Cooperative project Luban Workshop sets standard for instructional excellence

Luban Workshop has become a landmark cooperative project in cultivating local talents in partner countries with qualifications and technical training on Chinese technologies, craftsmanship, and products.

Led by Tianjin University of Technology and Education, or TUTE, and established in collaboration with other local vocational schools and research institutions, 33 Luban Workshops have been set up in 29 countries across Asia, Africa, and Europe, providing systematic solutions for the internationalization of China's vocational education while bolstering the Belt and Road Initiative.

To date, the workshop has provided educational qualifications to 20,000 individuals and skills training to 35,000, nurturing more than 2,200 local teaching staff members. As a result, Chinese and foreign institutions have established more than 60 global teaching standards and 133 sets of three-dimensional education resources.

Lyu Jingquan, one of the initiators and builders of Luban Workshop and former vice-president of TUTE, said establishing a new platform and brand for international cooperation "is an inevitable choice for the reform and development of vocational education in China, and Tianjin plays a crucial role in this endeavor."

Lyu emphasized the significance of vocational teachers utilizing Chinese standards and products to enhance the adaptability of local vocational education, and highlighted the importance of young students spending time during their vocational preparation period to learn Chinese technologies, craftsmanship and products. "This effort is meaningful for China, partner countries, and the world," he noted.

Lyu also believes Luban Workshop is not just about one-way output, but the "Chinese model" going global, adapting teaching methods suitable for partner countries and truly sharing with the world.

In July 2015, China's Ministry of Education and the Tianjin municipal government jointly launched the National Modern Vocational Education Reform and Innovation Demonstration Zone, making internationalization of vocational education a key task. In December that year, significant progress was made in Luban Workshop in terms of objectives, implementation paths, construction models, core content and guarantee measures.

In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop outside China was established through cooperation between vocational schools in China and Thailand. Subsequently, Tianjin's vocational schools collaborated with institutions in the United Kingdom, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Cambodia, Portugal, Djibouti, Kenya, South Africa, Mali, Nigeria, Egypt and Tajikistan to establish more local workshops.

Luban Workshop's Engineering Practice Innovation Project (EPIP), led by TUTE in collaboration with 15 Tianjin schools and research institutions, won China's highest award for national-level teaching achievements in 2022. EPIP is a teaching model rooted in vocational education practices and scientific research, aiming to localize Chinese education while maintaining an international perspective.

At the first World Vocational and Technical Education Development Conference in 2022, scholars from more than 10 countries delivered keynote speeches on the application and promotion of EPIP, advancing research on Chinese vocational education overseas and enhancing its global influence.

Lyu, as a pioneer of EPIP teaching, facilitated establishment of EPIP teaching research centers in Ethiopia and collaborated with similar centers in Thailand and Portugal. These efforts were recognized in the Report on the Development of Vocational Education in China (2012-22). In March 2023, with the approval of the municipal education commission, Lyu led his team in establishing the Tianjin EPIP Research and Promotion Center.

Lyu emphasized that with the practical experiences in Thailand, the UK, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Cambodia, Portugal, and Djibouti, Luban Workshop is set to become a global brand for Chinese vocational education. He noted that Luban Workshop has conducted more than 60 educational activities in fields such as railway transportation, mechanical and electrical engineering, smart manufacturing, and new energy vehicles in countries across Asia, Europe, and Africa, and that its partner institutions include Ayutthaya Technical College in Thailand, University of Chichester in the UK, Polytechnic Institute of Setubal in Portugal, Ain Shams University in Egypt, and Ethiopian Technical University.

The local workshops have collaborated with multiple Chinese enterprises, including Huawei, Haier, China National Building Material Group, Zhejiang Tianhuang Science and Technology Industrial and Zoomlion. They have engaged in major international cooperation projects such as the China-Thailand high-speed rail, the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, BRICS investment and the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway.

In Africa, the programs offered by Luban Workshop align with the economic and social development of partner countries, particularly focusing on local industrial growth. It has introduced more than 30 programs in areas such as additive manufacturing, new energy, mechatronics, railway operations and traditional Chinese medicine.

In Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia and site of the African Union headquarters, Luban Workshop focuses on artificial intelligence. It supports Ethiopian Technical University's undergraduate programs in manufacturing technology, electronics and communication technology, and electrical and control technology, and serves a graduate program in electrical and control technology. In Egypt, one of the most proactive countries in North Africa in developing renewable energy, Luban Workshop has responded to the country's industrial development needs by offering a program in the application of new energy technologies.

Established in 1979, TUTE is one of the earliest ordinary undergraduate teacher training institutions in China dedicated to cultivating teachers for vocational education. The university has produced over 80,000 high-quality teachers and specialized talents and trained over 4,000 talents for more than 70 countries.

Over 40,000 TUTE graduates have served as teachers in more than 6,000 vocational schools nationwide, and over 8,000 have become model teachers, skill masters and leaders.

wangjinhui@chinadaily.com.cn