World Skills Namibia 2025: Achievements, Alignment, and Future Focus – A Q&A Overview

By: Katherine Newaka, Advocacy Specialist for Namibia Training Authority

1. What would you say were WorldSkills Namibia’s most significant achievements in 2025?

In 2025, WorldSkills Namibia achieved several milestones that significantly strengthened the national skills ecosystem. The highlight of the year was the successful hosting of the National Skills Competition Swakopmund 2025, which showcased Namibia’s rising talent and reaffirmed our commitment to global standards of excellence. This platform enabled the selection and structured preparation of Team Namibia for WorldSkills Shanghai 2026, ensuring that our competitors and experts are benchmarked against the world’s best.

Beyond the competition, WorldSkills Namibia demonstrated strong local and international engagement by actively participating in the WorldSkills International Annual General Assembly (AGM), where key policy, governance, and strategic updates were deliberated. Our involvement reinforced Namibia’s presence in the global TVET community and facilitated the exchange of valuable knowledge and best practices.

We also strengthened collaboration with WorldSkills Africa, participating in several regional initiatives designed to enhance competitiveness and support member countries.

These combined efforts, national excellence, regional collaboration, and global engagement, enhanced Namibia’s visibility and competitiveness in priority skills areas and supported our long-term national development goals.

2. What progress has WorldSkills Namibia made in aligning training programmes with Namibia’s job market and industry needs this year?

In 2025, alignment efforts advanced substantially as WorldSkills Namibia continued integrating WorldSkills International Occupational Standards, Technical Descriptions, and competition-focused assessment methodologies into national training programmes. Engagements with Sector Skills Committees, industry partners, and employers ensured that training delivery reflects real workplace demands and Namibia’s evolving skills landscape.

Attendance at the WorldSkills International AGM and technical forums enabled Namibia to stay abreast of global trends, new occupational updates, and emerging technologies. These insights strengthened our efforts to ensure that Namibia’s vocational programmes remain responsive, industry-driven, and globally competitive.

3. How has WorldSkills supported young people and graduates in acquiring employable and entrepreneurial skills in 2025?

In 2025, WorldSkills Namibia broadened opportunities for youth through competition-based learning, innovation-focused training, and mentorship delivered by certified industry experts. Competitors and graduates benefited from exposure to modern technologies, world-class methodologies, and the discipline required for international-level performance.

Participation in international capacity-building initiatives, including the multi-phase WorldSkills Africa and WorldSkills International expert development programme held in Lusaka, Zambia, enriched the skills and coaching abilities of Namibian experts. This directly enhances local support available to young competitors preparing for WorldSkills Shanghai 2026.

These initiatives helped young people acquire strong employability skills, teamwork, problem-solving, precision, time management, as well as entrepreneurial competencies that position them to create micro-enterprises or pursue self-employment in Namibia’s dynamic labour market.

4. How has WorldSkills Namibia enhanced the quality of training provided at vocational institutions in 2025?

Quality enhancement in 2025 was significantly strengthened through Namibia’s participation in a range of capacity-building interventions facilitated by WorldSkills International and WorldSkills Africa. These included blended (online and in-person) training workshops, technical upskilling sessions, and expert development programmes focused on refining test projects, marking schemes, and assessment techniques.

Namibian experts participating in the WorldSkills Africa Capacity Building Programme in Zambia gained valuable knowledge in judgment- and measurement-based assessment, occupational standard adaptation, and competition methodology. This learning cascaded into vocational institutions, where instructors applied new methods, improved lesson delivery, and strengthened competency-based assessments.

These efforts, combined with the continual adoption of modern tools and competition-grade equipment during the National Skills Competition Swakopmund 2025, aims to elevate the training quality across VTCs, ensuring they remain relevant to industry needs and supportive of national development priorities.

5. Looking back at 2025, what lessons or reflections will guide WorldSkills Namibia’s focus for 2026 and beyond?

Key lessons from 2025 highlight the importance of global benchmarking, strategic partnerships, and continuous capacity development. Hosting the National Skills Competition Swakopmund 2025, active participation in the WorldSkills International AGM, and various international expert development programmes demonstrated the transformative effect of exposing youth, trainers, and policymakers to global standards.

Looking ahead to 2026, WorldSkills Namibia will focus on:

• deepening local, regional and international partnerships;

• strengthening curriculum modernisation and assessment refinement;

• expanding participation in global TVET events and expert exchanges; and

• preparing Team Namibia for WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 with enhanced technical support.

Additionally, Namibia plans to engage in international sector-specific platforms such as the World Plumbing Council Conference 2026, which aligns with our efforts to elevate standards in trades such as Plumbing, one of the priority skills for economic growth and employment creation.

Our long-term vision centres on future skills, digital transformation, green economy competencies, and deeper collaboration with vocational institutions, ensuring that Namibia’s TVET system continues to contribute to industrialisation and sustainable socio-economic development.