For two years in a row, the Colombo Plan Staff College and the Zhejiang Technical Institute of Economics (ZJTIE) successfully organized a regional program in the city of Hangzhou from April 29-May 10, 2019.
The program involved the participation of twelve TVET teachers, instructors and staff from the following countries: Bangladesh, Fiji, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philipines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The program was organized in realization with the need to further expose the participants from CPSC member countries with best practices from China, particularly on the field of Greening TVET and e-commerce, which are needed in addressing emerging labor and skill issues in this era.
The twelve-day program aims to impart the understanding of e-commerce and green skills to help participants design plans to embed in their respective TVET systems. It aims to advance the awareness of the participants on the relevance of e-commerce education and greening TVET today ad to realize the need to redirect a significant critical mass of TVET graduates from wage employment to sustainable entrepreneurial careers.
The program was made possible through the efforts of CPSC, led by the Director General, Dr. Ramhari Lamichhane; and ZJTIE, represented by the Vice President of ZJTIE, Prof. Huang Chunlin and the Project Director of the External Affairs Office & International Education Center, Mr. Tony Zheng.
On April 29, 2019, the participants were welcomed by Dr. Rupert McLean, founding director of UNESCO-UNEVOC and one of the lecturers of the program. Meanwhile, Dr. Lamichhane imparted lectures on Greening TVET for Sustainable Future and Organizational Excellence and Entrepreneurship.
The participants at one of their industry visits in Hangzhou.
In the following days, several lectures and workshops were conducted as planned in the schedule of the program for the participants. Prof. Ju Chunhua of the Zhejiang Goshang University discussed the development of e-commerce and service in China while a lecture on the innovative exploration of the greening classroom in vocational colleges, as experienced in China, was delivered by Prof. Tony Zheng of ZJTIE. Other lectures include: a discussion on new energy vehicles, facilitated by Prof. Chen Lidan of ZJTIE; lecture on China’s TVET curriculum development by Prof. Huang Chunlin (Chandler), Vice President of ZJTIE; presentation on China’s green logistics by Mr. Wang Wei of ZJTIE; Lecture on Greening TVET Educator’s Standards and Green Pedagogy by Mr. Affero Ismail of Universiti Tunn Hussein Onn of Malaysia and a lecture on Green skills and curriculum development by Dr. Margarita Pavolva of the Education University of Hong Kong. Mr. Wang Junhai, an instructor of ZJTIE, facilitated the workshops on e-commerce and other trainings. In addition, Mr. Mohammad Alamgir Hossain of Bangladesh presented the current TVET policy on Green Skills in their country as part of the lecture. Participants from Nepal, Malaysia and Myanmar were also tapped to deliver a summary of learnings from the previous days.
The participants were also given the opportunity to visit some of the key industries in the Hangzhou area as part of their learning field trips including the Yiwu International Trade City, Hangzhou Iron and Steel Group, Alibaba Group, Geely Group and Suning Green Logistics Enterprise.
Participants (left to right) from Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bangladesh, Maldives and India receive their certificates of completion from the organizers
The Pakistani participant receiving instructions from the facilitator on making traditional Chinese pottery. 
Dr. Ramhari Lamichhane, CPSC Director General, delivering his opening speech during the welcome ceremony. 
The participants with a meeting with the enterprises.
The participants at a cloud computing facility in Hangzhou.
