Masters of their subject honored – news.wko.at
A total of 345 master craftsman’s certificates and certificates of qualification were awarded to 334 young professionals from trade and craft (note: two master craftsman’s certificates are also possible due to dual occupations). In addition, the winners of the “Salzburger Handwerkspreis 2022” were awarded. With more than 1,200 visitors, the “Festival of Crafts” is one of the largest and most important events at the WKS.
“The awarding of master craftsman’s certificates and certificates of competence is a powerful sign of the continuing attractiveness of skilled trades in our federal state. These qualifications are an expression of the solid and professional craftsmanship of the graduates,” emphasized Deputy Governor. dr Christian Stöckl at the celebration.
According to Stöckl, the skilled trades and the dual vocational training system, which is recognized beyond Austria, are very important to the population: “We are working together to further develop the training quality from apprenticeship to master craftsman, to make Salzburg the most apprentice-friendly federal state and with the education check to promote further education. Qualified, innovative employees and companies are the key factor and engine for economic development in our country. Especially in these times of crisis, the old wisdom of the golden craft proves its worth.”
Every fourth euro in education
Also WKS Vice President Dipl. oec. Manfred Rosenstatter and WKS director Dr. Manfred Pammer congratulated the newly crowned champions. “We will continue to focus our work on education in the future and support companies in their efforts,” said Rosenstatter. The WKS invests every fourth euro from the membership fees in education. As the sponsor of a total of ten educational institutions, we look after more than 100,000 students and course participants every year.
Division head KommR Josef Mikl was pleased that a few years ago the master craftsman was given equal status with the academic bachelor’s degree. “By classifying the master craftsman at level 6 in the National Qualifications Framework, the certified quality of the master craftsman and the technical training are no longer questioned, but actually brought on an equal footing with the academic training. This is a real achievement for craftsmanship, master craftsman examination and apprenticeship.”
Winner of the Salzburg Handicraft Prize
One of the highlights of the master craftsman’s certificate award ceremony was the selection of the winners of the “32. Salzburger Handwerkspreis” of the WKS. The winning project was the “four-part splitboard” by Andreas Zimmer from Pihapper Ltd. from Mittersill. The splitboard is a snowboard that can be divided into several parts. The two outer parts can be used like touring skis for the ascent. Flooring technology Ing. hc Maikl GmbH (FUBO) from Salzburg took second place for the terrazzo work at the Franciscan monastery in Salzburg. Third place went to Fercher + Stockinger Holz Handwerk GmbH from Seekirchen for the window renovation at the Maria Himmelfahrt vicarage in Freilassing-Salzburghofen. There are also recognition prizes for master florist Elena Hofmann from Hallein with the project “Floral interior design with special preservation technology”, Hartl Bau GmbH from Salzburg with the spiral staircase with round balustrade in exposed concrete for the Eggelsberg campus and nail designer Amanda Cantarella from Anif for the project “Monster Hohe nails”.