Chile to host national skills competition

This week WorldSkills Chile plans to go ahead with its national competition in 20 skills, but, as for so many Members, it will be with a difference.

A virtual format will connect Competitors through an online platform that will allow them to show their skills, and be judged on their efforts, from anywhere in Chile.

Organizers hope this will allow more opportunities for young people to take part without having to move around the country.

The 2020 WorldSkills Chile Nationals will take place between 2-6 November, and are open to students between the ages of 15 to 24 studying at high schools, and vocational training and education colleges and institutions, both private and public.

The high profile given to skills in Chile is reflected by the 54% entering higher education in their first year at technical training centers and professional institutes.

WorldSkills Chile acknowledges that hand-on skills like welding and cooking cannot be entirely switched to online but will allow these Competitors to use facilities at local schools and colleges which will open specially for this.

Others, like CAD and Cybersecurity, work well remotely, says Alejandro Weinstein, the director of WorldSkills Chile.

“Each student will be able to connect to compete from home or, if she has a bad connection, she can go to connect to her school,” he told  Las Últimas Noticias newspaper last month.

This year’s 20 skills range from Cooking and Mobile Robotics to Web Design, Cloud Computing, and Mechatronics.

Chile first competed at WorldSkills Leipzig 2013 and has sent teams to WorldSkills São Paulo 2015 and WorldSkills Kazan 2019.