A Russian journal “Vocational education” has recently published an article by Petri Lempinen, an ETF expert and country manager for the Russian Federation. Mr Lempinen writes about skills competition and Russia joining them. Skills competitions can be used as a tool to develop vocational education and training, if competitions are connected to everyday teaching and other activities of VET colleges. This will take years to achieve as example from Finland has showed, but in the end efforts will be rewarded. Russian Federation has joined the World Skills International, a non profit organisation to promote worldwide awareness of the contribution that skills and high standards of competence make to the achievement of economic success and individual fulfilment. Membership in WSI makes Russians a family member of “Olympic Games of the vocational training“. It is also an excellent piece of news to all friends of skills competitions. Mr Lempinen’s article is in Russian. It is followed by English translation.

6. Skills Competitions
A tool for modernisation of vocational training
Petri Lempinen
Russian Federation is about to join the World Skills International, a non profit organisation to
promote worldwide awareness of the contribution that skills and high standards of competence
make to the achievement of economic success and individual fulfilment. Membership in WSI makes
Russians a family member of “Olympic Games of the vocational training“. It is also an excellent
piece of news to all friends of skills competitions.
WorldSkills Competition is the biggest global skills competition. It is a biannual international event
where young professionals from all member countries of World Skills International compete during
four days for the world championship in over 45 skills categories. The next competitions will take
place in Leipzig, Germany in 2013+. The organisers expect more than 1000 competitors to
participate in World Skills Leipzig.
The first main effort for Russians will be establishment of the national team to participate in Leipzig
in 2013. Before that Russians could also gain experience of the competitions by visiting in the third
EuroSkills that will be organised in October 2012 in Belgium. Participation in this event is limited to
countries that are members in EuroSkills Organisation.
Participation in WorldSkills Competition is an expensive operation and each country should take all
benefits out of it. The fact that Russia is considering to send the national team to Leipzig can be
used for promotion of secondary VET and its relevance to labour market. This is one way to
increase attractiveness of training but it works only if it reflects realistically learning opportunities
that vocational training offers in Russia.
Skills competitions can also be used as a tool to develop vocational education and training, if
competitions are connected to everyday teaching and other activities of VET colleges. This will take
years to achieve as example from Finland has showed, but in the end efforts will be rewarded.
Quality of vocational education and training
What is quality of vocational education and training? There is no simple answer to the question but
quality can be described as a relevance to the needs of labour market. This implies that learning
outcomes, skills and competences, meet the needs of actual jobs that are available at the labour
market. In summary provision of good quality vocational education and training meets the needs of
customers, who are namely the students and local or regional labour market where graduates are
expected to find a job.
Labour market has a demand for a variety of skills that can be achieved from vocational or higher
education. This provision of training can be addressed either to young people or to adults that are
already at labour market. The main message, that has been globally confirmed, is that more and
more jobs demand key competencies which are not related to technical demands of a given
occupation. E.g. social competencies refer to ability to work effectively with other people
understanding codes of conduct. The sense of initiative and entrepreneurship includes means
ability to turn ideas into action. These are all competencies of a modern professional worker or
specialist.
If the idea that quality of training can be judged against the needs of the labour market is accepted,
then it is possible to understand how quality of training can be evaluated at different levels.
Firstly at the system level VET should address the needs of employers, and individuals at the same
time. A balanced system of education and training provides labour market work force with different
qualifications and skills for different occupations. This demand can be expressed in qualitative and
quantitative demands. Are qualifications up to date to provide skills that are used in contemporary
economy? Is the volume of education and training sufficient to the number of people in need of
training and number of jobs available at the labour market? Are policies and strategies defined by
public authorities supporting provision and development of quality training?

7. Secondly at the level of education and training institution like a VET college quality can be
evaluated against the capacity of school to provide training to applicants and provide adequate
skills to surrounding labour market. Is the school system able to accommodate all applicants and
provide them with good skills? At institutional level the key issue is autonomy of training institutions.
They need powers and means to react to different needs that they observe.
Thirdly at the level of an individual student quality of training reflects successful performance and
graduation leading to employment after studies. This reflects the teaching methods and learning
environments that can support or destroy the motivation of students. Quality is closely linked to
attractiveness of VET. Education and training can be an attractive choice for young people and their
parents if it gives possibilities for gainful employment. This requires that also employers are aware
of skills and competencies that VET gives to graduates.
Finland and skills competitions
Finland has gained over 20 years of experience from the modern skills competitions. The first
national championships were organised already in 1988 with some 30 participants competing in two
skill categories, occupations. A year later, in 1989, Finland participated in the World Skills
competitions for the first time. The first national team was not victorious but by participating Finnish
VET people got a good idea of the nature of skills competitions.
The first serious attempt to organise the work around competitions was taken in 1993 when a non-
profit association Skills Finland was created. Skills Finland is in charge of organisation of national
skills competitions and participation of Team Finland in international competitions. Skills Finland is
an exceptional NGO as it combines the interest of the government, social partners, training
providers and VET students. National Board of Education, VET providers and colleges, employer
organisations, trade unions and student organisations are members of Skills Finland. Wide
membership means that Skills Finland has a unique position as network interlinking all major
stakeholders of vocational education and training.
The second attempt was taken in year 2000 when Finland applied to host the 2005 World Skills
Competitions. The competitions were granted to Finland and this was the start for the strong
evolution of activities around competitions. The key success factor since that has been the fact that
competitions have been linked to national VET qualifications and the most of the actual work is
done by VET teachers. Implementation of the competitions is based on VET providers will to use
them as a tool to improve quality of training.
Focusing the national level
The most important of level of skills competitions in Finland are national championships, which are
called Taitaja, and semi-finals in which competitors are selected for the national championships.
These activities are complemented by pre-semi-finals that some institutions organise among their
students. This is a practical way to engage thousands of students into competitions which in the end
lead to participation of the national team of 40-50 competitors in World Skills Competition.
National skills competition Taitaja is the annual three day event for more than 400 young VET
students and apprentice who are under 20 years old. They were selected among over 1800
participants in regional semi-finals in which all VET providers can participate. Almost all providers of
IVET sent competitors to semi-finals.
Skills Finland grants the right to organise the event to VET providers. Taitaja is the biggest annual
VET event in Finland with an audience tens of thousands of people. This means that only big VET
institutions are able to host the competitions. The competitions are accompanied with a lot of
events, like skill shows, try a trade opportunities, an educational fair and various conferences. The
budget of organising one national competition is around 3.5 million euros. This is covered by the
organiser with its partners and sponsors. There is often financial support from local or regional
administration and also from Ministry of Education and Culture.

8. Since 2006 TaitajaPLUS is the Finnish National Skills Competition for student with disabilities and
special needs. This competition is held annually together with Taitaja competition. Aim of the
TaitajaPLUS is to improve the vocational education of students with special needs and raise the
awareness of vocational skills competitions for students with special needs. It also helps to connect
the skilful competitors with each other and with potential employers. Finland has participated also in
Abilympics since 2007 which are the global skills competitions for people with disabilities and special needs.
The third level of national competition is Taitaja9 which is a playful competition for 9th graders of
comprehensive schools in craftsmanship. There are annually more than 3000 participants in
Taitaja9 competitions in different schools and regions and they aim to improve knowledge of
practical subjects, particularly on technical and textile handicrafts, in an inspiring way.
Competitions and Finnish VET provision
At the moment there are 52 qualifications with 117 specialisations in the Finnish IVET system. In
principle all these qualifications require a three year programme and they provide access to higher
education. In Taitaja competitions there are some 40 45 skill categories which mean that
competitions cover a big part of the national VET provision and needs of labour market. There are
annually more than 400 competitors in Taitaja.
Skill categories are in national competition are divided into six clusters: building, catering services,
industrial services, information and communication technology, services and vehicle technology and
transport. Individual skills categories vary from hairdressing to plumbing and floristry. The variety of
the skill categories tries to take into account different sectors and needs of economy and labour
market.
Finnish vocational education and training system consists of Initial and Continuous vocational
education and training. IVET is mostly targeted to young people as an option to achieve a
profession and enter the labour market. CVT is targeted for adults who need up-skill or re-skill their
competences or change an occupation.
The competitions test the essential skills and competencies of occupations to the standards set by
national core curricula. This link between competition tasks and curricula is extremely important
because it links competitions to everyday work of a VET institution. On the other hand it is important
highlight that standards set in the national core curricula reflect labour markets skill demands in
different occupations. Also competition tasks reflect real tasks that a VET graduates can perform in
enterprises. Since 2001 competition tasks have been collected into data bank that is accessible for
free. These tasks can be used in teaching and also in preparation to competitions.
In Finland the concept of student assessment is quite similar than concept of skills competitions.
Assessment of IVET and CVT students takes place in form of practical skills or competence tests at
work places in real work life situations. In both cases students are assessed against the criterion set
in the curricula and test by representatives of an enterprise and VET teachers. This is usually done
by skilled workers or specialists in the enterprises. Some training providers have used practical
skills tests as a form of competitions when they are selecting their “team” to be sent to regional
semi-finals.
Involvement of teachers from VET colleges
Competent teachers are the most important resource of Finnish VET system. They need to have
practical experience from the field of their teaching but they also have pedagogical qualification.
Usually VET teachers are recruited from the labour market and after their career choice they enter
the pedagogical education.
Organisation of the skills competitions is based on the active contribution of the teachers. Each
occupation that is present in competitions has a network of teachers to prepare competition tasks
and to act as judges in competitions. In World Skills Competitions these judges are called experts.
There are also representatives from enterprises in these networks.

9. Skills Finland organisation has nominated so called Skill manager to every category of competition.
Their task is to coordinate training for international competitions. The skill manager also participates
in tasks of an expert (judge) in his specific trade, undertakes the communication and preparation of
training with experts and trainers as well as administers the reporting and financial responsibilities in
his trade.
For individual teachers participation in the skills competitions offers possibilities for professional development.
Through networking they can benchmark their own college and training methodologies with colleagues from
other colleges.
Competitions as a tool for quality management
Quality of vocational education and training is not an individual and separate aim of development
activities. On the contrary quality is the final result of all efforts to plan, develop and organise
education and training. Consequently the quality in VET is a management issue and it should be an
integral part of everyday work at the college. It can be supported by tools of quality assurance, but
more important for the management of the college is to keep asking the crucial question: How well
is the college serving the needs of different clients? This work can be supported by practical tools
like skills competitions which create links between different colleges and between labour market
and a college.
Skills competitions can support quality management in two different ways. Firstly participation in
competitions provides possibilities to benchmark the college against other colleges in which skills
and competencies as learning outcomes are relevant indicators. In skills competitions they skills
and competences are measured against the criterion of competition tasks. This is relevant to the
management of the college, if competition tasks are aligned with educational standards and
curricula. Hence this criterion could be used systematically inside the college. When the criterion is
relevant to employers and it is linked to qualifications it supports the improvement of vocational
education and training.
Conclusions
At the level of VET system policy makers need carefully consider several issues when they want to
promote quality management. When VET policy is aiming to provide labour market with better
skilled people, the most important issue is the equality of VET providers in a country or a region.
How to make sure that all providers produce even or standard quality? Funding and resources are
of course needed but up to day qualifications and curricula based on occupational standards are as
important. Globally speaking all successful VET systems are based on the competence of teachers
and workplace trainers who are aware of the latest teaching methods.
Secondly when a country is reforming or optimizing its provision of vocational education and
training, policy makers need to make sure that old traditions and organizational cultures don’t
remain inside new structures. They would harm the attempts to deliver certain level of quality in all
institutions or units. Shift to new culture can be supported by openness of information but also by
introducing new forms of cooperation between colleges. Use of skills competitions in a federal or a
regional context could be this kind of practical tool.
This article has presented some Finnish experiences on the use of skills competitions in constant
improvement of quality of VET. The main idea is that skills competitions can be an important tool in
modernisation of VET if they are connected to qualifications and curricula. The second precondition
is that the practical work in colleges must be done by VET teachers with the support of
management.
Useful Internet addresses:
www.worldskills.org
www.euroskills.org
www.skillsfinland.fi
www.taitaja2012.fi