Following the National Skills Competition Ongwediva 2023 (NSCO2023) event – which concluded on the 30th of September 2023, and which served as a platform for the selection of Namibian competitors to participate at the next WorldSkills International competition, scheduled for the 10th to the 15th of September 2024 in Lyon, France – WorldSkills Namibia Technical Delegate, Sens Shoolongo and Technical Delegate Assistant, Justina Itembu are attending the Competition Preparation Week 2024 (CPW2024) in the host city.
The Competition Preparation Week started yesterday and ends on the 2nd of February 2024. It is a compulsory competition preparation activity that takes place about six months before the next WorldSkills Competition.
“It takes place in the city where the next competition will be staged to afford member countries and global partners an opportunity to assess the preparedness of the event and venue, discus suggested changes, find solutions to challenges, and conduct training for people assigned particular competition roles”, Shoolongo explains.
According to Shoolongo, WorldSkills Namibia’s participation in the preparation process is of utmost importance. “If we do not attend and participate in this activity, which include a variety of in-person training sessions for participants, Namibia runs the risk of being limited to having competitors in only three skill competitions at WorldSkills Lyon 2024”, he emphasises.
“Another round of training sessions will take place closer to the event in September this year. However, these sessions do not require physical attendance and will assume the format of online conference meetings”, Shoolongo concludes.