Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan, Minister of Education and Science Rafis Burganov visited the Opening Ceremony of the Volunteer Recruiting Centre. He had a meeting with recruiters and gave a welcome speech in front of the first interview participants and project volunteer candidates.
“This is not our first experience organising a recruiting centre. We do accept the fact that we have a high level of responsibility. We would like each guest to come back to Kazan and invite others after their first visit. The role of volunteers is significant: they are the face of the Competition. For us, it is important to make as many young people as possible get involved in this movement”, Rafis Burganov said.
As Burganov informed, to ensure the successful delivery of the Competition, the Organising Committee plans to engage 3 500 volunteers from the Russian Federation and abroad across over 20 functional areas and service directions (Transportation, Accreditation, Uniform, Catering etc.) at the competition venues within each skill. 93 different positions are expected to be taken by them. They will accompany national teams, as well as provide residents and guests of Kazan with information support.
The main goal of the Organising Committee is the implementation of a federal volunteer programme and maximum involvement of volunteers from different regions of Russia. The Open All-Russian Competition for the right to become a Volunteer Recruiting Centre, arranged by ANO Directorate for Sports and Social Projects and Young Professionals Union, helped to achieve this goal.
Based on the results of the Competition in December 2017, 15 winners (no less than 1 per each region) were selected and became volunteer recruiting centres. They appeared in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Khabarovsk Krai, Astrakhan Oblast, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Udmurt Republic, Primorsky Krai, Republic of Karelia, Novosibirsk Oblast, Stavropol Krai, Rostov Oblast, Krasnodar Krai, Irkutsk region, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Chuvash Republic, and Moscow.
The application period for volunteers of the Competition started in October 2017 in Sochi at the World Festival of Youth and Students. Since the start, candidates around the world have had the opportunity to fill out a form and submit an application. For now, 12,002 applications have been submitted from more than 70 countries. The application campaign will last until 31 December 2018.
Since 7 November, Skype and telephone interviews with foreign and nonresident candidates have been arranged, more than 700 interviews have been conducted in Kazan. The selection of candidates has started in 15 volunteer recruiting centres. This campaign will last until the end of March 2019. Volunteer Team training will begin in the spring of 2019.
In accordance with the international standards, the Organising Committee will provide each volunteer with a wide range of services. Life and health insurance, catering and drinking water during shifts; free public transport; accommodation of foreign and nonresident volunteers in Kazan; special uniform; official certificate / letter of gratitude; marketing pack for volunteers; volunteer points at the Competition venues; programme of motivation, recognition and encouragement.
It should be recalled that in order to exchange experience for training a Volunteer Team, international internships were organized at the EuroSkills 2016 (December 2016, Gothenburg, Sweden, 13 volunteers), WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 (October 2017, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 57 volunteers), EuroSkills 2018 (September 2018, Budapest, Hungary, 19 volunteers), as well as at the Final of the 6th National Competition “Young Professionals” in 2018 (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 19 volunteers).
Press Office of WorldSkills Kazan 2019 Competition Organizer
