5 May 2008
WorldSkills partnership between Korea and India to disseminate high performance skill standards
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Representatives of WSI Members from Korea and India, along with representatives from Global Sponsor Partner SAMSUNG, and two WSI Executive Board members were hosted recently by the Confederation of Indian Industries in New Delhi.
The purpose of the meeting, chaired by WSI President Jack Dusseldorp, was to develop an innovative skills partnership to generate benefits not only for Korea and India, but also for the wider WSI membership, particularly in the Asian region.
The initiative responds to one of the goals in the WorldSkills Action Plan, adopted in Shizuoka, to develop training and learning resources and support that help achieve WSI's mission to promote skills across the world.
Korea is one of WSI's longest standing Members with one of the strongest performance records. Many Korean champions further enhance their skill level by working for SAMSUNG. As a WSI global sponsor, SAMSUNG will support the partnership initiative through sharing the expertise of its medallist employees as well as covering on-line training development costs associated with the partnership. HRD Korea is also keen to share its skills competition 'know how' by providing access to its training programs and standards as well as management training for those individuals in India and other Asian countries who are responsible for organising skills competitions.
Students at a vocational institute visited by the Korean
delegation.
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Through one of the SAMSUNG associated companies, Credu - a provider of e-learning expertise and materials to companies and institutions around the world - a proposal was made to collaborate with Skills India to develop and pilot 2 or 3 high performance e-learning modules featuring Korean skill champions and piloting them in the Indian VET system to see whether they effectively transmit WSI performance standards in key manufacturing and service sector skills across different cultures.
India, with its highly developed IT skills and familiarity with e-learning systems, was seen to be an ideal testing ground to see whether "hands on" skills could be effectively enhanced utilising the latest IT interactive technology, along with face to face instruction, to a range of ability groups in a trial of some 1,000 students.
If the approach proves to be successful, it is proposed to expand the skills e-learning system for use by all members through the WSI website.
For its part, the Confederation of Indian Industry plans to establish a WorldSkills Learning Centre as a dissemination hub for skill standards with support from international and national sponsors. This will be the first such centre to be created under the WorldSkills banner anywhere in the world.
Speaking after the meeting, President Dusseldorp said,
"The combination of an E-Learning Skills initiative backed by SAMSUNG, and the first WorldSkills Learning Centre to be set up here in India by CII will make a huge contribution to our shared goal to bring high skill performance standards to young people who currently don't have access to them. This partnership initiative underscores the value of WorldSkills as global network of individuals, agencies and companies committed to shared success in skills and prosperity."