Skills Development in Africa at the General Assembly 2016

Representatives of the WorldSkills community met during General Assembly 2016 for the first Skills Development in Africa meeting.  

As part of WorldSkills Vision 2025, Africa is an important region where WorldSkills works with Members, Global Partners, and other international development organizations on increasing the access and improving the quality of skills development for youth.  

The Skills Development in Africa meeting brought representatives from ten Members and six Global Partners to share the current challenges faced in the African countries, discuss potential ways to create synergies, and identify the next steps on future activities and programmes. Collaboration among the key stakeholders is very crucial in breaking the barriers to development that are possibly caused by issues such as lack of support from industries, low social image of vocational education and training (VET), as well as the gap between market demand and the quality of VET.

Best practices of African projects were shared by HRDKorea (GIFTS) and SENAI (Brazil), along with future opportunities such as skills competitions and other grassroots projects. The discussions emphasized the importance of utilizing existing funding and research resources by international organizations and economic confederations in Africa.

A couple of projects related to Skills Development in Africa have been planned and are underway following the meeting. The first regional skills competition in East Africa which was initiated and led by Festo on 5 to 7 December in Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology. Competitors form Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia showcased their skills in Mechatronics, Bricklaying, and Hairdressing. WorldSkills Vice President for Special Affairs – Mr San-Quei Lin – joined the event along with government officials from the participating countries to support this initiative and bring more awareness of WorldSkills movement to the audience.

During the General Assembly 2016, representatives of the Champions Forum, also presented their Skills On the Move project, in partnership with Autodesk, that will use a train-the-trainer model to pass on knowledge and information about their specific skills to local trainers in Rwanda who in turn, pass that knowledge on to refugees.  

For more on Skills Development in Africa, contact Grace Lung, Partnership and Projects Manager, grace.lung@worldskills.org.