WorldSkills Australia has been in Vietnam to celebrate Australian Skills Week along with the National Careers Institute organised by both the Australian Government and the Vietnamese Government. WorldSkills brought two of the 2019 Skillaroos – Maxine Colligan and Cristopher Matkowski – to showcase their excellence in vehicle painting and commercial cookery respectively to local students and industry. The National Careers Institute also invited some of their Australian VET Alumni members showcasing graphic design and automotive mechanical technology. Joining the adventure were industry partners: Learning Vault; Tradiebot Industries; and Lincoln Electric. The journey wouldn’t have been possible without their support. It's a big week of events, demonstrations and destinations planned for Team Australia, and it all started on our arrival into Vietnam where Cristopher Matkowski ran a cooking demonstration in front of hundreds of students at the Hanoi College of Tourism. That evening, they launched the Australian Skills Week. To celebrate the strategic collaboration between Australia and Vietnam in vocational education and training, the Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, H.E. Ms Robyn Mudie, invited the Australian Delegation to attend a reception at her Residence where the Skillaroos presented her with a framed Gold WorldSkills Medal as a gift. At the Hanoi College of High Technology on Tuesday, the team did a skills demonstration with Odin Lowsley, Tash Fee and Maxine Colligan sharing their skills in graphic design, automotive mechanical technology, virtual welding and spray painting, this was supported by Lincoln Electric; and Tradiebot Industries. The Vietnamese students showcased mechatronics, industrial electronics, graphic design and beauty. More than 200 students participated in Try’ASkill activities and were extremely engaged – with VR technology the big hit. There followed visit the KOTO Training Centre. Cristopher held a cooking demonstration for 20 KOTO students and showed them how to make an Australian Pavlova and sausage roll. The Australian Vietnam Skills Conference took place last Wednesday ‘ VET for Industry’. Christopher and Maxine were on a panel along with some Worldskills Vietnam students talking about how to promote VET as an aspirational career pathway. Our industry partners looked at what training providers need to do to ensure graduates are ready for the current industry and into the future.
