The Luban Workshop in Benin came into operation less than a year ago, but there is already an eight-year school-enterprise cooperation foundation behind it.

The Benin Luban Workshop is jointly launched by Chinese and Benin educational leaders on April 21, 2023. [Photo/mofcom.gov.cn]

In 2015, Hu Keman, a teacher from Ningbo Polytechnic in East China's Zhejiang province, set foot in Benin for the first time. Over the following two weeks, he provided all-English lectures for undergraduate and graduate students. "It took me more than half a year just to prepare the lessons," Hu said.

This teaching experience, spanning 15,000 kilometers, was motivated by the actual needs of Chinese-funded enterprises in Benin. At that time, Teams International, a Chinese pump mechanical and electrical products industry provider, opened a trade mart in Benin. When recruiting local employees, it found that there was a shortage of skilled talents.

The company then contacted Ningbo Polytechnic, and the two established a partnership with CERCO Institute, a local private college.

The schools and enterprise jointly established the China-Africa (Benin) Vocational and Technical Education College in 2016, and gradually explored a talent training model that integrates production and education.

Over the years, the cooperative education site has trained more than 800 local students and attracted more than 60 international students from West African countries to study in China.

Since the inauguration of the Luban Workshop in Benin, exchanges between China and Benin have become more and more frequent. In May, 2023, the commissioner of the Secondary, Technical and Vocational Education of Benin came to Ningbo, Zhejiang province, for investigation.

On the occasion of the international symposium on vocational education in developing countries, Kouaro Yves Chabi, minister of Secondary, Technical and Vocational Education in Benin, also took a trip to Ningbo. During the meeting, he expressed the intention to introduce the Chinese vocational education model and develop the Benin Luban Workshop into a benchmark in Africa.

On Nov 26, 2023, Ningbo Polytechnic sent a team to investigate Benin in local enterprises and finalize the promotion plan of the Luban Workshop.

"It's important to show people how to fish rather than just giving them fish," said Cen Yong, deputy head of Ningbo Polytechnic, "we hope to help Benin teachers build their capacity, develop teaching materials, optimize talent training programs, and introduce more Chinese-funded enterprises in Benin".