Skills Can Open Doors and Create New Opportunities for Young People: The MOL Promotes International Efforts to Equip Young People With Skills for Employment On World Youth Skills Day

To promote the importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, the United Nations (UN) declared July 15 as World Youth Skills Day. The Ministry of Labor (MOL) has been committed to the development of skill training for youth over the years, and has spared no effort to accomplish this task. Faced with the severe impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan continues to complete exchange and cooperation projects with the United Kingdom, Jamaica and other African and Asian countries through the power of technology, allowing youth skill training in Taiwan to continue to be in line with international standards. Thanks to these efforts, youths will be able to develop their skills without hindrance.

Taiwan joined WorldSkills International (WSI) in 1970 and together signed a Memorandum for Cooperation and Understanding in 2019, establishing the world’s second WSI Capacity Building Center and has actively assisted developing countries in Africa, Central and South America, and Asia to enhance the skills of experts and competitors. Taiwan also signed the Memorandum of Understanding for Bilateral Skills Excellence Partnership with WorldSkills UK on May 20, 2021, to collaboratively achieve the development of skills excellence.

The MOL has always emphasized the development of skill training for young people and has spared no effort to accomplish this task. Faced with the challenges posed by the severe impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan utilizes the power of technology not only to maintain the momentum of skills training within Taiwan, but also to collaborate with the UK, Jamaica and other Asian countries, to conduct online workshops on skills of robotics, car painting, fashion technology, restaurant services, and cooking. The chief experts of each category took into account each country’s economic and industrial standards and provided suggestions and collaborative exchanges in the establishment of regulations, competition drafting, machinery equipment, skills training, etc. In addition, the MOL has also completed digital educational videos in four different categories: restaurant services, automobile technology, mechatronics, and fashion technology. These are provided so that experts and teachers from both Taiwan and abroad may have an understanding of the grading criteria and categories of WorldSkills Competitions, thereby guiding the skill level of different nations to bridge the gap with international standards and nurture youths with world-class skills. In 2019, the MOL invited experts and competitors of the automobile industry from India to Taiwan to learn practical skills from each other. Taiwan assisted Indian contestants to win the country’s first medal at the WorldSkills Competition Kazan 2019. This encouraged the Indian government to put more efforts in developing the youth’s skills.

The MOL has successfully built an international skills platform with the help of the WSI Capacity Building Center, so that Taiwan’s youths can participate in workshops and friendly matches hosted by WorldSkills International, WorldSkills Asia and WorldSkills UK. Young Taiwanese people have learned about the training methods and mentalities of different countries through these exchange programs, which broadened their horizons and gave them an international view.

In celebration of World Youth Skills Day, the MOL has arranged for the chief experts and competitors from Taiwan to go to countries in Africa, Central and South America, and Asia to receive technical training. Through practical actions, the skills of youths in various countries have thus improved, and began to draft the blueprints of their careers. Skills can open doors to young people. We encourage them to use their skills to boost the economic standards of their countries, thereby promoting the development of skills in their region.

Sources: MINISTRY OF LABOR REPUBLIC OF CHINA(TAIWAN)