[Standing at the center of the world’s skills stage] How a “skills passport” enables “cross-border travel”
"The length of a qualified baguette must be accurate to 55 centimeters, and the bread cuts must be baked to a light golden color..." These strict Western baking standards are now being brought to the world's podium by Chinese coaches.
On the morning of September 25, all the baking competitions of this World Championship ended. As the leader of the coaching staff, Gong Xin breathed a sigh of relief. His student Hou Jinchen successfully completed all assessments and submitted a satisfactory work.
Gong Xin entered the industry at the age of 18 and participated in the World Championship selection at the age of 22. In the baking industry, which is an "exported product", Gong Xin once went abroad for training and gained experience. But in recent years, he has begun to be invited by Malaysia, France, Canada and other countries to teach competition experience and skills.
"The World Championship is a global skills exchange event. I hope to promote the competition through my sharing, so that more countries and more young people can participate, so that this project can go further." Gong Xin said.
Over the past four days, at "Four Leaf Clover", more than 1,300 skilled young people from different countries and regions have stood on the same stage, followed the same set of standards, competed on the same stage, and learned from each other. And when the competition comes to an end, can these skilled talents from all over the world hold the same "skills passport" so that skill standards can cross national borders and achieve cross-border mutual recognition?
In Shanghai, the venue of this World Championship, this question already has a specific answer.
On the afternoon of September 24, at the Shanghai Skills Development Theme Parallel Meeting of the World Skills Conference, Shanghai’s national (overseas) vocational skills comparative certification catalog was officially released.
This directory includes 7 international skills certification institutions and 16 skill certificates from 3 countries: the UK, Germany, and Belgium. It can be compared and recognized for 9 occupations (types of work) including elderly care, housekeeping services, maternal and infant care, childcare, automobile maintenance, aviation assembly, Western cooking, welders, and smart buildings. After the certificate holder is employed in Shanghai and meets the corresponding conditions, he can directly exchange for a domestic vocational skill level certificate without having to take the exam again.
"The release of the catalog will further facilitate the cross-regional flow of foreign (overseas) vocational skills talents and employment and entrepreneurship in Shanghai, promote the implementation and transformation of international skills standards, comprehensively improve the quality and efficiency of skilled talent training, and serve the high-quality development of the export-oriented economy." said the relevant person in charge of Shanghai.
Putting training certificates, competition results and international experience into a "passport" is also a common expectation of many participants.
"It was my skills that took me out of the country and saw a broader world. I hope more young people will have such opportunities." Diego Andres Lopez Garro from Costa Rica is the champion of the IT network system management project of the 45th World Skills Competition. After winning the championship, he was hired by an American technology company and worked there for 4 years. He believes that different countries and regions have strong commonalities in vocational skills and occupational standards, and on this basis, the convergence of skills standards and cross-border mutual recognition can be further promoted.
"Skilled talents can gain new skills and experience in different labor markets. The result is a win-win situation." Cameron Baker, chairman of the Skills Council of South Australia, believes that the connection between professional qualifications should be accelerated and the reduction of duplication of training and certification should be expedited by connecting skills standards and conducting personnel exchanges.
Zhao Xiaolei, director of the Investment and Technology Promotion Office of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Shanghai, China), said that transnational and cross-industry skills exchange platforms can promote the transformation of skills and experience into universal standards, change society's inherent understanding of vocational education, and thus broaden the development space for young skilled talents.
"If the certificates are not interchangeable, our nationally rated 'senior technicians' will not be recognized by others when they go abroad." This afternoon, as the automobile spray painting project competition came to an end, Zhang Xiaopeng, leader of the Chinese technical guidance expert group for the project, said that with the "skills passport", the cross-border flow of skilled talents does not have to "start all over again", which "must be a very good thing."
Letting skills flow across regions and jointly building an open skills ecosystem is becoming a common agenda for global skills governance. During the World Games, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Shanghai Municipal Government, and WorldSkills Organization signed a letter of intent for cooperation on the establishment of the World Skills Innovation Center in Shanghai, drawing a blueprint for building a new international skills ecosystem.
