Soraya Lalmahomed can now call herself the best emerging childcare professional in the Netherlands. She took the gold medal at Skills The Finals, the national final of the country's largest skills competition for vocational (MBO) students. Kinderopvangtotaal covered her victory, calling her a 'childcare professional of the future'.
What is Skills The Finals?
Skills The Finals is the Dutch equivalent of the international WorldSkills competition. MBO students from across the country compete against one another in their chosen field and are assessed on craftsmanship, insight, and practical skills. In the childcare sector, this means participants are tested on their pedagogical approach, how they interact with children, and their knowledge of development-focused guidance.
Winning this kind of competition is a serious achievement: participants must first make it through regional qualifying rounds before going up against the best students in the country.
What this means for the childcare sector
Lalmahomed's victory comes at a time when the childcare sector is working hard to improve quality and attract new talent. The Netherlands has been facing a shortage of qualified childcare professionals for years, keeping waiting lists at daycare centers (kinderdagverblijf/KDV) and after-school care (BSO) providers persistently long.
Competitions like Skills The Finals help raise the profile of the childcare profession, highlighting it as a field that demands real skill, knowledge, and passion. They foster professional pride within the sector and can inspire young people to pursue a career in childcare.
Details about the competition elements and Lalmahomed's background are drawn from reporting by Kinderopvangtotaal.