WorldSkills Lyon 2024 celebrates launch of One School One Country

One School One Country (OSOC) for WorldSkills Lyon 2024 was launched on 31 January 2024 in Lyon, France, with students and teachers from the 50 participating schools in attendance. The event took place at Auditorium Lumière at Cité Internationale, where Competition Preparation Week is currently in progress.

A flag parade of all WorldSkills Members set the scene for an enthusiastic and inspiring event hosted by WorldSkills Champions Trust representatives Yousra Assali, Sonya Hill, Dan McCabe, and Cloé Lemaréchal.

One School One Country is a cultural exchange programme which provides local students with an opportunity to learn more about WorldSkills and careers in skills. On the morning of the Opening Ceremony in September, each international delegation will be welcomed into their corresponding school, giving local students and international Competitors the chance to connect and exchange experiences.

“At WorldSkills, we are convinced that promoting skills, inclusiveness, and cultural exchanges between people of different nationalities, different countries, and different cultures is essential. And that’s why One School One Country has been a cherished programme of the WorldSkills movement since its inception in 2007,” said Yousra.

WorldSkills Lyon 2024 President, Max Roche, and Hélène Duvivier-Dromain, Vice President of the Métropole took the stage to encourage the students and teachers to make the most of this experience.

David Hoey, the WorldSkills International CEO, recalled how the programme was first launched during the 39th WorldSkills Competition in Shizuoka, Japan and that its success led to it becoming a WorldSkills tradition.

“For our Member countries and regions it added another important dimension to the Competitor experience. It also gave them a valuable learning around the world and specifically the country that was hosting and its culture and people. For the majority of our Competitors, the WorldSkills Competition is their first international trip,” explained Mr Hoey.

After sharing their best memories of One School One Country, Yousra welcomed Yann Buisson and Anne Laigle, of the Ministry of National Education.

Cloé Lemaréchal, a representative of the WorldSkills Champions Trust, interviewed Robin Gillet, Workshop Sector Manager, and Yane-Nirina Randriamananstoa, Workshop Manager and former Team Leader for France in WorldSkills Kazan 2019 and WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017. Both, being WorldSkills Champions, discussed the influence that the One School One Country programme had on their WorldSkills journey.

Before the OSOC launch, WorldSkills Lyon 2024 and the Métropole of Lyon welcomed 24 international representatives stationed in Lyon for a Diplomatic Briefing, to meet with their Member delegation ahead of their team’s arrival at WorldSkills Competition 2024.