SINGAPORE - About 150 youth will have their skills put to the test at the biennial WorldSkills Singapore (WSS) 2016 competition, which kicked off on Thursday (July 7) at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College Central in Ang Mo Kio.

Those who emerge as the best in 17 skill areas, including graphic design, visual merchandising and aircraft maintenance, will have the chance to represent Singapore on the international stage at the world finals - dubbed as the Youth Olympics of Skills - in Abu Dhabi next year (2017).

For the first time, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) have provided additional education and career guidance (ECG) resources for 5,000 secondary school students who will be visiting the event, which runs till Satuday (July 9).

Students will be able to visit interactive booths put up by industry partners - such as Serious Games Singapore and restaurants group Tung Lok - and speak to ECG counsellors from the MOE to find out about alternative choices for jobs and courses that they can make after graduation.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who was guest-of-honour at the opening ceremony, said that a "whole-of-society" effort is needed to "change mindsets to emphasise mastery of skills, rather than focus only on paper qualifications."

The results of the WSS competition will be announced at the closing ceremony next Friday (July 15).

The general public will also be able to try out new skills and activities on Saturday (July 9), from cupcake frosting to 3D modelling. A full list of the workshops can be found here.