WorldSKills competition paves new avenue for Bangladesh

Nafisa Sadaf Anchol has become the first Bangladesh to receive the Best of Nation Award at the World Skills Competition (WSC) at Kazan, Tatarstan in Russia Tuesday evening.

The two competitors from Bangladesh Tanjim Tabassum Islam in Patisserie & Confectionery and Nafisa in Fashion Technology performed very well and earned appreciation from the organisers and assessors.

They successfully completed all the stages with outstanding performances, said Md Faruque Hossain, Executive Chairman of the National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) under Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Besides, two of the Bangladeshi experts Shaheen Afroz in Patisserie and Confectionery and Afsana Ferdousi in Fashion Technology have been selected as judges and assessors, according to a media release. 

Bangladesh's participation at the World Skills Competition in Kazan is a historic event. After founding National Skills Development Authority (NSDA), Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has personally encouraged the Bangladesh delegation to take an active part in the competition.

This symbolises her strong political will to take skills development issues to a higher level in line with her commitment to create greater opportunities for the youth population in the country, Md Nojibur Rahman, Principal Secretary of the Prime Minister said.

“Bangladesh now has got the opportunity to participate in China in 2021, France 2023 in WorldSkills and Abu Dhabi in 2020 in WorldSkill Asia. In maintaining connectivity with the world market, Bangladesh will continue to develop skills nationally and show competency in world competition simultaneously,” he added.

Senior officials of PMO and NSDA attended policy level exchanges as well as constructively engaging with leaders from Worldskills International and other member countries while the private sector leaders were engaged in networking and identification of skills areas where Bangladesh will have both competitive and comparative advantages not only in the future competitions but also in global markets.

Russian media also highlighted Bangladesh's participation at Kazan WSC. The participation of Bangladesh delegation at the WSC has opened up a new horizon of opportunities in the days ahead.

“Our plan is now to organise a country-wide skill competition under NSDA and its partners to identify talents and prepare for future competitions and global markets. The government announcement to make technical and vocational education compulsory from school level from 2021 will take us to a new height,” NSDA chief said.

“We’re all grateful to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her continued visionary leadership to provide skills training to our young population. The next WSCs in Shanghai, China in 2021 and Lyon, France in 2023 will hold out more opportunities for Bangladesh youth population as we all are inspired to ensure greater participation there,” he expected.

Source: unb