WorldSkills - An Interview with the CEO
INTERVIEW | Mark Callaghan, Chief Executive Officer, Worldskills Australia
Gillian Goozee retired from TAFE NSW in 2006 after 36 years as a librarian and Policy Officer. During this time she published a number of articles on policy issues the history of TAFE and had a book published by NCVER on The Development of TAFE in Australia.
“The Socceroos proved their mettle and earned a legion of fans on the international stage in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and the scene is set for the Skillaroos to kick some goals of their own at the 39th WorldSkills Competition (the Skill Olympics ) to be held in Shizuoka, Japan 14-21 November 2007.
Mark Callaghan, CEO of WorldSkills Australia believes that the efforts and talents of the young men and women who represent their country at the WorldSkills International competition need to be appreciated and valued by the community in the same way that the efforts of elite sports men and women are valued.
Mark says that the WorldSkills competitions provide a fantastic opportunity to benchmark skills within Australia and against the rest of the world. At all levels competitors are benchmarked against their peers – locally, nationally and internationally. A primary aim of the competitions is to elevate the status of trades and skills to young people and their support network (eg parents, teachers and careers counsellors) and to demonstrate that the trades and skills based careers are viable first choice career options.
To this end, as Mark points out, WorldSkill competitors also act as wonderful ambassadors for their trade, their employers, their TAFE Institutes and their country. As one past competitor, has said.
‘the journey from the national to international competition was a long and hard one, but the process provided great personal growth and development along with the technical skills learnt.
Craig first entered the VET in Schools WorldSkills Competitions as a school student and won first place before receiving a National gold medal when he was 18 in 2004. He was selected to represent Australia in Helsinki, Finland the following year at the 38th WorldSkills International Competition and won the bronze medal in Restaurant Service. Describing it as one of the most amazing experiences of his life, Craig’s advice to other young Australians considering a trade based career is, Give it a go - not only is it satisfying you just never know where it will take you. Craig is currently in Germany for a university exchange while studying Business and Accounting.
Currently Australia is ranked 9th in the world. Mark expects that in Japan, the 27 Skillaroos will better this current ranking. Australia has some great successes in the past although this varies from skill area to skill area. One area in which we have been very successful is the refrigeration category. Having won 4 out of the last 5 gold medals at the international competition, Australia could be said to lead the world in Refrigeration trades.
National and International WorldSkills competitions also offer opportunities for VET teachers to expand their networks and experience through involvement in designing projects and judging regional, national and international events. TAFE NSW staff have traditionally been heavily involved in the WorldSkills competitions. The majority of experts going to Japan come from TAFE NSW. However Mark says there is a problem getting younger staff involved. As WorldSkills Australia is currently calling for expressions of interest for project designers and judges for the 2008 national competition he is hoping that a new wave of volunteers will contribute their expertise and knowledge to future competitions (see www.worldskills.org.au).
Another of the WorldSkills initiatives of which Mark is very proud is Try’a Trade. This is an interactive display that seeks to motivate school students, young people and others through ‘hands on’ experience. It allows the participant to interact with skilled tradespeople or apprentices by completing a set task in an actual trade or skill area. In addition it encourages participants to seek information about future carer choices and to appreciate that skill education and training will provide them with an exciting and viable career choice.
The WorldSkills Australia Try’a Trade program has become an integral part of the WSA regional competitions as well as being run in conjunction with major careers expos in all capital cities. At the 2006 WorldSkills National Competition held in Melbourne, it is estimated that all of the 55,000 people who visited the competition would have passed through the Try’a Trade area at some stage and 20,000 visitors actually participated in the activities offered across 20 different skill areas.
Mark Callaghan will be a keynote speaker at the Learning Powerhouse event to be held on 10 August 2007. The main theme of his address will be the need to develop the skills necessary for Australia to compete in a rapidly changing global marketplace. This is the focus of WorldSkills Australia as it seeks to develop awareness of and promoting respect for excellence in work skills.