The signing ceremony of building the Luban Workshop in Nigeria. [Photo provided to exploringtianjin.com]

A landmark agreement to set up a Luban Workshop in Nigeria was inked on Nov 14 by Tianjin Railway Technical and Vocational College, the Tianjin Sino-German University of Applied Sciences and the University of Abuja – in Tianjin.

China's Luban Workshops program – which is particularly active in Africa -- is designed to provide technical and vocational training, promote modern vocational education reforms and enhance collaboration among vocational schools around the world.

Officials said the move aimed to implement Chinese President Xi Jinping's commitment that China would set up 10 Luban Workshops in Africa to provide vocational training to African youth--under an initiative launched by China in collaboration with African countries during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

The workshop will open in March next year. Initially it will offer course majors including Urban Rail Transit Traffic Management, Urban Rail Transit Vehicles and Railway Bridges and Tunnels.

Other majors will include electronics, power mechanisms and telecommunications.

On Nov 12, five delegates from the University of Abuja visited the locomotive maintenance center and the high-speed railway training center at Tianjin Railway Technical and Vocational College and experienced simulated high-speed train driving.

Officials said they highly appreciated the centers and the college and expressed their willingness to boost exchanges with the college.

The University of Abuja plans to send three lecturers to study at Tianjin Railway Technical and Vocational College and three Chinese lecturers from the college have been sent to Nigeria to make preparations for the workshop.

The signing ceremony of building the Luban Workshop in Nigeria. [Photo provided to exploringtianjin.com]

A photo of the representatives attending the signing ceremony.[Photo provided to exploringtianjin.com]