The Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training on October 24 announced the opening of the 8th National Skills Competition 2022, with 61 candidates from 13 institutions competing in eight categories at Phnom Penh Technical and Vocational Education and Training Park.
According to an announcement by the General Department of Technical and Vocational Education and Training, this national skills competition will last for five days from October 24-28. Winning candidates will be awarded medals and cash prizes, with three million riel ($750) for a gold, two million for silver and one million for bronze.
Hing Sideth, head of the ministry’s General Department of Technical and Vocational Training and chairman of the organising committee, said the top competitors would also get the chance to represent Cambodia in international competitions.
He said it aims to promote healthy competition, which will contribute to enhancing the vocational skills and raising the value of young workers in Cambodia.
“This event will strengthen and boost cooperation between public and private technical and vocational training institutions and non-governmental organisations in the field of technical and vocational education and training. It also provides a means of recognising the quality and ability of some of the Kingdom’s highly skilled workers,” he said.
According to an announcement by the general department, the eight major categories that make up the competition include electrical networking, bricklaying, welding, computer programming, accountancy, web design, graphic design, tile laying and automation programming.
Muth Chenda, director of the Techo Sen Svay Rieng Polytechnic Institute who entered a candidate in the electrical networking competition, told The Post that the contest was a great opportunity for all training institutions and units to demonstrate the quality of their programmes.
In addition, he said candidates who do not win in the event will at least gain valuable experience. Each of the institutions whose students participate should use the contest as an opportunity to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of its own curriculum. This is an excellent opportunity for self reflection and improvement, he added.
“One of our candidates has been shortlisted for the electricity competition. Obviously we want him to do well, but if not, it will give us an indication on areas where we can improve. We do not know the outcome yet, but at the end of the game we will have an excellent idea of the ability of our students, and of our programme” he said.
For the past five years, the labour ministry has provided short-term skills training to an average of 30,000 trainees per year at institutions and technical institutes across the country.
