In response to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s call at the XIV BRICS Summit, the BRICS TVET Cooperation Alliance?Conference, hosted by the Ministry of Education of China,?was convened in Beijing on April 27th. It was a online-offline hybrid event attended by more than 100 participants, including educational policy makers, diplomats stationed in Beijing, vocational educators, and industry and business representatives. They jointly witnessed the inauguration of the Alliance.
Mr. Tian Xuejun, Vice Minister of Education of China, addressed the conference via a pre-recorded video. He commended the joint efforts of BRICS countries leading to the establishment of the Alliance. The vice minister also saw the Alliance as a significant driver for vocational education reforms by creating a platform for dialogue and information sharing to promote substantive cooperation, which will greatly contribute to solving educational challenges and facilitating economic transformation.
Tian put forward three suggestions: (1) practice inclusivity for every BRICS country to take ownership and follow the principles of openness and collaboration; (2) align closely with the industry to ensure the constant adaptation of vocational education for nurturing a highly skilled workforce relevant to the needs of social-economic development; and (3) deploy state-of-the-art solutions incorporating digital and green technologies to enable innovative delivery models and speed up the reform of the TVET talent training programs.
The Alliance is strongly endorsed by BRICS educational policy makers. Mr. Victor Godoy, Minister of Education of Brazil, Mr. Bugaev Alexander, First Deputy Minister of Education of Russia, Mr. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of India, and Dr. Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of South Africa indicated their full support through video congratulatory remarks. They prepared to encourage members from their home country to actively participate in the Alliance’s various activities and partnership building.
The BRICS TVET Cooperation Alliance was established under the guidance of BRICS vocational education authorities. It has 68 founding members, including vocational education associations, vocational education institutions, research institutions and businesses.
