The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states have been continuously deepening practical cooperation in education, culture, tourism, science and technology, and other areas, bringing tangible benefits to the peoples and strengthening the friendly bond among them.
Leaders from Asia, Europe and Africa are gathering in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin on Sunday and Monday for the largest-ever SCO Summit in history, charting the blueprint for the organization’s next decade of development.
Primarily founded to address security concerns, the SCO has grown over the past 24 years into a comprehensive regional organization representing nearly half of the world’s population.
Over the years, SCO member states have seen deepened fruitful cooperation, including those in people-to-people exchange mechanisms. China has been promoting vocational education cooperation through multiple platforms of the SCO to extend advanced skills, rather than mechanically exporting China’s model.
"The SCO now has a number of people-to-people and cultural exchange mechanisms, such as the Women’s Forum, and media and think tank forums, as well as forums on traditional medicines. Take educational cooperation as an example. China is now promoting Luban Workshop projects among SCO member states, which are meticulously designed to cultivate skilled workers in large numbers, making significant contributions to local economic development,” said Ding Xiaoxing, deputy secretary-general of the Academic Committee at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.
The Luban Workshop, named after the legendary ancient Chinese craftsman and inventor Lu Ban, aims to enhance the trainees’ career competitiveness. In Tianjin, a pioneering international vocational education hub, Pakistani students are studying at a Luban Workshop set up at the Tianjin Modern Vocational Technology College.
Muhammad Umar got the opportunity to study in this workshop in Tianjin for his outstanding performance at the local workshop in Pakistan. Together with several other classmates, Umar come to practice operative skills at the training center almost every day during the summer vacation.
"I studied in Pakistan for six months, and then I took a very important exam online. With the help of the teachers there in Pakistan, I enrolled in the Tianjin Modern Vocational Technology College. Previously my teachers had told me that if I wanted to learn more advanced technology and gain more work skills, I should study in China,” said Umar.
Since its official operation in July 2018, the Luban Workshop in Pakistan has already held six sessions of vocational skills training.
More youths from SCO member states like Umar are actively engaging in extensive global exchanges. At the China University of Petroleum Beijing campus, many international students from SCO member states said that after finishing their studies in China, they will return to their home countries, hoping to bridge energy exchange and cooperation between their countries and China.
"These youngsters are to finish their preparatory courses, undergraduate studies, and even graduate and doctoral programs here before they return to their home countries to work in Chinese energy companies, contributing to energy exchanges between China and their countries,” said Yu Donghai, vice dean of the College of International Education at the China University of Petroleum Beijing campus.
