On September 29 an international mastership competition of young professionals EuroSkills 2018, where Latvian team has obtained one golden, one silver medal and three medal on excellent performance in the competition among 28 countries.
Experts evaluated with the highest assessment and golden medals EuroSkills 2018 evaluated the performance of the Latvian team of competitors Elīna Skrindževska (Jelgava Craft Secondary School) and Laura Kreivina (Riga Design and Art Secondary School) in fashion technologies. A silver medal was awarded to the window dresser Luīze Mihailova (Liepaja Art and Design Secondary School). Furthermore, medals of excellence were awarded to the competitor for maintenance of heavy vehicles Jānis Ozols (Priekuli Technical School), young professionals in information and communication technologies (ICT), Igors Būmanis (Riga Technical College) and Ričards Trofimovs (Priekuli Technical School), as well as a designer of web pages Gustavs Rācenājs (Riga Technical College).
“When I go to international mastership competitions for young specialists, it is not possible to guess how strong your competitors from other countries will be and how your team will succeed. This year 7 of 12 Latvian competitors obtained medals and reached the level of excellence at EuroSkills 2018. This result is very good, and this is not an accident. This is a certification of contributed work, motivation of young people and their professional skills. Medals prove that vocational education in Latvia is internationally competitive and prepared youths, who are able to certify excellence of their skills in a competition with high professional standards,” emphasises Dita Traidās, the Director of the State Education Development Agency (SEDA).
Competitors from each state team with the highest score received a prestigious Best of nation award. In the Latvian team this title was awarded to Laura Kreivina and Elīna Skrindževska.
“The key to my and Elina’s achievement is our large work contributed at the stage of preparation and evident team work. These three days of the competition were not easy, limited time for the fulfilment of tasks in the workshop caused tension, yet we did as best as we could as a result of precise mutual cooperation. The most difficult was the final work presentation, because I do not like public presentations. I would evaluate the work of the Estonian team higher, if I was an expert,” Laura Kreivina tells.
Elina adds: “This was truly an excellent team work. Laura helped, when she saw that I could not handle something. And otherwise. Our achievements are based on an original idea, qualitative performance and hard work before and during the competition.”
Latvia had the 7th best team result in the total assessment among 28 countries, leaving behind countries like the Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, etc. There is more competition among cooks and hairdressers – 24 and 22 participants, respectively. Furthermore, there are more participants in teams from Russia, Austria, Sweden, Hungary and the Netherlands. EuroSkills 2018 gathered together around 70,000 visitors, 350 media representatives and 700 volunteers.
The competition took place in Budapest, capital of Hungary, in September 26 – 28. For 3 days 12 participants of Latvian teams in tense competitive conditions carried out complicated tasks of international level in 10 professionals skills competitions: fashion technologies, window dressing, graphic design, ICT, web design, tiling, electrical installations, maintenance of heavy vehicles, cooking and restaurant services. Overall, 525 young professionals from 28 countries participated in the competition.
The participation of Latvian in the competition EuroSkills 2018 is ensured by SEDA by implementing the project “Career Support in General and Vocational Education Institutions” funded by the European Social Fund and the Latvian State.
