On Nov. 21, a parallel session on the integration between industry and education for high-quality development of vocational education was held during the 2024 World Vocational and Technical Education Development Conference at the National Convention & Exhibition Center in Tianjin.

The session was hosted by the Ministry of Education of China, the National Commission of China for UNESCO and Tianjin Municipal People's Government. It was organized by China Nonferrous Metal Industry Human Resource Center (CNMIHR) and Nanjing Vocational University of Industry Technology (NJUIT), and co-organized by Tianjin Vocational College of Mechanics and Electricity.

The event has brought together more than 200 representatives from education departments, universities, and research institutions from nearly 20 countries and regions, to jointly explore new paths for the development of vocational education, and discuss the key role of integration between industry and education in driving high-quality development of vocational education.

Leaders and government officials of relevant countries and regions attended the session, including Wu Yan, a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Leading Group and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Deng Yunfeng, Vice Governor of Shandong Province, Hang Chuon Naron, Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia and Minster of Education, Youth and Sport, Ekila Likombio Marc, Minister of Vocational Training of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Hanitra Fitiavana Razakaboana, Minister of Labor, Employment and Public Service of the Republic of Madagascar, Pierre Gomez, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Technology of the Republic of Gambia, Zaw Myint, Vice Minister of Education of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Omari Juma Kipanga, Vice Minister of Education, Science and Technology of the United Republic of Tanzania, Moustapha Sangaré, Vice Minister of Technical Education, Vocational Training and Apprenticeship Affairs of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, and Aboubacar Kourouma, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Mines and Geology of the Republic of Guinea. Om Romny, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of Cambodia, chaired the session.

The session released the achievements of talent cultivation for international production capacity cooperation in the non-ferrous metal industry and achievements of running schools abroad by NJUIT. The achievements reflect the remarkable results in connotation construction of international development of Chinese vocational education. During the session, NJUIT and Sultan Idris Education University of Malaysia signed a memorandum of cooperation.

The experts reports session was chaired by Tian Yuping, Chairperson of the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives. Nine experts from Chinese and foreign governments, enterprises, vocational colleges and universities exchanged the latest policies and practical experiences in collaborative education around the theme of the conference, shared their explorations in international exchange and cooperation of vocational education, jointly discussed the development mode of industry-education integration of vocational education and looked into the development direction of building the global community for vocational education.

Zhang Guozhen, Secretary of the Education Commission of the CPC Gansu Provincial Committee, and Party Secretary and Director of the Education Department of Gansu Province, delivered a report and shared the experience in strengthening vocational education in Gansu. Zhang presented the view that, in terms of vocational education development, the key lies in top-level design, the base point in layout optimization, the core in industry and education integration, the quality in talent training, and sharing in international exchange. Zhang expressed the hope for more educational exchange and cooperation with representatives from around the world.

In his report, Lisulo Priscus Mwhiba, Director of the Department of Vocational Education of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Zambia, pointed out that the challenge facing vocational education in Zambia is that 90% of Zambian young people are unable to unleash their skill potentials and urgently need skill training. He shared Zambian government’s experience in driving the construction of TVET system and promoting TVET system in innovation, research and development, and warmly invited all the guests present at the conference to attend the skill competition and TVET conference to be held in Africa in 2025.

Liu Jianping, Chairman of the Education-Industry Integration Community in National Nonferrous Metals Industry and Director of Aluminum Corporation of China, delivered a report, and shared relevant experience and results from three aspects, including deeply fueling industry and education integration, attaching importance to cultivation of overseas talents, and continuously deepening industry and education integration. He said that his corporation will strengthen exchange, deepen cooperation and promote innovative development to jointly approach new paths of industry and education integration with global vocational education experts, scholars and enterprise representatives. The aim is to promote industry and education integration, global poverty alleviation, and lifelong learning.

In his report, Encik Azman bin Arshad, Director General of Department of Program and Institution Planning, Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, recognized the cooperation between Malaysia and China in economic, cultural and educational exchanges, and gave introduction to Malaysia's three major strategies of New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030), National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) and National Semi-conductor Strategy (NSS). According to his report, Malaysia will advance the industry-oriented TVET construction and work on training 500,000 local talents with skills for relevant industries. He held that in today’s interconnected world international cooperation is necessary for achieving the goal of sustainable development, and expressed the hope to make joint efforts with the representatives present at the conference to expand influence of TVET system.

During the conference, Wang An, Office Director of Leading Group of Industry and Education Integration Community of the National Rail Transit Equipment Industry, and Deputy Party Secretary and Director of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation Limited (CRRC), shared the CRRC talent training model for industry-education integration, and said that CRRC will actively practice the strategy of strengthening the country and the Belt and Road Initiative, enhance cooperation with domestic and foreign universities and enterprises, deepen multi-party industry and education integration, and write a new chapter of talent training of rail transit equipment industry in the new era.

Thongsa Inthavong, Deputy Director General of the Department of Technical and Vocational Education, Ministry of Education and Sports of Laos, highly recognized relevant ideas of Chinese vocational education reform, attached high importance to the international cooperation in vocational education between China and Laos. Through cooperation with the Chinese government, famous universities, enterprises and research institutions in recent years, Laos has trained high-quality skilled talents with international vision and innovative capacity. Meanwhile, he shared Laos' experience and plans for vocational education development in the future.

Wu Yu, Executive Director of the Chinese Society for Technical and Vocational Education (CSTVE), and Vice President of QAX Group, pointed out in his report that the development of digital economy requires more comprehensive cybersecurity, and digital security has become more important than ever before, so it is necessary to take cybersecurity education as the mission, to explore new cooperation mode and resolve the contradiction in supply and demand of talent in cybersecurity industry.

Philippe Roesle, Director of the Science and Education Section of the Embassy of Switzerland in China and CEO of Swissnex, analyzed Chinese and Swiss vocational education systems with the white paper, demonstrated various kinds of skill training programs in China by Swiss enterprises, and the demands of the enterprises for further development and growth. He emphasized that the publication of the white paper on China-Switzerland vocational education primarily serves as a guide to align vocational education and training with the demands of the future employment market. This, in turn, ensures that the talents being trained remain competitive and adaptable in the face of rapid technological advancements.

Liu Wei, Vice Director of the Department of Safety Production, China Datang Overseas Investment Co., Ltd., introduced how Datang carried out close cooperation with Cambodia-China University of Technology and Science (CCUTech) in Cambodia’s Stung Atay Hydroelectric Power Project and Power Transmission and Transformation Project from the west of Phnom Penh to Battambang to realize leapfrog development in talent training. Furthermore, he mentioned that Datang will continue to strengthen its partnership with CCUTech, broaden the scope of their collaboration, and actively seek out more innovative cooperation models. The aim is to propel the integration of industry and education to greater depths and broader horizons.

The symposium was chaired by Xie Chengjie, Party Secretary and Director of the Nonferrous Metals Industry Talent Center. At the symposium, eleven experts from Chinese and foreign governments, enterprises, and vocational colleges and universities engaged in specialized discussions centered around the conference theme. These discussions covered various aspects, including industry-education integration practices, school-enterprise collaborative education, leveraging industry-education integration to drive innovative development in vocational education, and exploring comprehensive support for the development of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Regarding how to enhance international cooperation, Michael Crook, Chairman of the Presidium of International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives (ICCIC), shared the experience of Beijing Bailie University in innovatively and practically training international skilled talents through deepened international exchanges and cooperation. Xie Yonghua presented the university's explorations and practices in cooperative education initiatives with Cambodia. Meanwhile, Yang Yibo discussed the integration of industry and education in electrical vocational education beyond China's borders, emphasizing the significance of strategic demands, system integration, and teaching staff in international collaborative efforts.

Regarding how to deepen school-enterprise cooperation, Suriani binti Abu Bakar, the Executive President of University Pendidikan Sultan Idris in Malaysia, shared unique practices involving the Automobile Study, Technology Center, and Green Education Center. These practices demonstrate how industry-education integration can facilitate vocational training reform. Dennis C. Kurtz, Dean of the College of Vocational Education at the University of California in Santa Barbara, introduced that the Santa Barbara campus carried out curriculum jointly designed by school and enterprises and established advisor team to realize the online-offline-combined teaching mode and the transition from short-term certification to complete qualification. Zhang Longhai, Deputy Party Secretary and President of Shandong Polytechnic College, emphasized the importance of establishing new modes and ecosystems to adapt to industrial development, as well as creating new ways to serve international production capacity cooperation. The goal is to further integrate industry and education, enhance the quality of education, and contribute to China's modernization.

On innovations in training mode, Ahmed Manzoor, Executive Vice President of the University of Gwadar & Executive Director of the Pakistan-China Technical and Vocational Institute (PCTVI), presented the experience of cooperation between PCTVI and Shandong Institute of Commerce and Technology. This includes the establishment of the Luban Mozi Academy, which aims to share China's technical and academic expertise and meet Pakistan's talent demands. Liu Chang’an, Deputy Party Secretary and President of Beijing Polytechnic College, shared the school-enterprise cooperation mode, emphasizing deep collaboration with enterprises to build a community with a shared future for schools and enterprises. Zhao Pengfei, Chairman of the Chinese Apprenticeship Teaching Guidance Committee for Vocational Colleges of Ministry of Education, discussed the practice and prospects of the Chinese apprenticeship, and expressed hopes to explore high-level apprenticeship to deepen industry and education integration, drive industrial transformation and upgrading, and serve innovative development in the future.

In terms of meeting industrial demands, Cheng Dingbin, Party Secretary of Leshan Vocational and Technical College, proposed a Chinese approach for vocational education. This approach involves precisely targeting regional supply and demand, deepening cooperation with leading enterprises, and establishing an industry-education integration mechanism. Yi Jun, Party Secretary of Chongqing Vocational Institute of Engineering, introduced some practices implemented by the institute. These include digital empowerment, innovations in segmented training modes, and aligning education with industrial demands. The goal is to comprehensively build high-level, internationalized vocational education and improve the quality of talent training.

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