SkillsLatvia is a national level professional mastery competition for vocational education students, which is organised once a year starting in 2017. In the competition, students of vocational education institutions demonstrate the excellence of their skills by competing with each other.
SkillsLatvia takes place in two stages:
SkillsLatvia semi-finals if 10 or more participants have applied for the skills competition.
Competition SkillsLatvia and demonstrations of various professions.
SkillsLatvia includes skills competitions in the following thematic groups:
creative arts and fashion technologies,
information and communication technologies,
production and engineering technologies,
construction and building technologies,
transport and logistics,
public and individual services.
The National mastery competition SkillsLatvia and its semi-finals are organized by the State Education Development Agency (VIAA) in cooperation with Latvian vocational education institutions and industry companies, industry professional associations and federations. SkillsLatvia hosts 18 to 24 skill competitions in the second semester of the current school year. The competition takes place for two to three days according to the set number of hours for the task. The terms of reference for the skills competition, the description of the infrastructure and the list of materials necessary for their implementation, as well as the evaluation criteria are developed by experts - industry professionals. The performance of SkillsLatvia competitors is evaluated by industry professionals in accordance with the competition evaluation guidelines.
Students of Latvian vocational education institutions aged up to 22 years (inclusive) participate in the SkillsLatvia competition. The vocational education institution applies the students for participation in the skills competition.
The competition winners of the SkillsLatvia in 1st till 3rd places in each nomination are awarded medals, diplomas and prizes provided by sponsors. After the SkillsLatvia competition, participants can improve their professional skills and become potential candidates in the preparation implemented by VIAA for participation in the international skills competitions for young professionals EuroSkills and WorldSkills.
Professional skills competitions:
raises the prestige of vocational education institutions, learners' self-confidence, entrepreneurship and motivation to better master the curriculum, promote their employment and competitiveness in the transition to the labour market;
establish close co-operation with industry experts, developing the tasks of the professional mastery competition and the criteria for evaluating their performance in professions, which would further promote the compliance of the content of vocational education with the changing requirements of the labour market;
promotes vocational education in society as a value for choosing a conscious career direction, motivates students of general education institutions to choose to acquire professional qualifications demanded in the labour market, including science and technology-intensive professions, already after obtaining a basic education.
The project has received ESF funding of €18 938 584 (€22 280 688 in total with public funding).
