldSkills International has chosen Jamaica to have their general meeting. Especially in this their diamond year. I hope having this competition here will offer a platform for the expansion of skills training in Jamaica, the Caribbean and the wider Americas,” he said during his address to the gathering before launching the start of the two-day competition.
At the National Skills Competition, held at the University of Technology on October 5 and 6. Students of the secondary and tertiary level institutions within Jamaica, displayed their astute skills while competing for top positions to compete in the London, England next October for the WorldSkills International Finals. All 54 countries a part of WorldSkills will compete to establish who are the best in respective skilled areas.
At the closure of the National Skills competition, 12 Jamaican student walked away with top honours in the competing skill areas — apparel and sewn products, agriculture, automotive and transport, beauty services, building and construction, early childhood, health services, hospitality, industrial maintenance, information technology, performing arts and visual arts. These students will compete in the grand final in London, England next October.
Jamaica is the first Caribbean country to have collaborated and compete within the scopes of Worldskills International. Since becoming a member, Jamaica has participated in the last three competitions at the international level — Helsinki, Finland in 2005; Japan in 2007 and Canada in 2009.
— Ainsworth Morris