Joint NIT, Chinese programme spells hope for automobile students

THE National Institute of Transport (NIT) and Zibo Vocational Institute (ZBVI) of China’s Shandong Province have launched the first batch of a joint training programme for automobile engineering students at NIT.

The Luban Workshop training programme was established in order to accelerate implementation of the outcomes of the Beijing Summit and Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

NIT, ZBVI and Sunmaker Oil and Gas Training Institute agreed to establish a Luban Workshop on automotive in Tanzania.

Based on the principles of equality, integrity and mutual benefit, the parties have reached a cooperation agreement on the joint construction of a Luban Workshop and an automotive institute by giving full play to their respective resource advantages.

In his remarks at the launch of the first batch of a joint training programme held via Zoom recently, NIT Rector, Professor Zacharia Mganilwa said that the Institute’s automobile students will now be able to correctly master the assembly, inspection and debugging methods of the main automobile units as well as be able to maintain automobiles correctly.

The Rector pointed out that the talent training will equip them with basic skills and knowledge of Chinese and turn them into international talents who can communicate in Chinese.

“The training will broaden students’ scope of knowledge by teaching them the social, cultural, economic and political conditions of the Chinese-speaking countries and regions, as well as the basic facts about China,” he said.

He added: “This talent training will also foster students’ ability to use Chinese in cross-cultural communication and business communication so that they are capable of actually using Chinese in their future workplace.”

“This training will again develop students’ ability to use computers and search for information on the Internet in Chinese,” he observed.

He further said that all students must be equipped with hands-on skills before graduation and be able to read automobile parts drawing and assembly drawing.

He went on to say that the students who will graduate in this programme must also be proficient in the detection and repair of an automotive electrical and mechanical systems and proficient in the detection and repair of automotive electronic control systems.

Professor Mganilwa named other hands-on skills before graduation as students being proficient in the detection and repair of automobile comfort system and safety systems, students having comprehensive automobile fault diagnosis and repair ability and being able to inspect the car after repair as well as being able to read simple English vehicle maintenance information.

“This programme will be done for a maximum of four years, two semesters per year and in each semester, students will be taught at least one subject/module,” Prof Mganilwa said.

He said that the training programme is set to help students to understand in depth the current automobile market in terms of fast technology changes.

The programme will equip NIT’s students with high-quality technical and skilled talents so as to be able to adapt to the needs in the development of the whole automobile or unit assembly and overhaul technology.

“This curriculum is based on the objective of equipping students with solid Chinese language knowledge and comprehensive Chinese application ability and stresses the development of students’ practical language skills,” he said.

On her part, ZBVI’s Principal, Professor Sun Qiyou said at the sideline of the launching ceremony: “In order to do a better job in this programme of Luban Workshop with NIT, we have made overall preparations such as the allocation of teachers, the design of teaching content and many other aspects.”

Prof Qiyou added: “We have organised several teaching seminars to discuss the teaching forms, teaching content, task settings and many other details. We have formulated a training programme tailored to the learning content for students.

According to our plan, the first stage of the class is mainly to learn and master basic Chinese knowledge and the later stage they will go to the professional courses of technical skills.”

The Chinese Professor further said that at present, the workshop has built an integrated teaching management platform and developed four international courses and supporting teaching resources, which include Maintenance of electronic control system of automobile engine, Automobile maintenance and servicing practice, Engine Disassemble and Adjustment and Vehicle Chassis Electronic Control System Maintenance.

“In the second half of last year, we selected excellent teachers and carried out an 8-week online training for six teachers on your side. The training mainly covers two courses, that is Engine Electronic Control System Overhaul and Automobile Maintenance and Servicing Practice. Besides, 39 students from your institute have been admitted to our joint training programme,” he said.

He insisted: “In addition, as the Chinese chairman of the China-Africa Vocational Education Alliance, we jointly organised the development of Tanzania’s National Occupational Standards and Program Delivery Standards together with Sunmaker Oil & Gas Training Institute, and our institute led and participated in the development of two standards; An experienced teacher from our institute was sent to offer technical training for local students in Uganda and Mali for four months.”

He also said that at present, with the economic and cultural exchanges between China and Tanzania deepening in a golden period, the Chinese government and authorities attach great importance to the development of educational exchanges, supporting the deepening of cooperation and exploring a double-win model.

“It is based on this good expectation that we have reached the agreement to promote all work step by step. There is a Chinese proverb that says: a whole year’s work depends on a good start in spring. This training class is the first batch of key tasks in 2023 of our Workshop Project, and we choose to start it in the spring,” he said, adding that they hope students participating in the training will cherish the learning opportunities, study efficiently, make progress in their Chinese learning and lay a solid foundation for future technical skills training.

On her part, a Chinese language teacher, Ms An Qi said: “First of all, this is a cooperation project that both institutions have great expectations for, through this project, everyone will master Chinese language and vocational skills, but before vocational courses, we must first learn Chinese together, which happens to be my responsibility, so that everyone can know Chinese culture better and lay a good language foundation for professional skills learning in the future.

I believe that with our joint efforts, this project will hcgave very good results and help everyone realize their life value,” she said.

Speaking at the sideline of the event, Sunmaker Principal, Dr Felix Duan said that after nearly three years of communication and negotiation, they have overcome a series of problems such as the epidemic, and today they are finally celebrating the opening ceremony of their first class of students.

“We hope that students will learn more and acquire more professional skills during the program, and we will provide scholarships to study in China for top performers.

We also hope to have a second and third class of students participate in our program in the future, and we hope that our faculty teams on both sides will actively work on teaching and learning so that students can enjoy their studies,” he said.