EuroSkills 2008: first ever Europe-wide competition in vocational education and training kicks-off in Rotterdam

Under the slogan "Skills for a strong Europe" EuroSkills 2008 brings together more than 400 talented young students and graduates in vocational education and training from across Europe. The event is built around a series of competitions and demonstrations at Rotterdam's Ahoy arena on 18-20 September 2008. 49 trades are showcased at EuroSkills 2008, including florists and web designers, electricians, motorcycle technicians and nurses.

The main idea behind EuroSkills, to which around 40,000 visitors from all over Europe are expected, is to raise the image, quality and attractiveness of vocational education and training systems. The event wants to create a unique platform to demonstrate, test, compare and improve general skills and competence levels of the future labour force. With its competitions, EuroSkills is also a way of promoting excellence and recognising the talent of Europe's best trainees and graduates.

 

EuroSkills is organised by a newly established association, the European Skills Promotion Organisation (ESPO), in cooperation with Skills Netherlands. The European Commission supports the organisation of the event through funds from the Lifelong Learning Programme. The plan is to make EuroSkills a regular event, to be hosted by a different European country every two years, with the aim of promoting both vocational skills and vocational education and training across Europe.

 

On the fringes of EuroSkills, the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, Ján Figel', will participate in "Skills for employability", a roundtable of European employers, key policy-makers and youth representatives on 18 September. Discussions will focus on how broader policy objectives can be linked to and translated into specific company initiatives.

 

European Comission