WorldSkills took place last week in Abu Dhabi, where 1,300 young people from 57 countries came to defend their skills. Belgium was represented by 16 young people aged under 23 and six young people from Wallonia won medallions of excellence at the end of the competition.
Belgium was represented in 14 of the 51 disciplines. It improved its score from last year in São Paulo and moved up in the inter-country classification. Six of the seven medallions of excellence were won by young people from Wallonia.
The rating system was stricter than in previous years, making the Belgian result even more exceptional. The main winners in this event were Asian and emerging countries. Russia made significant progress compared with previous years and Switzerland came at the top of the European rankings.
The next competition will be held in Budapest in 2018 and registration is already open on the WorldSkills Belgium website.
The winners:
Fashion Technology (29 competitors): Loïc Gluckmann, aged 22, Province of Liège (Lambermont), trained at and graduated from HELMo Mode in Liège, communications student at the Haute Ecole de la Province de Liège, coached by the Expert Christelle Cormann, HELMo Mode Liège.
Electrical installations (36 competitors): Paul Van Den Heede, aged 20, Province of Hainaut (Vezon), student at the Haute Ecole Provinciale de Hainaut Condorcet in Tournai, coached by the Expert Denis Devos, Forem — Tournai. Joinery (26 competitors): Julien Neulens, aged 22, Province of Luxembourg (Vielsalm), works as a freelancer —
Joinery Julien Neulens, coached by the Expert Patrick Bergenhuizen, Don Bosco Verviers.
Restaurant service (36 competitors): Clément Jacqmain, aged 20, Province of Namur (Blaimont), student at the Ecole hôtelière provinciale de Namur, coached by Dominique Bal, Ecole hôtelière provinciale de Namur (EHPN).
Cooking (41 competitors): Lionel Van Royen, aged 20, Province of Namur (Ciney), sandwich student at the Centre IFAPME de Villers-le-Bouillet, recently started working at the Naxhelet in Wanze, coached by the Expert Frédéric Deroppe, Epicuris Villers-le-Bouillet.
Automobile Technology (36 competitors): Yohann Krings, aged 22, Province of Liège — German-speaking community (Heppenbach), student at IFAPME Autoform (Liège), works at Volvo JC Cars (Waimes), coached by the Expert Philippe Kever, EFP Brussels.
