Malaysia Gears Up For WSC 2015

By Kamarul Irwan Alias KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 (Bernama) -- Armed with experience and months of training, Malaysian representatives to the WorldSkills Competition (WSC) 2015 will bring along with them high hopes of a successful outing in Sao Paulo, Brazil this August. The participants, aged 23 and below, are aiming to bring back a medal, which will be the first for the country since first joining the competition in 1993. The biennial competition comparable to the Olympics in terms of size and prestige will see Malaysia compete in 19 of 54 events contested from Aug 11 to 16. Though the country has yet to see a medal to its name, it has however collected a total of 36 medallions of excellence so far which are given to participants who manage to score 500 or more points in their event. Malaysia's best performance to date was seen in Leipzig, Germany, where the WSC 2013 was held. There the participants garnered nine medallions of excellence out of 14 events they contested in. This year, 20 representatives will give their best following intensive training and coaching from experts, industrial training as well as experience from the World Skills Oceania held in April. IMPACT Currently, Malaysia's working force consists of only 25 percent highly skilled workers, a much lower number when compared to that of developed countries where at least 50 percent of their workers are highly skilled. According to Skills Development Director-General Dr Pang Chau Leong, the country has set the target to achieve 35 percent skilled workers by 2020 under the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) and 60 percent of 1.5 million new jobs to be created under 11MP falls under the highly skilled category. "The government aims to increase skills in the country and its evident that this skills competition and our achievement at the world level will drive us towards excellence," he said. The WorldSkills Competition is seen as an instrumental in making an impact on the technical and vocational fields as well as high skilled labour development in the country. Dr Pang said success in the high profile international competition will set a benchmark of skills in Malaysia as well as prove that vocational training in the country was world class. "If we are capable of producing manpower that is highly skilled, high performing and competitive, it will make local and foreign investors more confident and this will help us achieve a high income nation status," he said. He said participation in WSC was also important in mainstreaming vocational training in the country as the community still regards vocational routes negatively and as one that may not provide a bright future. "Parents still want their children to attend university and obtain a degree because they are not confident about the future vocational education would bring. Little do they know, highly skilled workers in developed countries earn more than those with academic qualifications," he said. REWARDS AND INCENTIVES For Malaysians who do the country proud and bring home a medal, attractive incentives await. Gold medal winners will recive a cash incentive of US$10,520 (RM40,000), while those who win silver will receive RM20,000 and RM10,000 for bronze. (US$1 = RM3.80) An incentive of RM4,000 is given to recipients of the medallion of excellence or best overall participant. "These rewards and incentives are provided to encourage more youths to join the competition, but we believe we have instilled in them the spirit to fight for the Jalur Gemilang and raise the country in the eyes of the world," he said. According to Dr Pang, those eligible will also be given the Malaysian Skills Certificate, Malaysian Skills Diploma or Malaysian Skills Higher Diploma as recognition. Meanwhile, he said participants also have a bright future in their careers if they were able to compete with contestants from other countries and were disciplined when undergoing training. "It's proven that most competition alumni have successfully obtained work and some have become entrepreneurs," he said, adding that he hoped to see Malaysia hosting the WSC one day. COMPETITION FORMAT Countries registered with WorldSkills International (WSI) pay an annual fee of US$19,726 (RM75,000) and are allowed to send one representative or one team for each field contested. Eligible participants must be 22 years old and below at the year of the competition, except for the fields of information network cabling, mechatronics, manufacturing team challenge and aircraft maintenance that set a limit for 25 year olds. Each person is required to execute a task to showcase their skills, which they will study for at their workplace. These tasks will only be known three months before the competition. Participants are given between 15 to 22 hours within four days to carry out the task and winners are awarded gold, silver and bronze medals as well as the medallion of excellence. Meanwhile, the best participant from each country will receive the Best of Nation medal while the best overall participant will be presented with the Albert Vidal Award in remembrance of his efforts and sacrifice to make the competition possible. The WorldSkills Competition began in 1946 in Spain, a time when the country was in need of skilled wokers. --BERNAMA