Following a decision at the WorldSkills Europe general assembly held in May 2014 in Lille, Hungary will be the first eastern European country to organise an international skills event, EuroSkills 2018 in Budapest.
WorldSkills international and national events are increasingly well-known and popular in Hungary, promoted by the government as an excellent tool to increase attractiveness of vocational education and training (VET). Hungary has been a member of WorldSkills International since 2006 and the European Skills Promotion Organisation since 2008. As part of the 2010 framework agreement signed by the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Magyar Kereskedelmi és Iparkamara - MKIK), all tasks and responsibilities related to Hungary’s participation in EuroSkills and WorldSkills competitions were delegated to the chamber.
National qualifying competitions are attracting increasing numbers of participants and visitors. Around 3300 VET school students, teachers and trainers participated in the 2014 national competition held on 5 March. Previously, qualifiying competitions were organised by sponsors of various trades at different times and venues. Merging these into one large-scale national event is expected to reach a wider target group as well as provide a forum to meet and liaise with representatives of other trades.
At the 2014 Skills Hungary national finals 49 young people competed in 12 trades to win the right to participate in EuroSkills Lille 2014 and WorldSkills Sao Paolo 2015.
At the WorldSkills event in Leipzig (2013), Hungary gained its best result ever, winning five medals for excellence in carpentry, beautician, painter, information network and mechatronics. At the last EuroSkills competition in Lille (2012), Hungary was represented by a team of 20 competitors in 15 skills, and finished sixth out of 23 participating countries.