A 17-person team of young professionals from Poland (aged 18-26) left for Graz, Austria, for the European Championship for Young Professionals – EuroSkills 2021 (September 22-26).
The WorldSkills Poland team will represent Poland for the second time at the EuroSkills competition. Polish athletes will fight for medals and the title of European Champion in 16 out of 40 events. They will compete in categories such as metal roofing, floristry, CNC-milling, hairdressing, cooking, electrical installations, hotel receptioning, graphic design, welding, automobile technology, or floor laying.
Young professionals will also represent Poland in the areas of fashion technology, heavy vehicle technology, and joinery. A total of 300 qualified young people will compete in the event.
“For the EuroSkills 2021 participants, this is an opportunity for professional and personal development, but also the adventure of a lifetime. For companies, on the other hand, it is an opportunity to acquire the best-qualified employees,” said Dr Paweł Poszytek, Director of the National Agency Erasmus+ Programme, and the European Solidarity Corps and the Polish Delegate of WorldSkills.
According to him, EuroSkills is also a place where European leaders in the industry, education, and training work together to promote vocational education and unique practical skills.
“The WorldSkills programme, which includes the EuroSkills 2021 competition, promotes specialist vocational education, which has disappeared at some point due to systemic attention. Meanwhile, highly specialized employees are needed in social and economic life” – emphasized Dr Bianka Siwińska, the Managing Director of Educational Foundation “Perspektywy”.
Polish contestants, selected in national eliminations, have been preparing for EuroSkills for a year, training practical skills, but also strengthening physical and mental condition. The best will also have a chance to compete in the WorldSkills 2022 championships in Shanghai.
The WorldSkills programme started 70 years ago and more than 80 countries now participate, including all European countries. The initiative is appreciated all over the world and Poland is applying to host EuroSkills in 2027.