The Vice-President of the Government welcomed today the distinction of three young Azoreans, graduates of the School of New Technologies of the Azores, with the "Medal of Excellence" in their respective occupations at EuroSkills 2016 - European skills championship that was held in Gothenburg, Sweden.

"The results achieved this year by young Azoreans demonstrate, once again, the quality and excellence of vocational education in the Region," Sérgio Ávila said, stressing that these young participants scores "the best results in their occupations at European level."
 
The "Medal of Excellence" is only awarded to competitors who manage to score more than 500 points in their area of expertise and is considered to be the European title in each of the more than 50 occupations in competition.
 
The Azoreans distinguished in this competition are Miguel Medeiros Carreiro and Luís Tadeu Espinola Vieira (Computer Network Management), and Rodrigo Bettencourt Lima Farias (Electricity). More than 500 young people from nearly thirty countries participated in the largest skills and vocational training competition in Europe.
 
Sérgio Ávila emphasised "the ability of young Azoreans to assert themselves in terms of competence and quality in a demanding context at European level, being an "example" to follow.
 
The Azorean contestants who joined the Portuguese delegation were selected for the competition in this year's edition of the National Skills Championship that took place in Coimbra last May.
 
The concept of Skills Championship dates back to 1950, when the first International Skills Championship was held in Madrid. At the time, it took place between Portugal and Spain.
 
In the 1950s, the consolidation of this initiative has led to the creation of an organisation currently designated as WorldSkills International (http://www.worldskills.org/).
 
In the first two decades, its growth was Europe-oriented. From 1967 onwards, the initiative was extended to other countries and, nowadays, it involves 67 countries across the world.
 
In addition to this worldwide organisation, the European Skills Promotion Organisation, presently designated as WorldSkills Europe (http://www.worldskills.org/), was created in 2007; it brings together participants from 27 European countries. The organisation is in charge of hosting the European Skills Championship - EuroSkills every two years.
 
Whether in the European competition or in the world event, Azorean participants have a remarkable record of good performances, including champion titles and many medals.
 
Those who are interested can get more information on the official event at the email address http://euroskills2016.com/en/.