Team India enters final leg of preparation before WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017
· Contingent attended three-day team building workshop in Delhi
· Contest commences on October 15, 2017 in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi: Team India gears up to participate at the biggest exhibition for skills called WorldSkills Competition, which will be organized in Abu Dhabi from 14th to 19th October 2017. 1200 competitors from 70+ countries will compete across 50 skills at this biennial competition.
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has been spearheading India’s participation under WorldSkills India banner at these competitions since 2011. For the upcoming competition, WorldSkills India has selected a team of 28 competitors, who will compete in 26 skills ranging from car painting, brick laying, hair styling, beauty therapy, proto-type modeling, auto body repair, visual merchandizing, mobile robotics, CNC Turing, welding among others.
NSDC had identified all the competitors through a series of competitions organized at regional and national levels over the past two years. Post which all the candidates have undergone extensive training with Industry partners, which has helped them improve their skills before the competition. Large number of candidates has also travelled overseas to train under the guidance of some of the best trainers and experts available internationally.
Apart from the technical skills, NSDC organized a three-day training and team building workshop for all the candidates in Delhi from 9th to 11th September 2017. The workshop is aimed at equipping the candidates with softer skill such as time management, coping with pressure and other pre-event preparation required to participate at the international competition. The workshop was conducted by renowned soft skills training organization, Tata Strive.
Leading sports personalities such as Sachin Tendulkar, the brand ambassador of the Skill India mission; Deepa Malik, who won two medals at the last Paralympics in Rio 2016; Devendra Jhajharia, the first India Paralympian to win two gold medals at Paralympics; RehanPoncha, Arjuna Awardee and 5 times national champion in swimming came together to motivate the contestants. While Sachin and Deepa sent in motivational video messages, Devendra and Rehan met the contestants in person to share their experiences and gave valuable input on coping with the pressure, especially while representing India at the highest level.
Sharing his thoughts on WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017, Mr Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, NSDC said, “Most of our competitors come from a very humble background and have worked very hard to earn themselves a place in this contingent. They will now represent India at
the biggest skills competitions in the world, which will help them benchmark their skills against their peers in other countries.”
“We are confident that all our competitors will become great ambassadors for skills in India and will motivate many in the society to acquire a skill and contribute to the society”, he further added.