Teams do nation proud in skills cup

The Chinese team impressed the world with its excellent skills at the just completed 2022 BRICS Skills Competition in Xiamen, Fujian province, winning 79 medals and ranking first among the delegations.

The three-day competition, which started on Friday, received nearly 2,500 competitors in 1,600 teams from BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — and some others. Twenty-six events such as intelligent service robotics and drone operations were held during the competition. Chinese contestants took part in Xiamen and international contestants joined the competition online.

Wang Jia, the gold-winner for intelligent service robotics, said that she felt so excited to get the honor. A teacher of software engineering at Yunnan Vocational College of Transportation, it was her first time entering such a big skills competition.

"Competing with other vocational students or workers from home and abroad, I have my advantages and disadvantages. For example, I have more sound knowledge of information and communications as I got my master's degree from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, while I lacked practice or hands-on skills. So I was in a flurry at the beginning," said the 26-year-old.

According to her, contestants are required to finish four modules of tasks in two days. "The competition simulates the disinfection work operated by robots in a hospital. We programmed and operated the robot to finish disinfection work, deliver medicines and process medical waste," she said. "The whole competition was quite stressful.

"I treasure this type of competition as it can help me improve my teaching with real examples. It's also an inspiration to myself that gives me more confidence to do a better job in the future," she said.

According to organizers, outstanding competitors will be granted a "skills passport" that is a recognized certificate among BRICS countries and can help holders advance their careers in these countries and regions.

Liu Zhenying, president of the BRICS Academy of Skills Development and Technology Innovation, said that the competition is of great importance for the establishment of working skills standards among BRICS countries and the research of advanced skills.

As the competition puts its focus on advanced skills development such as big data and artificial intelligence, it will also help vocational students and workers better adapt to developing industries.

"For example, the vocational students will take three or four years to graduate and we want to let them get to learn these advanced skills, which can help them land jobs after their graduation. We are making efforts to let vocational education or training adapt to fast-changing industries," he said.

The competition started its preliminary rounds in May, which attracted nearly 20,000 applicants from 6,200 domestic teams and 3,500 international teams.