The Luban Workshop in Ayutthaya, Thailand — the first such facility in the world — is expected to soon see a strong improvement in teaching quality with Chinese teachers offering classes online and a major upgrade of facilities.

Established at Thailand's Ayutthaya Technical College in conjunction with the Tianjin Bohai Vocational Technological College, the workshop has provided vocational and skills training for 13,000 students. A ceremony attended by Thai and Chinese officials was held in Thailand on Aug 31 to mark the seventh anniversary of the founding of the workshop.

The Chinese side announced it will provide two new autonomous production lines, and two new sets of IoT technological and appliance facilities to be used for professional skills competitions and training.

A new state-of-the-art virtual reality vehicle simulation project will also be set up at the workshop.

"In the future, we will assist the workshop and our Thai partner to foster a standardized curriculum in a bid to improve teaching quality," Wei Bingju, Party chief of the Tianjin Bohai Vocational Technical College, said at the ceremony.

"Via online services, we will improve our capabilities in training the Thai teachers, and use big data to examine and supervise the teacher training program to expand our training and lift the quality," he added.

He said that as one of the first countries Chinese tourists were allowed to visit after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, more cultural and communications exchanges are expected between the two countries.

The Luban Workshop in Ayutthaya has seen a number of major landmarks over the past seven years.

In 2018, a high-speed railway training center was founded by Tianjin Railway Technical and Vocational College at the workshop.

Both Thai students and teachers have won prestigious awards including the Princess Sirindhorn Gold Award of the Thailand Vocational Education "Chinese Plus Vocational Skill" Competition, the Friendship Award issued by the Chinese government and the Haihe Friendship Award issued by the Tianjin government. Every year, more than 90 Thai students receive scholarships offered by the Tianjin government.

However, not only Thai students have benefited from the program. A total of 109 students from Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore have undertaken training at the workshop, with 17 of them winning vocational skills contests across the region.

Named after Lu Ban, an ancient Chinese woodcraft master, the workshops have risen in popularity in recent years to become centerpieces of Beijing's drive to promote international cooperation on vocational education. A total of 27 Luban Workshops have been established in 25 countries, most of them in the developing world.

"The courses offered by the workshop have precisely met the demand for high-quality talent in Thailand's industrial and transportation sectors," said Tanu Vongjinda, secretary-general of the Thai Vocational Education Commission. "The workshop can be regarded as the commission's pride in having created a model for other educational institutions to promote vocational education management worldwide."

In August, Mayuree Sriraboot, principal of Ayutthaya Technical College in Thailand was awarded the 2023 Tianjin Haihe Friendship Award. "The Luban Workshop in Thailand has made remarkable achievements," she said. "Students have found their ideal careers after graduation and been applauded by their employers."