NINE talented young people from Northern Ireland have fought off stiff national competition to be selected as members of the UK Team for World-Skills 2013.
The news means that Northern Ireland, with its nine competitors, has the highest number of Team members of all the UK regions.
Welcoming the announcement of Team UK, Employment and Learning Minister Stephen Farry said: “Northern Ireland’s strong representation on Team UK is testament to the high standards of technical and professional training in our colleges. It is very telling that Northern Ireland, which accounts for less than 3% of the UK population, accounts for nearly 30% of Team UK.”
WorldSkills, the skills equivalent of the Olympics, is the largest international vocational skills competition and will be held in Leipzig in Germany from July 4-7, this year. Held every two years in cities around the globe, the competition sees around 1,000 young people, aged 18–25, come together to compete for medals in more than 40 different skills including electrical installation, welding, bricklaying, cooking and landscape gardening.
The Minister continued: “This is a great opportunity for these young people to demonstrate to the world that Northern Ireland has a workforce with the high levels of skills and training required to compete in the global economy and meet the economic challenges which lie ahead.
“To be selected for Team UK is an outstanding achievement and I wish each team member the best of luck with their training, and look forward to watching them take on the best in the world in July. Northern Ireland has a proud history of medal winners at WorldSkills and I am hopeful that this will continue at WorldSkills Leipzig.”
The team of 31 young people, currently in employment, completing an apprenticeship or studying, will now undertake an intense training programme in preparation for Leipzig in July. Team UK will compete in 30 skill areas ranging from Refrigeration and Air Conditioning through to Cooking.
Meanwhile, Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster has encouraged young people to develop their entrepreneurial skills.
Speaking at an event in Rainey Endowed Grammar School, where she was presenting entrepreneur challenge badges to the Three Spires Magherafelt Scout Troop the minister said:
“I firmly believe that one of the best places to create a culture of enterprise among young people is within extracurricular groups such as the Scouts.
“I’m impressed by the valuable contributions you all made to your entrepreneur challenge last year. Setting up and running a business is no easy task and as you’ll have learned it takes dedication, hard work and team work to make a venture like yours successful.”
She continued: “My generation is laying the foundations for you but it is your generation that will build upon them and continue to push Northern Ireland up the league table of places that offer a high quality environment in which to live and work.”