17 February 2011
The best Danes won
By Christine Scoot, Marketing and Project Coordinator, WSI
Governor of the Danish National Bank, Nils Bernstein handed out diplomas and statuettes to the winners at the Closing Ceremony of the Danish Nationals on January 29, 2011.
Nils Bernstein said: 'I am very interested in skills and aim to support the recruitment of more young people in Vocational Education and Training (VET). This in turn will result in higher skilled workers in Denmark.'
First the demonstration skills were called to the stage and handed their diploma one by one so that everyone got recognition for their outstanding achievement. Instead of a gold medal, the winner of each official skill got a beautiful statuette that symbolised the profession of the winner.
Danish Official Delegate to WSI, Jesper Juul Sørensen also spoke to the Competitors: ‘The last three days have been a mix of excitement, happiness, despair and professional challenges. You are the finest in your skill and you are great role models who will help spread the word of the importance of VET.
Besides the 36 skill competitions, the Nordic Championship in Cabinetmaking was also held during the Nationals.
Member of Parliament, Carsten Hansen said: ‘We have to commit to securing apprenticeships for all so they can go on and win the National Competition and then maybe the WorldSkills Competition. You are paving the way by showing that VET can lead to everything.’
14,500 visitors came to see the first National Competition on Danish ground, that’s 4,500 over target and the organisers, SkillsDenmark, could not be happier. ‘This is a dream come true, we are finally able to use skills competitions as a recruitment tool,’ said Pia Hegner, Danish Technical Delegate to WSI.
We look forward to the 2nd Competition that takes place next year from January 26-28, 2012.
For more information (in Danish) go to: www.skillsdenmark.dk.