Translated with AI
Vocational education as a bridge for international cooperation. Tianjin College of Light Industry is one of the key participants in the Lu Ban Workshops initiative aimed at training highly qualified specialists. The educational institution not only trains students, but also actively participates in the development of industrial partnership between China and the SCO countries. Details below.
Tianjin College of Light Industry has become an important platform for international cooperation in vocational education. It develops bilingual courses adapted to the needs of different countries and builds partnerships with leading universities abroad. Particular attention is paid to the states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Director of Tianjin Light Industry Vocational and Technical College Li Yunmei: "China has already set up ten Lu Ban Workshops in SCO member states, achieving significant results in promoting the development of vocational education and training of technical specialists in SCO countries. This has effectively promoted the exchanges and cooperation between China and SCO countries in the field of vocational education. We are very much looking forward to the upcoming SCO summit to be held in Tianjin in the second half of this year."
In total, more than 30 workshops have been created in the world. The essence of the project is the transfer of Chinese experience and technologies in the field of applied education. Each workshop is adapted to the needs of the partner country: be it agricultural technology, IT or energy.
Director of Tianjin Vocational and Technical College of Light Industry Li Yunmei: "For example, for Russia, basic courses on network technologies, software, artificial intelligence and other areas were developed, and for Kazakhstan, courses on the application of energy technologies, agricultural mechanization, etc. were purposefully created, which contributes to the development of local industry and personnel training."
Students work with the latest generation industrial equipment. Here they are taught not just from textbooks, but by reproducing real production chains.
Li Hong, a lecturer at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tianjin Light Industry Vocational College, said, "This equipment won the gold medal at the 2024 World Skills Championships. Its technical standards represent the advanced level of the industry. As a standardized miniature replica of an enterprise's automated production line, it fully reproduces the key links of modern industrial production, providing students with a practical environment that is as close as possible to real production tasks."
For many international students, like Makinga from Zambia, it is a chance not only to gain knowledge but also to pass it on to their home country to contribute to the development of the local industry.
Zambian student Makeng Makina: "I am studying digital control technology in China. We program the machine, after which it automatically performs all the processing of the part – from roughing to finishing. The college has modern equipment, and the teachers and students are friendly to us. After completing my studies, I will return to Zambia to pass on the knowledge I have gained to young people."
Today, Tianjin is one of the flagships of international educational cooperation in the country. "Lu Ban Workshops" are becoming a link between China and other countries, forming a common technological future – based on knowledge, practice and partnership.
