Skill has no boundaries: the regional championship “Abilimpix” started in Veliky Novgorod

The day before, the Eighth Regional Professional Skills Championship among disabled people and people with disabilities “Abilimpix” started in Veliky Novgorod on the basis of the Technological College. More than 300 Novgorodians will compete in a variety of skills at 15 venues in the region over the next two days. The closing ceremony of the Championship will take place on Friday, April 26, but for now, let’s fast forward to the opening day. And we’ll tell you more about the championship itself and its participants.

The competition began immediately after the grand opening, parting words from the Minister of Education of the Novgorod Region Dmitry Yakovlev and other honored guests, as well as an inspiring creative program. On the first day, within the walls of the College of Technology, competitions were held in four competencies: “Beadwork”, “Silk Painting”, “Art Embroidery” and “Documentation Management and Archives”. Note that the last one listed is the category for students.

Work or interest?

Student competencies, as a rule, are distinguished by professionalism: future tour guides, confectioners, carpenters, builders, document specialists and even doctors studying in the relevant areas compete here. And it’s surprising that even aspects of professions that are not creative at first glance can be transformed into an interesting competitive program. Angelina Konovalova, a contestant in the “Documentation support for management and archival science” competency, talks about this.

“I am participating for the first time, my competence is related to document management and archiving, just like the direction where I am studying is documentation support. This includes creating documents with the correct location of all norms, conducting business and working with them on a computer. At the competition, we will need to create two documents, one task and complete one more task – it is still a mystery to us. We prepared a lot, I like the specialty, so if everything isn’t great, then it’s definitely at least ok!” – Angelina shared enthusiastically.

Now the girl is studying in her third year at the College of Technology. As she herself said, she chose her specialty on her own; she liked studying and succeeded. And although many go to college immediately after 9th grade, Gelya entered after 11th grade – and did not lose anything. On the contrary, according to her, these two years at school helped to make a more precise determination. And for guys who, due to their health, may still have limited choices, this is especially important: after all, the profession should not only be suitable, but also interesting.

Creative person in everything

For now, schoolchildren are offered creative specialties, based primarily on hobbies. However, for this reason they are no less serious and require real skill. Another participant, a ninth-grader from adapted boarding school No. 4, Rozalina Latypova, already demonstrated a truly high level once. In 2022, the girl adequately represented the Novgorod region at the Abilympics National Championship and took 3rd place.

“I am participating in the “Artistic Embroidery” competency for the third time. In 2022, she had a successful debut – she reached the finals of the National Championship and became a prize-winner. There were no difficulties, but the support of my mentor was very helpful: she supported me and helped me with advice. I really like creativity, besides embroidery I love dancing.”– said Rosalina.

When asked about her future profession – of course, still speculative – Rosalina modestly replied that it was still being determined. Although she already has thoughts on this matter: after school, the girl is thinking of going to study to become a pastry chef or designer. So, in any case, life is going to be creative!

See the world, show yourself

What’s good is that the championship and the Abilympics movement are growing every year. And 2024 is especially remarkable: if a year ago there were 11 sites, which is already a lot, now there are already 15. And the participants, in addition to educational organizations, included the first cultural institutions and a medical and social institution. Another innovation this year included student participants not only from secondary vocational education, but also from the university, as well as a separate track for adult participants with disabilities of groups 1 and 2 living in government institutions. This will not be quite a competition: rather, it will be a festival format activity, the goal of which is not to compete in skills, but to show oneself.

“Our movement is expanding as much as possible in all areas: we have 36 competencies, 15 platforms, 300 participants and 230 experts will evaluate them. Abilympics is really not just a championship, but also a big movement. We have a very busy inter-championship life, an active community – many different events take place throughout the year, from trips to summer camps in the south for children to field trips and forums. We socialize in every possible way and absolutely everyone – children with disabilities and disabilities, schoolchildren, students and adults,” – says Elvira Stolbova, head of the regional Center for the Development of the Abilympics Movement.

In addition to the competitive program, the Championship itself includes a festival component. This means career guidance, cultural, and even sports. Guests and participants of the Championship who are not directly involved in the competition task at this moment can visit the Festival of Opportunities and attend a variety of master classes – from dance and creativity to psychological training and professional tests.

There is a limitless sea of ​​interesting and at the same time accessible to everyone professions. As the experience of, for example, Covid restrictions has shown, in the age of digital technology, many professions can be easily transferred to a remote format. Another question is that such a profession must first be learned, but an inclusive approach, alas, is not yet practiced everywhere. So we can only wish that our educational institutions open up as many opportunities as possible for young people with sparkling eyes and great talents. And to the participants of the Championship – successful competitions.

We would like to remind you that Abilympics is held with the support of the presidential platform “Russia – the Land of Opportunities” within the framework of the national project “Education”.

Photo: Lyudmila Stepiko