As all roads led to Beijing from 4 – 6 September 2024 with a flurry of side meetings linked to the annual Forum on China and Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) which is a gathering of African heads of state and government under the auspices of President Xi Jinping, the Crab Island Technical and Vocational Education Training Foundation (CITVETF), as one of the five training institutions selected from around the continent to enter into formal partnerships with their Chinese counterpart institutions, was invited to participate in the related events and to formally sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Jiangsu Maritime Institute (JMI) of Nanjing.
Hon. Ousman Sillah, the Initiator and Chairperson of Crab Island TVET Foundation, and Ms. Chen Xiao Quin, Vice President of Jiangsu Maritime Institute, were the officials who signed on behalf of their respective organisations at a special session dedicated for the purpose during the China Africa TVET Cooperation Consortium (CATCC) Annual Conference 2024 organised by the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) in Beijing on 5 September.
The Crab Island TVET Foundation Chairperson was accompanied by Mr. Matarr John, Director of Crab Island TVET Centre in Banjul, to Beijing for the signing ceremony and to also attend the two events of the CATCC conference and China – Africa – UNESCO High-Level Dialogue on Cooperation in Education and Cultural Heritage Protection respectively.
Following the two meetings and the historic signing of the MoU between the two training institutions, the delegation from Crab Island TVET Foundation stayed for another three days and visited the huge Jiangsu Maritime Institute Campus and held a discussion with its President Professor Wen Huabing and Mr. Xu Jinjun, Director of Department of Cooperation and Development, on wide ranging issues regarding the areas of collaboration and activities under the MoU and the implementation modalities. The meeting was also attended by Ms.Wang Hai Yen, Mr. Hui Jie and Ms, Jane Lui.
Hon. Sillah expressed profound appreciation to the President, Prof. Wen, for the support of Jiangsu in facilitating their visit to China and the warm reception and hospitality accorded to them by the JMI staff during their stay and thus extended a formal invitation for the President to pay a return visit to the beautiful Gambia.
He noted that this new partnership is coming at a time when the Crab Island TVET Centre is undergoing some physical transformation and operational expansion with the construction of a new building and introduction of more relevant and demand driven courses that will help build the technical capacities of Gambians to prepare them for the world of work. “The benefits that such a collaborative relation can bring to support the expansion efforts of Crab Island TVET Centre are immense and cannot be over emphasised,” added Hon. Sillah.
Hon. Sillah emphasised the important role that skills played and still continues to play in undergirding and propelling the rapid technological advancement and social development as well as modernisation of China which was only recently a former colony as the African countries. “The leaps and bounds registered by this highly developed country is partly because of her investments in skills development,” said Hon. Sillah.
Dilating further on the MoU, Hon. Sillah said the partnership will be focusing on some of these areas namely: Co-operation on the educational and technical training programs that can benefit the students from Gambia and The People’s Republic of China; Exchanges of information and materials, including the curricula, textbooks, online teaching resources, results of teaching, etc; Training of teachers and students; Faculty and student exchange programs; Joint research programs, and conferences in the fields of applied technology, humanities, education, and management; Co-hosting skills competitions or skills displays and any other activities viewed to be mutually beneficial.
On a concluding note, Hon. Sillah said he went to China to represent Crab Island TVET Foundation but that since he is serving as both the Chairperson of the Foundation and Secretary General of the Sub-Saharan Africa Skills and Apprenticeship Stakeholders Network (SASASNET), his other mission was to promote skills and apprenticeship development in Africa by engaging in outreach with potential partners on behalf of the continental organisation. “The visit to China was worthwhile as it augurs well for both Crab Island TVET Foundation and SASASNET,” he concluded.
China – Africa – UNESCO High-Level Dialogue on Cooperation in Education and Cultural Heritage Protection, which attracted the participation of the Vice Premier of China, President of the Central African Republic, Prime Minister of Mauritius, Vice President of Cote d’ Ivoire and several other African ministers of Education and TVET, was also addressed by Dr. Yusupha Touray, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST), who deputized the Minister.
The Crab Island TVET Foundation delegation returned to Banjul on Tuesday, 10 September, 2024.
