Reference News Network, September 1 report: According to the U.S. World News Network on August 30, China has actively promoted soft power diplomacy in recent years. In addition to the well-known "Confucius Institutes," it also has many "Luban Workshops" that assist various countries in vocational education and training. This system started in 2016 with the Luban Workshop in Thailand, and now there are 34 Luban Workshops built in 30 countries.

The report said that under the planning and arrangement of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Tianjin Summit Press Center, media from various countries and regions visited the Tianjin Light Industry Vocational and Technical College on the morning of August 30, visiting the Luban Workshop Experience Hall that was officially opened after the completion of the upgrade project.

The name Luban Workshop is derived from the famous craftsman Lu Ban of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and its main focus is on vocational education. In 2016, the Thai Luban Workshop established by the Tianjin Bohai Vocational Institute was unveiled, which was the first Luban Workshop set up by China overseas.

According to the official introduction, China has now built 36 Luban Workshops in 30 countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe, covering regions and multilateral mechanisms such as Africa, Central Asia, the SCO, and ASEAN. Among them, Tianjin has built 25 Luban Workshops in 23 countries, and 10 Luban Workshops in 8 SCO countries.

The report stated that in recent years, the role of Luban Workshops in China's diplomatic layout has become increasingly prominent. The essence of the Luban Workshops is the Chinese localized Engineering Practice Innovation Project (EPIP) teaching model, which is a teaching model suitable for the cultivation of technical skills, based on actual engineering projects, guided by engineering practice, and aimed at cultivating the ability to innovate in engineering practice, with real engineering projects as the leading force.

At the same time, based on the Luban Workshops, China has cooperated with foreign institutions to build 16 major categories of nearly 100 majors, more than 400 internationalized courses, invested over 10,700 sets of practical training equipment, trained more than 7,000 workshop teachers, implemented 33,800 students for academic education, and implemented 120,000 trainees for skill training.

According to the report, Li Yunmei, President of Tianjin Light Industry Vocational and Technical College, said that the starting point of the Luban Workshop is related to Chinese enterprises and Chinese equipment going abroad, "These devices were donated by enterprises at that time." During the construction of the Luban Workshop, cooperation with local Chinese and foreign enterprises was also carried out, reflecting the transfer of China's industrial-educational integration and school-enterprise cooperation model abroad, allowing them to attach great importance to the cultivation of students' technical skills, so that students can find good jobs.

The report said that during the site inspection in the renovated and upgraded Luban Workshop Experience Hall, it could be found that the specific course content of the Luban Workshop varies from country to country. For example, Pakistan offers a six-month course on "Industrial Automation and Robotics", the UK offers a "Chinese Culinary Arts" course, Egypt offers a "CNC Turning and Milling Technology" course, and Nicaragua offers an "Internet of Things Technology" course, among others.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7544950301724262927/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author. Please express your attitude by clicking the 【Like/Dislike】 button below.