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PRESS RELEASE 27 May 2005 at 16.30 Study paths will be arranged in future competitions Study paths will be important part of WorldSkills Competition also in the future thinks WorldSkills Secretary General David Hoye in Press Conference on Friday. Mr Hoye sees that the popularity of the study paths can be seen as a good indication of Finns’ success in organizing the WorldSkills Competition. “WorldSkills 2005 Helsinki is the best organized competition in the WorldSkills history”, says Hoye. “I hope that the visitors agree with me and consider this as a great experience.” Mr Hoye and Principal Lecturer Mr Jukka Lerkkanen from Jyväskylä Vocational Teacher Education College discussed the meaning of WorldSkills Competition to marketing of vocational colleges. Study paths have played an important role in WorldSkills 2005 Helsinki and Mr Lerkkanen has been one of the persons responsible for designing and implementing the study paths. Through these guided tours young visitors have been able to get to know the different skills. Mr Lerkkanen estimates that by Friday afternoon 4000 people have visited the study paths. The most popular path has probably been the aesthetics safari. On Friday there were so many people around the sites that the guides had difficulties to lead their groups through the crowd. Paths play a significant role in the marketing of different professions. Mr Lerkkanen told that their main purpose is to increase and deepen the knowledge of students, student advisors and teachers concerning different professions. Mr David Hoye emphasised that it is crucial for the marketing of the professions to “bring the competitions to live” and bring the skills and contestants close to the spectator. Mr Hoye compared WorldSkills to the Olympics. The difference between WorldSkills and the Olympics is that the contestants have the main role in the Olympics and not the actual results.
WorldSkills Competition is an important mean of increasing the appreciation of vocational education in member countries despite the fact that the increase in appreciation rate is hard to measure. According to Mr Hoye the Skills organization constantly asks questions from the visitors around Helsinki Fair Centre. The methods are useful but quite primitive and Mr Hoye promised that the research will be more organized in the future.
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