There are a total of 366 young people, representing the seven Portuguese regions, competing in 54 professions, accompanied by 23 team leaders. Until Friday, the 10th, all of them will be showing what they're worth at the Portimão Arena, in the 45th edition of the National Skills Championship (WorldSkills Portugal), organized by the Institute of Employment and Professional Training.
These hundreds of competitors fill the Portimão Arena space in such a way that the opening and closing ceremonies take place in the Parque de Feiras e Exposições de Lagoa, that is, in the Fatacil enclosure. In a huge tent, it was there that on Tuesday, at the end of the afternoon, delegations of young people from the North, Centre, Lisbon and Tagus Valley, Azores, Madeira, Alentejo and Algarve paraded.
Luís Encarnação, mayor of Lagoa, as host, addressed the hundreds of young people saying that, «if businessmen from Lagoa and from the rest of the Algarve go to watch your competitions, most of you will no longer return to the their homes. The Algarve lacks manpower, but above all qualified manpower».
The mayor also thanked «the possibility of sharing this event with the neighboring municipality of Portimão». Luís Encarnação, evoking a past of tense relationship between the Town Halls of Lagoa and Portimão, said: «who knows if there isn't a seed left here for other future events», bringing together the two neighboring municipalities.
Speaking next, Álvaro Bila, vice-president of the Portimonense Chamber, thanked his neighbor for “the willingness to join synergies with Portimão. Dear President, together we will always be stronger!».
Tired, but happy with the way the Championship was going, despite the setbacks – in the morning, the street of groups of competitors through the streets of the city of Portimão had to be replaced, due to the rain, by a meeting of all the delegations in the Teatro Municipal -, Madalena Feu, regional director of the IEFP, began by emphasizing that «professional training has quality, it is needed, it constitutes a very important contribution to the country's economy. And you are the ones who will show it!”
Regarding the National Professions Championship, which, for the first time, takes place in Portimão (and Lagoa), Madalena Feu stressed that this is «the biggest event, the one that gives more visibility to professional training and intermediate level qualifications».
When it was time for last year's champions to take to the stage, for the Algarve and as hostess, she spoke Seomara Cabrita. «This is where I was born and where I graduated, at the Portimão Employment Centre», he said, urging other young people to continue investing in their training. «First of all, be happy!», She exclaimed.
The opening session, in which public entities from all over the Algarve (and beyond) participated, also included a humorous intervention by Dário Guerreiro, the comedian Môce dum Cabréste, who recalled the various jobs he has had in his life, making people laugh all assistance.
Today and tomorrow, the Portimão Arena continues to host the practical tests, which are open to the public. Among the participants are 13 young people from training centers in the region – Luso-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry/Centro DUAL Portimão, CEFP Faro, CEFP Barlavento, Dr. Laura Ayres, School of Hospitality and Tourism of Portimão and School of Hotel and Tourism of Vila Real de Santo António – in the professions of kitchen, hotel reception, accounting and management, animation/video, landscape gardening, among others.
In a kind of professional Olympic Games, the participants are high competition athletes in the professional areas they represent. The competition is aimed at trainees between the ages of 17 and 25, who have completed or are attending a qualification course in the area of education and vocational training.
To get here, competitors went through pre-selection stages and regional competitions and are now competing, among themselves, for the title of national champion in each profession.
The winners of this 45th edition of the National Professions Championship will be announced in Lagoa, again in the tent set up in Parque da Fatacil, on the 12th, at 10 am.
These winners will represent Portugal in the 8th edition of the European Skills Championship, which will take place in September in Gdánsk, Poland, and in the 46th edition of the World Skills Championship, which will take place in Lyon, France, in September 2024 .
Photos: Flavio Costa|Sul Informação (from the Championship) and Photo: Elisabete Rodrigues|Sul Informação (from the opening ceremony)
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