The Shanghai Municipal Education Commission recently announced the results of the 2022 Selection of Excellent Cases of International Student Education in Colleges and Universities in Shanghai.
The excellent cases were selected from typical cases of international student education based on practical results and being worthy of promotion, and have been widely collected by the commission since 2020.
The "'Belt and Road' Engineer Training Featuring 'China-Laos Railway Talent Cultivation'" case submitted by the Shanghai Institute of Technology (SIT) was awarded as one of the excellent cases.
The completion of the China-Laos Railway, which opened in 2021, was made possible by the combined efforts of various groups of professionals and experts, including Laotian railway engineering graduates from SIT.
They pursued undergraduate studies at SIT for three years after completing their freshman year at Souphanouvong University in Luang Prabang, Laos.
"When the construction of the China-Laos Railway began in 2016, we believed that it was necessary to cultivate local specialists in the field," said Li Peigang, director of SIT's Institute of Railway Engineering.
"Shanghai has the world's largest subway system and a comprehensive high-speed railway network. As such, we were sure that the city would offer a good environment for the training of Laotian students," Li added.
Aside from academics, cooperation between SIT and institutions such as the Shanghai Railway Administration and the Shentong Metro has helped students hone their skills through visits, lectures and other activities.
The institute is expected to cooperate with more countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, such as Thailand and Myanmar, through academic programs in the coming years.
Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, SIT has innovatively played its role in railway engineering education through international exchanges and cooperation with countries involved in the BRI.
It cultivated local technical management talents and engineers for the China-Laos Railway and the Laotian railway engineering graduates from SIT fostered international exchanges between China and Laos. The program also provided a rich experience for the subsequent training of various high-level talents urgently needed by countries involved in the BRI.
