His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture & Knowledge Development, attended the official opening ceremony of the world skills contest “Abu Dhabi 2017” yesterday evening; under the patronage of H.H Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces, at Abu Dhabi National Fairs Centre. This event will continue until October 19.
The opening ceremony at Du Square in Yas Island of Abu Dhabi was attended by H.E. Hussain Al-Hammadi; Minister of Education, H.E. Dr. Ali Rashid Al-Naimi, Head of the Education & Knowledge Department; members of the executive board, and some other officials.
As usual, this unprecedented opening ceremony for the 44th round of the WSC “Abu Dhabi 2017” has really fascinated the world with an audience of about ten thousand, who gathered from UAE and the rest of the world to celebrate the event at Du Square of Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
The opening program included a parade in which the participating teams marched across the main circuit and included; some musical performances by 100 people; UAE and Resident players; and a special dancing show under the title “Skills & Development”, in which a group of dancers performed a live show demonstrating vocational skills and their role in the development process of UAE.
The show which amazed the audience at the end was that of the ‘Famous Gym’ spellbound band of British TV Talent Program.
In his speech at the opening occasion, Mubarak Sa’eed Al-Shamsi, Director General of Abu Dhabi Education and Technical/Vocational Training Centre, declared that UAE feels proud to host the ISC, which is a historical, important event that allows tens of thousands of young people from UAE and the rest of the world to approach a broad spectrum of skills, and promising opportunities throughout professional fields.
He added, this contest that attracted 1300 participants from all over the world is in fact a platform that allows the chance to demonstrate excellence in skills of their choice, within the range of 51 varied skills; from flower arranging and building to aircraft maintenance and dynamic robots.
Additionally, the chair of the World Skills Organization Simon Bartly, expressed thanks to H.H Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan for pardoning this event, and to the UAE government and people for their generous hosting of this contest for the first time in the Middle East.
This event realizes the vision of the UAE leadership that stresses both the importance of vocational skills and its great role in economic development.
Abu Dhabi Technical and Vocational Training Centre, by hosting the WSC, acts to encourage and develop skills and potentials of Emirati youth, and to provide them with proper knowledge and tools as required to achieve success in the field of vocational opportunities and jobs.
Members of the participating teams expressed their feelings of happiness and enjoyment experienced through participation in the WSC Abu Dhabi. This Contest is one of the most significant international gatherings which honours skills and provides a chance to measure the participant’s level of excellences when compared to their peers all over the world, according to Simol Alpha; a graphic designer from the Indian team.
He stressed that this contest will help him display his skills, demonstrate his deep interest in graphic designing, and represent the talented elements in this field in his native country India.
Nichol Kebeer, a contestant in flower arranging, said that she looks forward to representing her country New Zealand to the best of her ability, and that she sees this event as an opportunity for her to upgrade her skills in new areas.
Furthermore, Abu Dhabi Technical and Vocational Centre held a press conference yesterday to announce the opening of the “World Skills Contest Abu Dhabi 2017”, in Abu Dhabi Fairs Centre. This is the first time for this contest to be organized by The UAE.
Mubarak S. Al- Shamsi, Director General of this Centre, noted that the most important characteristics of this version of the contest are holding the vocational training symposium at the fringes of this event; the participation of some ministers of education together with the youth elements from different countries; and listening to their ideas and suggestions towards a developed process of education.
Answering a question from “Al-Etihad” newspaper regarding the possibility of new inventions which may appear during this contest and make a great difference to the economic life at an international level, Al- Shamsi said that this contest does not focus on a specific specialty but covers all types, with the aim of creating a new generation capable of achieving more inventions in the interests of the human kind and their national economies.
Simon Bartly, head of the contest, said that WSC aims at upgrading professional skills of the youth and gathering a significant number of ideas that lead to smart solutions, much like those introduced by the giant companies around the world.
With indication to the role of teachers in reinforcing skills and talents among students, Bartly said “The teacher and student should both strongly understand the criticality of gaining skills, and tend to the professions of the future by learning and developing their skills.”
World Skills Contest Abu Dhabi 2017, which takes place in a different city around the world each year, is considered a proper occasion to celebrate excellence and draw attention to the criticality of professional skills. It is also a chance to inspire the contestants to explore more skills and exchange scientific and cultural experiences. At the same time it enhances creativity and innovation in an international competition, considering the importance of skills to the world economy and the process of development and prosperity all over the world. The list of competitions in this contest includes more than fifty categories within the sectors of building technique, creative arts, fashion, info tech communications, manufacturing technology, engineering, social and personal services, transport and logistics. Contestants in these sectors often find themselves obligated to cooperate with each other, either as individuals or as teams working on a joint project. Among the skills in this contest are industrial control systems, installation & maintenance of industrial production systems - both electrical and mechanical, concrete building works, cement concrete designing for houses, building commercial enterprises, preparation of internal & external walls prior to installing gypsum boards, relevant maintenance and more. In the press conference, Mubarak Al Shamsi noted that Emirati ladies will participate in different skills. In some of these skills, only females represent UAE which indicates the high degree of trust put by the national leadership in the Emirati team, in the hopes of winning gold medals.
Ali Al- Marzouki, Chief Executive Officer of the contest noted that Emirati ladies will join the contest in several skills, including megatronics, cooling & AC, cooking, and jewellery. This initiative enjoys limitless support from our wise national leadership.
15/10/2017