WorldSkills competition 2022 was conducted from September to November 2022 across Europe, North America, and East Asia comprising over 1,000 competitors from 58 countries in 61 skills. The competition was hosted by 15 countries in more than 20 cities. India participated in 50 skills and secured 11th position with 2 Silver Medals, 3 Bronze Medals and 13 Medallions for Excellence at the WSC 2022, its best ranking so far at the WorldSkills Competition.
On October 17, 2023, the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) formally held a felicitation ceremony in New Delhi to recognize the winners and the ecosystem that was behind the good show by Indian participants. Union Education & Skills Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan along with MSDE secretary Atul Kumar Tiwari; Chairman, AICTE, Prof. T. G. Sitharam; Chairman, UGC, Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar; Additional Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Krishna Kumar Dwivedi; CEO, NSDC & MD, Ved Mani Tiwari; Additional Secretary/Director General (Training), Trishaljit Sethi; Head, WorldSkill India, Dr. Maneesh Mishra; officials, dignitaries and students were also present in the function.
The winners who were felicitated at the event included Praveen Giri (Water Technology), Nandita Saxena (Patisserie & confectionary), Likith Kumar YP (Prototype Modelling), Karthik Gowda (Mechatronics), Akhilesh N (Mechatronics), Anushree Srinivasan (Hotel Reception), Steven Harris (Graphic design technology), Pratham Sharma (Bakery), Abhinav Verma (3D Digital gaming Art), Vaisakh (Information Network Cabling), Advaith (Web Technologies), Subasis Paul (Jewellery), Sonu Lather (Autobody Repair), Mohammad Siyad & Mohammad Faisal (Mobile Robotics), Saraswathy PV (Health and Social Care), Divejya (Fashion Technology), Charmi Sen (Hairdressing), Subrat Patel (Restaurant Services), Mohammad Salman (Automobile Technology).
For WSC 2022, a total of 165 IndiaSkills National Competition winners were trained for the WorldSkills Competition at designated training venues developed in line with WorldSkills standards under the mentorship of WorldSkills India Experts and trainers. More than 200 Industry and Academic Partners like Toyota Kirloskar, Mahindra, Saint Gobain, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti Suzuki, Infosys, IIT-Palakkad, Government Tool Room and Training Centre, National Institute of Fashion Technology, Lincoln Electric, CISCO, BMW, Volkswagen, Berger Paints and others collaborated to train India’s competitors, sponsoring approximately Rs. 20 Crore in terms of training infrastructure, subject matter expertise, international training, raw material and tool kits.
Fifty-six competitors, 50 Experts and 11 Interpreters participated among which 19% were female (11 competitors). Some of the competitors also participated in new-age skills like Robot System Integration, Additive Manufacturing, Industry 4.0, Digital Construction, Mobile Application Development and Renewable Energy.
While addressing the event, Pradhan reminded everyone of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s call for enhancing competency over acquiring degrees alone. He also highlighted the importance of introducing employable skills, which will increase market acceptance of the workforce. He stressed that we have to give equal importance to competencies, applied knowledge and hands-on training to lead in the 21st century. The minister also highlighted the need for mapping skill gaps to reduce the gap between degrees earned and skills acquired. He mentioned how NEP 2020 has taken steps to introduce a blended model by merging degree and competency, making it flexible and as per the choice of the students.
Though IndiaSkills 2023-24 were announced at the event, however, no details were shared. It will be coming days that the details will emerge on the schedule and scale.
