Azores win 16 medals at National Skills Championship - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Juventude, Habitação e Emprego

Trainees from Azorean Vocational Schools won 16 medals at the 46th National Championship - Skills Portugal, including seven gold medals, five silver medals, three bronze medals, a medal for the best trainee in the Region and two distinctions of excellence.

The closing ceremony of the largest national education and training event took place on Saturday at Europarque in Santa Maria da Feira, where the quality and excellence of vocational education at Vocational Schools was once again confirmed, stressed the Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing and Employment.

Maria João Carreiro, who accompanied the participants as they left Ponta Delgada for Porto on Monday, November 11, considered the Azorean participation "extremely positive for the young people's career, the promotion of vocational schools and regional companies."

"On behalf of the Azorean Government, I express my deep recognition and admiration for these young people who decided to put their skills to the test in a demanding competition where they achieved excellent results as a result of the preparation they undertook with their teachers and vocational schools," she said.

The Regional Secretary highlighted how "proud we are to have the best in the most diverse professional areas in the Azores," including seven national champions. This demonstrates that the Region "has managed to create the conditions to train the best of the best in the country."

"Azorean companies need to get closer to vocational schools and be an increasingly active part of young people's training programmes, as they are the ones who will add value to companies with their skills and potential to make a difference," she said.

Twenty Azorean trainees attending EPROSEC School, MEP - Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Ponta Delgada Vocational School, EPPV-Praia da Vitória Vocational School, ENTA - Azores School of New Technologies and CQA - Azores Training Centre took part in the largest national education and training event.

The Azorean delegation at the National Skills Championship also included 12 teachers/judges, in addition to the team leader, António José Paquete, a teacher at CQA, to whom Maria João Carreiro thanked "for the excellent work they have done to maximise the talent and skills of young trainees."

Results of Azorean participants at the 46th National Skills Championship:

GOLD medals

• Web Technologies: Nelson Ponte (EPROSEC)
• Confectionary: Guilherme Vasconcelos (EPPV)
• Caring: Laura Gonçalves (MEP)
• Cloud Computing: Daniel Pimentel (ENTA)
• Cybersecurity: João Vieira (ENTA)
• Application Development for Mobile Devices: Rodrigo Anjos (EPROSEC)
• Accounting: Matilde Ferreira (EPROSEC)

SILVER Medals

• Mobile Robotics: Gonçalo Botelho and Henrique Miranda (CQA)
• Restaurant and Bar Service: Gonçalo Gil (EPPV)
• Computer Network Management: Marco Melo (ENTA)
• Application Development for Mobile Devices: Francisco Pinto (EPROSEC)

BRONZE Medals

• Culinary: Gilberto Frazon (EPPV)
• Web Technologies: Leandro Amaral (EPROSEC)
• Cybersecurity: Diogo Pacheco (ENTA)

Distinctions of Excellence

• Electricity and Electrical Installations: Samuel Gata (CQA)
• Cloud Computing: Rafael Raposo (ENTA)

Best of the Region Medal:

• Web Technologies: Nelson Ponte (EPROSEC)