While the WorldSkills Barbados 2020 Competition has been postponed due to COVID-19, preparations are still taking place behind the scenes. The competition was scheduled to take place from May 28 to 31.
Lead Officer for the WorldSkills Barbados (WSB) Programme, Dario Walcott, recently announced the finalists of the March 2020 preliminaries, which were held at the participating training institutions: Barbados Community College (BCC), Barbados Vocational Training Board (BVTB), Caribbean Cuisine Culinary Institute (CCCI), Nikita’s Salon and School of Cosmetology and the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology (SJPI).
Twenty-eight competitors from six of the eight skill areas offered at the preliminaries have made it through to the finals. They are:
Car Painting
From SJPI – Jashon Alleyne, Kevon Bennett, Renico Brewster, Toreek Mayers and Ramario Yearwood.
Cooking
Jessica Cummins – BCC, Shaquon Graham – BCC, Brittney Greaves – SJPI, Brandon Jones – BCC, Kodie Hinds – BVTB, Daryl Hunte – BVTB, Shenanke Nedd – BVTB, Deshawn Wiggins – Caribbean Cuisine Culinary Institute (CCCI), Jashown Willoughby – BVTB, and Lewis Worrell – BCC.
Fashion Technology
Zabrielle Massiah – BVTB
Graphic Design Technology
Tré Greaves – Barbados Community College
Hairdressing
Ashia Babb – BVTB, Aliyah Clarke – SJPI, Rachelle Jones – SJPI, Kay-Deen Hinds – SJPI and Kendria Mayers – BVTB.
Restaurant Service
Shanika Cadogan – BCC, Tonquanja Goodings – BCC, Resheena Homer – BVTB, Jay Parris – BCC, Elivah Thompson – BVTB and O’Sheri Vaughan-Dorant – BCC.
Mr. Walcott explained: “As part of ongoing efforts aimed at improving the implementation of the WSB programme, this year the TVET Council (TVETC) instituted a new policy requiring competitors in the preliminaries to score a minimum of 50 per cent, in order to be eligible to reach the finals of the competition.
“The scores in Cooking were quite high resulting in the number of finalists in this skill area being increased from a maximum of five (four finalists and one reserve) to 10.
However, the low scores in Automobile Technology and Beauty Therapy resulted in no competitors from these two skill areas going through to the WSB 2020 finals.”
Mr. Walcott added: “In addition, only one competitor each from Graphic Design Technology and Fashion Technology made it through to the finals. In each of these two instances, the finalists will take part in a trial in which they will compete against the WorldSkills standards, rather than against other competitors.
During the national restrictions instituted in response to COVID-19, the WSB 2020 finalists have been taking part online in the Competitors Developmental Programme (CDP). The CDP is a training workshop aimed at developing the soft skills of the WSB competitors.
For the first time, it has been expanded to all competitors rather than only the finalists who are competing for eligibility to represent Barbados at the biennial, international WorldSkills competition.
The WSB Programme, which is administered by TVETC Barbados, comprises a national, biennial technical and vocational skills competition aimed at young persons aged 16 to 21 who are enrolled in public or private training institution; a biennial junior skills competition aimed at secondary school students ages 14 to16, who are involved in TVET, and several developmental opportunities for learners, educators or trainers and skill experts in various occupational areas.
The programme is aligned to the international WorldSkills Programme, which was founded in the 1950s as part of the rebuilding of global economies coming out of World War 2.