The Durban University of Technology (DUT) delegation consisting of staff from Mechanical Engineering, IT and the Entrepreneurial Centre and Desk offices had attended the prestigious Luban Workshop Seminar which took place at the Tianjin Vocational Institute in China from 6 to 12 May 2019.
The Tianjin Vocational Institute is the first one among those ordinary higher education institutions in Tianjin which implement higher vocational education.
The Luban Workshop has been named after Chinese craftsman and inventor Lu Ban of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), who was revered as the embodiment of professional and technical excellence.
The Luban Workshop is basically a vocational cooperation model designed and established by vocational colleges in Tianjin and supported by the municipal government of Tianjin. The purpose of the workshop is to share the latest vocational education developments, provide teaching, training and promote mutual understanding and exchange by introducing the latest vocational education knowledge and technical training experiences to the local and international delegates in attendance. Also, many exchanges have also been conducted under the programme, with representatives from other countries observing and learning from the sessions.
Through mutual understanding, it has been confirmed that there will be a Luban Workshop jointly established in both campuses at DUT and the Tianjin Vocational Institute with equal technical equipment designed for the teaching and training purpose in areas of common selected specialties. DUT’s Entrepreneurial Centre and Desk Centre manager Nonhlanhla Khanyile strongly believes that the technical skills programme will benefit DUT students, staff and the community of KwaZulu – Natal (KZN) throughout the year, also covering mechanical and electrical maintenance multi – skilling, welding, machining pneumatics and hydraulics. “This is a start of a new journey and it is a proposed collaboration between DUT, Huawei and the Tianjin Vocational Institute,” she said.
Pictured: The DUT delegation with Huawei China representatives at the Tianjin Vocational Institute.
Waheeda Peters
