As part of UNESCO’s global strategy to enhance strategic partnership with UNEVOC Centres in China, Mr. Robert Parua, Education Programme Specialist of UNESCO Beijing Office, paid an official visit to one of the UNEVOC Centres in China at Zhejiang Technical Institute of Economics (ZTIE), located in the beautiful city of Hangzhou on 22 April 2021.
Mr. Parua met with Dr. Chandler, Vice President of the institute to discuss potential areas of cooperation. During the meeting, both sides agreed to boost and strengthen their collaboration on a broad range of TVET-related Topics. Both parties reviewed their on-going collaboration and discussed potential areas of collaboration. The discussion also focused on strengthening TVET Sector response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a critical component in building the resilience of the TVET Sector.
The main objective of the discussion of the two parties was to further advance the strategic partnership and TVET reform agenda in alignment with the SDG4.3 and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2021-2025 and the Chinese Government’s 14th Five-year Plan.
The visit was also a good opportunity for discussions and exploration of collaborations with private sector companies in Zhejiang Province. There is potential for the UNEVOC International Centre to mobilize resources from private sectors in China in building capacity in TVET and UNEVOC Institutions in developing countries within the framework of UNEVOC Network. Mr. Parua presented on the Medium-Term Strategy and Shanghai Consensus guide on UNESCO’s global work on TVET and TVET for sustainable development. In China, UNESCO collaborates closely with the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, the Ministry of Education and UNEVOC Centres in the country to promote and implement the TVET agenda and priorities.
Mr. Parua also delivered a lecture on “The role of TVET Institutions in promoting Entrepreneurship Education” to over 50 TVET teachers and students from Zhejiang Technical Institute of Economics. The presentation was well received by the students who aspire to become future entrepreneurs.
