The first branch of China's vocational college for electrical engineering in Pakistan was inaugurated in Sindh, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Monday. Sindh Technical Education & Vocational Authority (STEVTA), Government Monotechnic Institute (GMI), Mehrabpur, Tang International Education Group, and Yantai Vocational College, China signed an agreement last week on joint training of talent and inaugurated the Sino-Pak International College in the ceremony. This is the second Sino-Pak international college under the "CCTE" model in Sindh Province. The first one was inaugurated in collaboration with the Government Polytechnic Institute, Dadu, on May 21.

Li Jinsong, President of the Tang International Education Group, said at the inauguration ceremony that power shortages were a sore point in Pakistan's economic development. He expected the joint education programme in Sindh, where there were many thermal and wind power plants, could cultivate more talent in electric engineering to meet the market demand, serve the long-term development of local enterprises, and promote people-to-people bonds between the two countries. Wen Jinxiang, president of Yantai Vocational College, also attended the ceremony. He said that STEVTA, GMI Mehrabpur, Tang International Education Group, and Yantai Vocational College would jointly develop the curriculum standards. He expressed his hope that the programme could be sped up to produce professional, modern, and international talent for the development of Pakistan and China.It may be mentioned here that "CCTE", short for "China-Pakistan Dual Diploma/Degree & China-Pakistan Cooperation, Chinese Language Courses & Chinese Commercial Cultural Courses, Technical Education Subjects & Technology in Education and Further Education & Employment", is a model developed by Tang International Education Group. Students of CCTE programmes will learn in Pakistan for the first two years and in China for the third year before obtaining degrees from both sides.

Mr. Saleem Raza Jalbani, Chairman of STEVTA, said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries in 1951, the technological sector, especially technology education, has been one of the priorities in bilateral cooperation. According to Dr. Ghulam Mustafa Suhag, Managing Director of STEVTA, STEVTA recognized the importance of learning from China's experience, introducing Chinese technologies and disciplines, and collaborating with Chinese universities to train talents for CPEC construction and Pakistan’s development. He informed that a Chinese language learning center has been set up in Karachi to improve the language capacity of local students and empower them to learn in the CCTE programs. He also anticipated more vocational cooperation between Sindh and China to enlarge the talent pool for the infrastructure, energy, socio economic and technological development under CPEC.

Credit:
Independent News Pakistan-INP