Through the two ways of“going out”and“bringing in”, Weifang Vocational College has been serving the Belt and Road Initiative for years. By taking the innovative approach of“building a platform and combining two ways”, our international cooperationhas been expanded and the level and influence of international education has been significantly improved. WFVC was awarded the National Top 50 Higher Vocational Colleges of International Influence in three consecutive years.
1.Building an international sharing platform
Our college has cooperative projects with more than 80 universities and educational institutions in 21 countries and regions. We have joined the PathPro Project of China Education Association for International Exchange. The college was elected as the Vice-Chairman of China-Africa Vocational Education Alliance and the Deputy Secretary General of 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Vocational Education Research Council. These high-level organizations have helped to broaden our international cooperation.
2.Improving the international level of the teachers and students
WFVC has built an international-level team of teachers which consists of more than 50 foreign teachers and overseas high-level experts, and sent more than 200 teachers to study abroad.
We have built a platform of overseas exchange and internship for students. The“China-Korea Education Exchange Center”at Honam University in South Korea and the overseas internship base in Japan were established. More than 20 groups of students have done their internship under the international internship program in Singapore, with the cooperation with foreign-related enterprises.
3.Contributing to the Belt and Road Initiative
WFVC had carried on the Ministry of Commerce’s Project of Greenhouse Vegetable Cultivation Technique in Developing Countries for four consecutive years. 165 technicians from 62 developing countries got trained in seven periods.
We also undertook the Chinese Government’s Aid Project of Dry Crops Demonstration and Promotion in N’Sele, Congo and send four groups of agricultural experts to Congo for agricultural technical assistance. They have completed 20 types of breeding which have been planted in 30 hectares, completed one scientific research project on soil fertility testing and trained more than 6,000 local agricultural technicians. Five of our agricultural experts were awarded the honor of“foreign experts with outstanding contributions”by the Strategic Reserve Bureau of the Presidential Office of Congo.
WFVC has established international technology training centers in Congo, Uganda and Pakistan. Our teachers went to provide technical guidance and ten curriculum standards have been used by the centers. Eleven teachers were appointed as the expert consultants and mentors by the universities and institutions in these countries.
The college representatives participated in the China-Africa Vocational Education Academic Exchange Seminar 2019 and the Joint Meeting of China-Africa International Cooperation Projects in Uganda. The college carried out a training project of the Ministry of Commerce in Africa. Two professional teachers taught in our Uganda Technical Training Centre and trained more than 50 local technical workers with electrician and welding technology.
WFVC is working with Sunmaker Oil & Gas Training Institute and Bukalasa Agricultural College, Uganda to build the Luban Workshop and the Jiasixie Institute, in order to promote the technical assistance in Africa with our educational resources.
4.Bringing in high-quality educational resources
WFVC offers three joint programs of E-commerce, cosmetic technology and pharmaceutical biotechnology in cooperation with three universities in Australia, South Korea and Taiwan. 347 students are studying under these programs. 84% of the first graduates of E-commerce program obtained the Australian TAFE certificate and 20 teachers obtained the level 4 certificate of Australian vocational education teaching qualification.
5.Building a brand of international education
WFV Cobtained the qualification of accepting foreign studentsin 2009 and have startedto enroll international students from 2014. Through the“four-combination”training mode,the education quality has been improved dramatically. By 2021,our International Education School had enrolled nearly 680 foreign students, exchange students and visiting students from more than 20 countries including Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Bangladesh,SouthKorea, Japan and the United States.
The management of international students has been strengthened by the strict regulations and the consideration of their individual needs.The college and the public security department have jointly built the“Home for International Students”and establish eda four-level management and service pattern for international students.The international education andmanagement have been significantly improved.
We created the“four-combination”training model to improve the international education: the combination of in-class study and out-of-class activities, the combination of in-school study and out-of-school cultural experience, the combination of language study and professional practice and the combination of study, exams and competitions.