September 30, 2021
New Zealand – China: VET Bilateral Partnership
T The recently concluded APAC TVET Forum had on the sidelines the two-day long China – New Zealand Summit on Higher Vocational Education that strengthened the two countries’ partnership in the higher vocational education sector.
Addressing the delegates present at the summit, Lisa Futschek, General Manager International at Education New Zealand, talked about the many years of cooperation between New Zealand and China in the field of higher vocational education. “As we enter the ninth year of education cooperation in higher vocational education, New Zealand is pleased to have Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills & Technology, our newly established public network of vocational and applied education provision, step into the leading role of taking vocational education cooperation forward… The strength of our partnership is recognised as exemplary, resulting in the establishment of the APAC-TVET Forum, connecting governments, institutions, and businesses across a much broader region and expanding on our successful partnership,” said Futschek.
In the future, vocational education exchanges and cooperation between China and New Zealand will be closer
Xu Yongji, deputy director general at the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges within the Ministry of Education of China, speaking on the occasion, said, “New Zealand has a wealth of experience and advanced ideas in vocational education and training, and has cultivated many people with innovative creativity and adapted to market demand, and is an ideal partner for vocational education and training reform in China… In the future, vocational education exchanges and cooperation between China and New Zealand will be closer”. It is hoped that the two countries can carry out more cooperation in strengthening the characteristics of vocational education, perfecting the system of integrating production and education, innovating the mechanism of cooperation between schools and enterprises in running schools, deepening the reform of vocational education teaching, and building the brand of special vocational education; so as to train more high-quality vocational and technical personnel for the socio-economic development of China and New Zealand,” he added.
The emphasis was also made on the importance of the dual skill, that is, thinking and doing. It was agreed that it has become very important in the modern economy to have an education system that encourages students to think critically and find creative solutions.
Leon de W Fourie, Chair International Working Group – Te Pūkenga, speaking to the delegates said, “The establishment of Te Pūkenga has created the opportunity for the development of a unified International Education Strategy across the sector. Te Pūkenga is focused on using its size and scale to create a high value future for learners, and New Zealand, through outstanding international education and global connectedness”.
“One of the central themes that has come out of our international education strategy development so far is to increase our offshore delivery footprint. We intend to maintain our current offshore campuses, scale them up where appropriate and establish new campuses,” added Fourie.
Posted in Collaborations and tagged New Zealand, China, Collaborations, Higher Education, Vocational Education
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