WorldSkills: The world's best skilled workers to compete against each other

On 2 July 2013 the 42nd professional skills competition will kick off in Leipzig. For seven consecutive days, the best apprentices and young skilled workers from more than 50 nations compete to determine who is the best in the world. The event is hosted by WorldSkills, the international association for vocational education.

The history of WorldSkills goes back to over 50 years. It was established to determine the best in the world both on a national and an international level. First, young people of up to 22 years of age compete in national competitions before qualifying for the world championship of professional skills. The competition is held in a different country each time.

In 2011, the event was hosted in the United Kingdom's capital of London. Once again, the German team gave an outstanding performance. As export world champion with no doubt superior products, Germany adopts an important part with the WorldSkills Germany. For here especially the vocational education system constitutes an important pillar of the economic system.

The skills required for the individual professions are tested under strict adherence to rigorous rules and demanding international standards. The competitors compete both on a national and international level with their respective experts and obviously this is not only for the sake of medals and rankings but rather to obtain valuable impulses for vocational education, to make industrial contacts and to pick up trends for new developments in the field of vocational education.

When from 2 to 7 July 2013 young people from around the world meet for the 42nd world skills championship, high performance in about 45 professional disciplines will once more come under scrutiny. More than 1,000 competitors from over 50 nations will then test themselves and each other in a fair competition witnessed by some 200,000 expected visitors. The visitors can expect an informative experience by observing at work young, competent and highly motivated people from all over the globe. Yet the event will also offer a lot within the scope of a comprehensive supplementary programme including symposiums, exhibitions and congresses. The city of Leipzig will be hosting the event.

The WorldSkills initiative is currently supported by more than 50 industry enterprises. Naturally, these have a legitimate interest in assessing vocational education in Germany, as they thus obtain valuable feedback for determining what in the German vocational education system may require improvement.