Passion for flowers and floristry proved to be a turning point in the life of Jibin Williams, a 22-year-old youth from Kuthiathode in Alappuzha who had participated in floristry at the WorldSkills 2019 competitions at Kazan in Russia earlier this year.
At a time when hundreds of youths in the State are looking to the upcoming India Skills Kerala 2020 competition, Jibin says that he was not fully aware of the possibilities of floristry as a skill until he represented India in Kazan.
Jibin, who currently works in an event management company at Nettoor, Ernakulam, has a penchant for floristry since his childhood and honed his skills while preparing for the competition.
After winning the district, zonal and State-level rounds, he won the south India-level competitions that became a stepping stone to the national event. A victory in the national-level competition earned him a ticket to the WorldSkills held in August.
Great experience
Although, Jibin failed to win a medal at WorldSkills, he says that it was a great experience to perform on the global stage. “I was the only participant in floristry among the 40 contestants from India,” Jibin says.
He is adept at creating bridal bouquets for weddings along with making various kinds of eco-friendly and plastic-free bouquets. He aims at setting up his own event management venture in future.
Lack of training
According to him, floristry has immense possibilities. “We need training institutes for floristry, which is still a strange subject for many,” he says. India Skills Kerala 2020 is jointly organised by the Industrial Training Department (ITD) and Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE), the State’s Skill Development Mission under the Labour and Skills Department.
The district-level competitions will be held from January 15 to 20, 2020. The zonal events will be organised in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode from January 27 to 31. The national-level finale is scheduled from February 22 to 24. The State-level winners will make it to World Skills India 2020, and the national winners will get the opportunity to participate in World Skills 2021, Shanghai, China.
Last date of registration is December 31. Registration can also be done in all government Industrial Training Institutes (ITI). For details, visit www.indiaskillskerala.com or contact 94963 27045.
