The 7th Sino-NZ Higher Vocational Education Forum was held in QTC from Otc. 14th to 15th. The 2-day forum covered several sessions, concerning keynote speeches, symposiums, teaching demonstrations and cooperative communication, etc.. Themed around “Educating the Workforce for the Future”, it aimed to establish a platform to explore effective approaches for learners training and strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the two sides.
This year’s forum has drawn more than 130 scholars and experts from 7 institutes of New Zealand and 55 of China. Leaders and officials from both sides attended the forum, including Tony O’Brien, Director of China Program for New Zealand Overseas Education Bureau and Li Yufeng, Director of Division for International Cooperation and Comparative Education Research, CIVTE, P.R. China.
Qin Chuan, president of QTC, presided over the opening ceremony. Wang Jinsheng, Li Min, Tony O’Brien and Li Yufeng delivered remarks, highlighting the forum would bring enlightenment on vocational education reform and development.
On 15th, 4 teachers, including Oonagh McGirr of Otago Polytechnic and Li Yan of QTC, made demonstrations on their teaching design. At the end of the forum, concluding remarks were made by Oonagh McGirr, Deputy Chief Executive of Otago Polytechnic and President Qin Chuan.
On April 11th, 2013, China and New Zealand signed a cooperative agreement on vocational education. The forum is held once a year and it is the third time for QTC to host the forum after 2013 and 2016.
（Translated by Zhan Lixiang）
