The opening ceremony of the China-Africa vocational training class at the Ningbo Polytechnic on Sept 3. [Photo/ zj.zjol.com]

A China-Africa vocational training class was opened at the Ningbo Polytechnic on Sept 3, as part of efforts to spread China's abundant experience in vocational education to Africa and help the latter develop their own vocational education. 

"China has established a demand-oriented vocational education and training system, which can be used as reference for African countries," said a senior economist from the World Bank at the opening ceremony. 

Africa has been trying to reform its vocational education system in the past decade, to address the gap between the low supply and high demand of skilled personnel for its rapid economic development. 

As the largest trade partner of Africa for nine consecutive years, China also attaches great importance to vocational education in Africa, as more and more Chinese companies are settling on the continent, calling for more skilled workers.

The class, co-organized by the Ningbo Polytechnic, World Bank and China Institute for Educational Finance Research, will last for a week from Sept 3 to 8, providing training to 34 representatives from Africa as well as four officials from the World Bank. 

This is the first time that World Bank has launched vocational education training in Ningbo, which was an important part of the second Africa China World Bank Education Partnership Forum held in Beijing recently.

The World Bank has been committed to helping Africa with its vocational education over the past decade, and will continue to do so in the transportation, energy, agricultural processing and information technology sectors over the next six years.