Bangladesh and China have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish the China-Bangladesh Vocational Education, Training and Research Centre.
The MoU was signed yesterday at the China-Bangladesh Education Exchange Conference, organised by the Jiangxi Provincial Government and Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University.
Technical and Madrasa Education Division Secretary Md Daud Mia signed on behalf of Bangladesh, while Professor Zheng Pengwu of Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University signed for China.
Three cooperation platforms were also inaugurated at the conference.
Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon and Deputy Director of the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education Fan Honghui jointly inaugurated the China-Bangladesh Vocational Teacher Training Centre.
Prime Minister’s Adviser on Education Mahdi Amin and Prof Pei Hongwei of the university inaugurated the Bangladesh Vocational Education Research Centre, while Daud Mia and Zheng Pengwu inaugurated the Bangladesh Chinese Language Skill Development Centre.
Addressing the conference, the education minister said Bangladesh’s young population was its greatest strength and could be transformed into a world-class skilled workforce through quality technical education and modern training.
“With China’s modern experience and technical assistance, Bangladesh’s education sector will reach new heights,” he said.
He stressed that technical and vocational education must remain closely aligned with industry and employment needs and called for greater bilateral cooperation in curriculum development, teacher training, institutional partnerships, modern technology, practical education and employment-oriented training.
Mahdi Amin said the MoU marked “the beginning of a new chapter” in Bangladesh-China cooperation in technical education.
“Our main objective is to transform education into skills, skills into employment, and employment into economic opportunities,” he said.
Representatives from 19 universities, technical institutions and industries in Jiangxi attended the conference. Both sides pledged to build a sustainable partnership through industry-education linkages, teacher training, joint research and student exchanges.
