Press conference to launch EuroSkills 2014

By WorldSkills France

WorldSkills Europe, WorldSkills France and the Region Nord-Pas de Calais held a press conference on 12 February in the French city of Lille to launch the countdown to the EuroSkills 2014 Competition to be held from 2-4 October 2014.

Jos de Goey, President of WorldSkills Europe, Michel Guisembert, President of WorldSkills France, and Christophe Pilch, Vice-President of the Region Nord-Pas de Calais in charge of apprenticeship spoke to the press, helped in their task by former skills competition participants. Together, they explained the benefits of apprenticeship, and the reasons why skills competitions are so important in the fight against youth unemployment in Europe.

The audience had the pleasure of hearing young WorldSkills Champions explain that apprenticeship gave them greater confidence in their professionnal life, more practical insight in what would be expected of them during their professionnal carreers, and a much greater chance of employement at the end of their studies, with the participation to a skills competition an added bonus on their CV to show their motivation and level of competence.

The year 2014 has been declared the regional year of apprenticeship by the Region Nord-Pas de Calais, who will be using the event to:

• boost the attractiveness of skills as a career path for young people;
• show the benefits that apprenticeship has in boosting the local economy by ensuring greater employability for its young people;
• change the mindset of parents and teachers alike, who still think success can only be achieved through academic studies;
• and mobilize the local school network to ensure that as many youngsters as possible come to discover careers they have never heard of.

Come and join them in their effort to promote skills in Lille and visit the most exciting European skills competition this October !

For more information: www.euroskills2014.org