Four Chinese universities and the Yagshygeldi Kakayev International University of Oil and Gas (Turkmenistan) signed a memorandum of understanding in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, to establish a Lu Ban Workshop in Turkmenistan, Xinhua reports.
The Chinese partners in this initiative include Xi’an Petroleum University, Hebei Petroleum Vocational Technical University, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), and the Chinese Association for International Educational Exchange.
The agreement outlines a collaborative effort to establish the Lu Ban Workshop in Turkmenistan, focusing on training academic and non-academic talents in fields like geology, mineral exploration, information systems, and technologies. The partnership will also involve teacher and student exchanges, scientific research cooperation, and information sharing.
Wu Yingqin, Executive Director of the secretariat of the China-Central Asia Cooperation Mechanism, in his speech at the signing ceremony of the memorandum, said that the Lu Ban Workshop can promote graduate employment and meet the urgent needs of local enterprises for technical personnel, is an international public good contributing to improving the well-being of the population.
Wu Yingqin believes that the prospects for cooperation between China and Central Asia are extensive, and the development of education in the format of “Chinese plus professional skills” in Central Asia is of demonstrative importance. He also expressed hope that the participants of the Lu Ban Workshop project can train more highly qualified specialists and build a new friendship bridge between China and Turkmenistan.
Recall that the first Lu Ban Workshop in Central Asia, opened at the end of 2022 in Tajikistan.
An agreement on the development of vocational education within the framework of the Lu Ban Workshops was reached within the framework of the China-Central Asia format during the first summit in May 2023.
Lu Ban Workshops are named after the legendary Chinese inventor Lu Ban, who lived 2500 years ago. According to legend, it was he who invented many hand-held devices that are used to this day.
Nowadays, the Lu Ban Workshop is a project of international cooperation in the field of vocational education, which has been implemented since 2016 under the auspices of the Tianjin Bureau of Education with the support of the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. The Lu Ban Workshops train specialists in production automation, energy, construction, transport, communications, IT technologies and even traditional Chinese medicine. The network of training centers under the brand name “Lu Ban Workshop” successfully operates in more than twenty countries in Asia, Europe and Africa.