Experts listened carefully to the report

On June 27-28, the Asia-Africa Center of SZPT, in cooperation with the UNESCO Bureau for Education in Asia and the Pacific, held the “Launch Seminar on Digital Technology Application Research of Higher Vocational Education Colleges in ASEAN + 3 Countries”. The seminar was carried out both online and offline. Vocational education officials and experts from the UNESCO Bureau for Education in Asia and the Pacific, 7 ASEAN countries and the Ministry of Education of China gathered in Shenzhen, while vocational education experts from South Korea, Vietnam and Singapore participated in the seminar online jointly conducting in-depth discussions on how to empower vocational colleges and vocational education teachers with digital technology, and promote the digital transformation of vocational education systems in East Asia and Southeast Asia.

Yang Xinbin delivered a keynote report

The first day of the seminar consisted of “Opening Ceremony”, “Expert Report”, “Country Sharing” and “Campus Research” and other sessions. Yang Xinbin, Secretary of the Party Committee of SZPT & UNESCO Chair on Vocational and Technical Education,Ansgar Schaefer, a comprehensive expert of theSoutheast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Secretariat, and Hartini Binti Haji Mashod, an expert of the Institute of Vocational and Technical Education of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization, delivered keynote speeches on the digital transformation of vocational education in China and the initiative of vocational education in the ASEAN region. Wang Libing, Acting Director of the UNESCO Bureau for Education in Asia and the Pacific, and BenjaminVergelde Dios, aprogrammespecialist of the Department of Education Innovation and Skills Development of the Bureau for Education in Asia and the Pacific, delivered expert reports on the research objectives and literature review of this applied research project. In the “Country Sharing” session, experts from various countries shared their own paths and cases of digital transformation of vocational education. The experts also visited the smart classroom of the School of Electrical and Communication Engineering, the new energy vehicle training center of the School of Automotive and Transportation Engineering, the Industry 4.0 training center of the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, and the entrepreneurial space of the School of Entrepreneurship, and paid a visit to Tencent for research purposes.

Xu Jianling delivered a speech

Wang Libing delivered a speech

At the opening ceremony, Xu Jianling introduced the development history and educational achievements of SZPT, shared the historical experience of active involvement in global governance and cooperation in vocational education, and a series of transformation explorations under the tide of digitalization. He said that as “a banner” of China’s vocational education and a forerunner of innovative development, SZPT has actively undertaken the mission of exploring digital transformation solutions for vocational education and leading global vocational education innovation. He hoped to take this opportunity to deepen education cooperation with ASEAN countries as well as Japan and South Korea, and contribute SZPT’s solutions and Chinese wisdom to jointly promote the sharing of educational technology resources and improve the quality of vocational education talent training. In his speech, Wang Libing, Acting Director of the UNESCO Bureau of Education in Asia and the Pacific, thanked our team for hard work, and hoped that this seminar would start the journey of digital transformation of vocational education.

In the keynote speech session, Yang Xinbin made a report entitled “Seize the new digital opportunities to boost the high-quality development of vocational education”. He introduced Shenzhen comprehensively with five key words: “youth”, “green”, “innovation”, “open” and “vitality”. Then, starting from the background of China’s digital development, he elaborated on four ways for the college to seize new digital opportunities and promote digital transformation, i.e. focusing on “digital + manufacturing” to show service for “strengthening the country through manufacturing”, focusing on “digital + localization” to reflect the support for “realizing self-reliance through science and technology”, focusing on “digital + new ecology” to create a new image of high-end development of vocational education, and focusing on “digital + internationalization” to build a new high ground for the global development of vocational education.

At the seminar, SZPT demonstrated outstanding experiences and achievements in digital transformation. During the discussion, Yang Wenming, Director of the Asia-Africa Centre, shared in detail the foundation and project design of SZPT’s construction of UNESCO chair on vocational and technical education. Li Wenli and He Xiaoqing, teachers of the Center for Educational Technology and Information, introduced the construction of iStudy learning platform and digital campus. The advanced digital hardware facilities and practical training environment also won unanimous appreciation from the experts attending the seminar. During the break, the classical music and tea art performed by the students from the School of Vocational and Technical Education and the School of Management demonstrated the charm of traditional Chinese culture, and also won the praise of the experts attending the seminar.

The seminar exported SZPT’s digital transformation plan to the education experts from 10 countries in Southeast Asia and East Asia, contributed Chinese perspective and Chinese wisdom, helpful to enhance the international influence and reputation of the college, and accelerate the process of SZPT entering the center of the world vocational education stage. At the seminar, the experts said that they looked forward to organizing groups to learn advanced experiences and solutions in Shenzhen in the future, so as to promote the digital transformation and innovative development of vocational education in their own countries.

(Zhong Zhuoya, Asia-Africa Center)