WorldSkills, with funding from the Western Australian Government, has been upskilling over 400 Australian apprentices in anticipation of the 2021 WorldSkills National Championships.

To keep competitors engaged and upskilled a ten-month National Skills Training Program has been created, currently being delivered virtually over 50 skills and trades. Four months into the program, WorldSkills says it’s seeing participants rise to the challenge and increasing their communication and interpersonal skills.

“Training towards essential skills not just for competition but also for the workplace is extremely important and skilled workers have never been more crucial to Australia’s economic recovery,” WorldSkills Australia chief executive Trevor Schwenke says.

Trevor explains that the industry partners are heavily involved in the program, giving online training, products, tools and access to some of the best software on the market: “This is a fantastic opportunity for our future business owners to have direct access to industry experts.”

Online participants can gain certificates through a ‘digital badge’ after the program. It extract the core skills from the program and turns them into a micro credential endorsed by industry which can be used  on CVs and LinkedIn.