Finnish National Skills Competition - Taitaja 2007

By: Teemu Lindfors, Information Officer, Skills Finland

Finnish National Skills Competition, Taitaja, was held in Joensuu January 31 – February 2, 2007. Some 33,500 spectators visited the Joensuu Arena to see today’s vocational training in action. The Competition was successful and the atmosphere was cheerful with over 300 youngsters competing in 36 different skills. In every skill the best three competitors were awarded with medals. At the end of Competition a jury chose one competitor as the “Best of the Best.” This year’s “Best of the Best” was Pasi Tahkola who competed in plumbing. The winner was given the use of a Citroen car for one year. As “Best of the Best” he is committed to promoting vocational education and the Taitaja Competition during Skills Finland’s events as well as other fairs where Skills Finland is a participant. At the closing ceremony the members of Team Finland were announced. Team Finland will compete in 39 skills in Shizuoka, Japan in November 2007. In 2008 the Finnish National Skills Competition will be held in Espoo.

Competition Information System training in Joensuu

In conjunction with the Taitaja Competition there was a two day Competition Information System (CIS) training program for international guests, organised by WorldSkills International and hosted by Skills Finland. The CIS is much more that a scoring system for a competition – it is a powerful knowledge management and learning tool for WSI and its Members. The participants from Iran, Japan, Netherlands, Canada, Singapore and the WSI Secretariat learnt how to install, commission and operate the CIS. Mr Janne Ostrovski (one of the designers of the CIS) provided this very informative and beneficial training.

Study Paths

Skills Finland – together with Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences – developed a Study Path pattern which was used in the 2005 WorldSkills Competition and at the Finnish National Skills Competitions. They had six ready-made Study Paths. These allowed students and other visitors to get an idea of various professions and working life. Similar to the 2005 WorldSkills Competition in Helsinki, the Study Paths proved to be very popular. The Study Path pattern is currently part of every Finnish National Skills Competition.

Education and Working Life Fair answers questions

An Education Fair was held simultaneously in Joensuu as a additional service to visitors. The fair featured information on hundreds of different professions you can study in Finland. Experts were on hand to answer young people’s many questions about the possibilities in vocational education. Many came away with new ideas to answer the question: “What will I be when I’m older.”

Comprehensive school competition

At the Finnish National Competition 2007 final-year students at comprehensive schools had their own competition. The students competed in teams, and the winning team was given scooters as an award. Other events during this competition included various seminars in which visitors could participate.

For more information please visit: www.skillsfinland.com