A total of 2,881 vocational high-school students have signed up for the annual vocational skills competition to be held from Tuesday next week to Dec. 5, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Tuesday.
In previous years the top prize winner was sent abroad for study, but this year the runner-up would also be given the chance to study abroad, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told a news conference in Taipei.
Taoyuan Private Yung Ping Technological Senior High School students Lee Chen-yu (李晨瑜) and Tseng Yun-ching (曾雲璟) showed off their skills at the news conference, decorating cupcakes with flower-shaped icing in under three minutes.
Photo: Lin Hsiao-yun, Taipei Times
Tseng said that she decorated the cupcakes following a South Korean style, in which the flowers are made using very thinly applied icing to make them appear more realistic.
Two other students from the school, Chiu Ling-chen (邱翎榛) and Lee Shan-tzu (黎善慈), demonstrated their artistic napkin-folding skills.
The two said they can fold napkins in at least 50 different shapes.
Demonstrating for reporters, they produced boats and butterflies from napkins.
The competition, which is only open to high-school seniors from vocational institutes, is crucial in helping them demonstrate the skills they learned over three years, said Lee Chiung-hui (李瓊慧), the director of the school’s internship program.
Success in the competition can also help a student secure a place in a technical college, she said, adding that the students prepare for the competition even during holidays.
Vocational education would become more important, as the government plans to invest NT$800 million (US$26.2 million) into vocational institutions as part of the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, Pan said.
The government hopes to provide the nation’s industries with talented people and encourage students to engage in interdisciplinary learning, he said.
It has set up a platform for matching vocational-school graduates with jobs, and several businesses have signed on to the platform, K-12 Education Administration head Tai Shu-fen (戴淑芬) said.
Information on the platform about learning programs and businesses is divided into five categories: general industry, commerce, agriculture, domestic affairs and aquaculture, Tai said.
The platform can be accessed via the administration’s Web site: sci.me.ntnu.edu.tw, she said.
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