Memorandum of understanding signed in Kazan with WorldSkills International

A memorandum of understanding on Kazan hosting the 2019 world vocational skills championship was signed in Kazan with WorldSkills International on Thursday. The signing took place within a working meeting between Russian Government Deputy Chairman Olga Golodets Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov and WSI board.

Attendees included WSI President Simon Bartley, Russian Education and Science Ministry Department of Working Personnel Training National Policy director Natalia Zolotareva, and others.

On 8 March, the WorldSkills International’s board of directors commenced its meeting in Kazan. On 9 March, a session on preparing for the world championship with the participation of the WSI secretariat, to run until 15 March, began. Within the session, the WSI secretariat will present key strategies and documents regulating the preparation for and holding of the WorldSkills championship, tell about how to work with the partners and sponsors. In conjunction with the Russian organising committee, communication and marketing strategy drafts will be developed.

Opening the meeting, Olga Golodets said: “For us, joining WorldSkills has become a tool of developing the working personnel training system.”

Last year, Russia won the bid to host the WorldSkills championship in 2019, due in Kazan on 18-23 August.

“We have got down to fulfilling the obligations we assumed. An organising committee has been set up. Two sessions have been held, an action plan for the main events has been approved,” she said.

Seventy Russian territories had joined the movement, Olga Golodets went on to report. “Regional championships are being held, within which over 3.5 thousand students will undergo special selection rounds to be included in Russia’s extended vocational skills team,” she said.

After Russia had joined the WorldSkills movement, Tatarstan had been strongly involved in it, being the leader in the respective ranking, said Rustam Minnikhanov. “We implement the WorldSkills standards universally in the training curriculums,” he shared, recalling that Kazan had twice hosted the WorldSkills national finals, as well as the first Junior Skills championship.

“Nowadays, the Republic of Tatarstan has a complete infrastructure, capabilities and resources, as well as substantial federal support, to organise and hold the world championship in 2019 up to a high standard,” stressed the Tatarstan governor.

While speaking about the 2019 event, WSI President Simon Bartley assumed teams from 65-70 countries would participate. “The competitions will be approximately held in 50 nominations. Currently, 70 countries are members of the WorldSkills movement, by 2019 they will be 80 to 85. Since about 10 will not be able to participate for various reasons, 65-70 countries are safe to be predicted as participants,” Simon Bartley told reporters.