Logistics training for Chinese pupils

Pupils specialising in logistics from a professional training college in the Chinese Province of Jiangsu are completing a certified course in the area of transport and logistics in accordance with German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) standards. The programme will finish in 2019.

The People's Republic of China has grown to become the world's largest transshipment hub and market for logistics services. Compliance with international standards has an ever greater part to play as the country strives to maintain this position.

In overall terms, however, the breadth of the transport and logistics sector in China still has potential for development. One associated factor here is the fact that the degree of professionalisation in initial and continuing logistics training remains low, especially in the non-academic area.

The certified course in transport and logistics is being carried out in China on behalf of the Chien-Shiung College of Technology in Taicang, which is also financing the measure in full.

During the period from 2017 to 2019, lecturers from the Saxony-Anhalt Transport Training Academy (BAV) have been teaching a total of six modules to 17 pupils from the college. Topics covered include warehouse management and distribution logistics. More than 90 of the 280 teaching hours are devoted to practical instruction.

The Magdeburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry has confirmed that the training concept meets the stipulated quality standards for a certified course.

Once they have passed the module examinations, the young Chinese pupils receive a final certificate from the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Shanghai.

The training imparts fundamental theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of transport and logistics. The topic of Green Logistics has been integrated as a cross-cutting aspect across all of the modules.

The vocational knowledge acquired during the training expands the professional skills of the Chinese trainees. There is also a particular focus on aspects such as health and safety at work as well as on cargo securing. After a theoretical teaching unit has taken place, pupils immediately carry out practical exercises to apply what they have learned.

Current collaboration with the Chien-Shiung College of Technology stems from a highly successful cooperative project called "LoBiEx – Logistics VET Export", which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and ran from 2012 to 2015.

Within the scope of this cooperative project, practically oriented initial and continuing training concepts for skilled workers and teachers in the occupational field of logistics were developed, piloted, and evaluated by the Magdeburg-based partners METOP GmbH, the BAV, and the Otto von Guericke University. The professional training college in Taicang was one of four Chinese vocational education and training partners.

The project and the cooperation that took place during the period of its implementation enabled a sense of long-term trust to be established, thus opening the door to training provision such as the certified course and further joint project activities.

Against this background, the three German partners have been working since 2017 to develop another training concept in the form of the BMBF project "transPORT". This will involve a three-year programme of vocational education and training in the area of port management, which will be piloted at the Chien-Shiung College of Technology until 2021.