27 May 2009
Taitaja 2009 – Finnish National Skills Competition
By Skills Finland
Finnish National Skills Competition, Taitaja, was held in Vaasa March 25 – 27, 2009. It was the twentieth anniversary of Taitaja. The Competition was a real success. Some 350 youngsters competed in 37 different trades under the eyes of over 46,000 visitors. There were also three Abilympic trades for the students with special needs and the Taitaja9 Competition for the ninth graders. The atmosphere during the Competition was positive and well organised technical arrangements made it easy to enjoy competing and to follow the Competition.
In this year’s Competition there were 16 international Competitors. They are training for WorldSkills Calgary 2009 or were just getting competition experience for the future. There were also dozens of international visitors who were collecting some hints for their own national skills competitions. One of the international delegations was WorldSkills London 2011 organisers. They were getting information on how to organise skills competitions. Another big group was a French delegation which was familiarising with the Finnish way of organising skills competitions for the students with special needs.
At the end of the Competition a jury chose one Competitor as the “Best of the Best.” This year’s “Best of the Best” was Mr. Sami Puhakka who competed in Mechatronics. The winner was given the use of an ecological Toyota Prius hybrid 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 participates.
The medal ceremony was an unforgettable moment for the medallists but also for another 47 youngsters. TeamFinland2009 was announced at the end of the ceremony. Finland will participate in 41 trades in Calgary. All the Competitors and Experts were introduced trade by trade on stage. The Finnish team will be one of the biggest teams in Calgary.
During 2010 the Finnish National Skills Competition will be held in Oulu April 27-29.
For more information, please visit www.skillsfinland.com