On October 27, the Opening Ceremony of the Electric Locomotive Driver Training for the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway and the People-to-People Exchange Forum were held in our college grandly. Yang Xiaochun, the vice director of the China Center for International People-to-People Exchange of the Ministry of Education, Xu Hengzhen, the director of the foreign cooperation and exchange office of the education department of Henan, Radia, the human resource director of Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway Co., Ltd., Chen Mengqiang, the representative of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway Joint Venture of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation - China Railway No.2 Engineering Group Co., Ltd., and Yang Mingqing, the deputy head of the employee training department of China Railway Zhengzhou Group Co., Ltd., were invited to participate in the activity. Su Dongmin, the secretary of the party committee, Kong Fanshi, the president, Dong Lisheng and Ni Ju, the vice presidents and the relevant department heads, the first batch of 34 students and some teacher and student representatives also participated in the series of activities. The opening ceremony was chaired by Su Dongmin, the secretary of the party committee.
In the opening ceremony, Yang Xiaochun, the vice director of the China Center for International People-to-People Exchange of the Ministry of Education indicate that the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway was the first transnational electrified railway in the African continent, the milestone of “going out” as per the Chinese railway standard, and of significance for the construction of “the Belt and Road”. Zhengzhou Railway Vocational & Technical College undertook the training activity, which is another specific practice of the higher vocational college to implement the education action plan of the Ministry of Education for “the Belt and Road”, serve the enterprises to “go out” and explore a new mode for the domestic technology and skill training and education on the international students. In the meantime, it was not only a technology and skill training, but also a people-to-people exchange in the international connection. He hoped that the school could assign the best teachers, overcome the language difficulty, optimize the training program and cultivate many high level of electric locomotive drivers, and enable every student to master the professional skills by “learning how to drive an electric locomotive from the Chinese teachers”.
Xu Hengzhen, the director of the foreign cooperation and exchange office of the education department of Henan indicated that the Education Department of Henan always actively supported the education cooperation between the colleges and universities of Henan and the countries along “the Belt and Road”, encouraged the colleges and universities to closely conduct a people-to-people exchange, strengthened diversified communication, learned from each other, realized the mutual benefit and win-win result, jointly constructed the education community for “the Belt and Road” and benefited the countries and people along “the Belt and Road” based on the requirements of the Education Action Plan on Co-construction of the Belt and Road”. He believed that the training would improve the international school-running level of the school, cultivate a batch of talents for the transportation industry of Ethiopia and Djibouti, construct a friendship bridge between China and Africa and sow the seed of hope for the three generations of friendship in these three countries.
Yang Mingqing, the deputy head of the employee training department of China Railway Zhengzhou Group Co., Ltd. indicated that in 2013, the Education Department of Henan and China Railway Zhengzhou Group Co., Ltd. jointly entered into an agreement, and co-constructed Zhengzhou Railway Vocational & Technical College, which is not only an innovation in the higher vocational education system mechanism in Henan but also an important measure adopted to strengthen the cooperation with the industry and enterprises and jointly promote the development of higher vocational education. In the future, China Railway Zhengzhou Group Co., Ltd. will continue to deepen the cooperation with the school, strengthen the support for the talents cultivation, discipline construction, teacher team, scientific research, technical development and international exchange of the school, and bring the active role of the enterprises in the construction of “the Belt and Road” into play.
Ms. Radia, the human resource director of Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway of Ethiopia indicated that Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway Co., Ltd. inspected and evaluated two famous railway colleges in China. The inspection group finally considered the conditions of teaching, practical training, students’ living environment in the school were relatively good and then determined to settle the electric locomotive driver training for the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway in our college. She hoped that the students could learn knowledge and skills in China, strengthen the people-to-people exchange, study the Chinese culture and make Chinese friends.
Dejene Gezu, the representative of the Ethiopian students indicated that he appreciated “the Belt and Road Initiative” of China, because the initiative brought the railway to them, the valuable training opportunity provided by Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway Co., Ltd. and CCECC-CREC JV Project Office for us and the excellent teaching resources provided by Zhengzhou Railway Vocational & Technical College for us!”
Kong Fanshi indicated in the speech that, CCECC-CREC JV Project Office settled the electric locomotive driver training for the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway in our college, which is an sufficient affirmation and trust for the school. He indicated that the school would not let down the expectation and would assign some excellent teachers from the railway locomotive major to form a teacher team and sufficiently utilize the advanced resources inside and outside the school, such as the higher railway training center on the basis of the excellent and innovative teaching team, and give special lessons based on the needs of operation and maintenance to enable the students to be guided actually in the training. In the meantime, the school would also try best to provide a good living guarantee for each student.
After the opening ceremony ended, Yang Xiaochun, the vice director and Chen Mengqiang respectively delivered an academic report, named the Promotion of the International Cooperation of “the Belt and Road” by Sticking to the People-to-people Exchange Idea and the Win-win Cooperation Between School and Enterprise, interpreting the industry benchmarking between China and Africa and the promising future of education cooperation from the perspectives of the role of the people-to-people exchange in the Chinese-African cooperation and the promotion of the local employment and regional economic development by the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway. The seminar was chaired by Dong Lisheng, the vice president.
In the subsequent visiting and inspection activity, the excellent experiment and practical training conditions of the rail transit major in our college deeply impressed each guest.
In the afternoon, Yang Xiaochun, the vice director of the China Center for International People-to-People Exchange of the Ministry of Education, Ding Lianpu, the director of the Mechanism Office (I) and the leaders of our college discussed with each other and reached a preliminary intention to establish the “Institute for Chinese-Foreign Cultural Exchange for the Rail Transit Industry”, jointly carried out the cross-cultural exchange and people-to-people exchange research in the rail transit field and built a bridge for the people-to-people bond between China and other foreign countries.
