Due to intensified road transport competition and outdated railway facilities, the only railway (old) in Djibouti ceased operation in 2012. Six years later, it was replaced by a brand new modern railway. On January 1, 2018, with a total length of 752.7 kilometers and a design speed of 120 kilometers per hour, the Yaji Railway, which was jointly constructed and operated by China Railway Second Bureau Group Co., Ltd. and China Civil Engineering Group Co., Ltd., was officially put into operation. As the main traffic artery in East Africa, connecting Ethiopia and Djibouti, the Algeria-Djibouti Railway is the first transnational electrified railway in Africa and is known as the lifeline of Ethiopian transportation.

In the future, the Algeria-Djibouti Railway will be completely handed over to the local area for operation and maintenance. Therefore, the Algeria-Djibouti Railway urgently needs a large number of professional railway technicians. Djibouti Luban workshop is the first Luban workshop built by China in Africa. Serving the operation and management of the Djibouti Railway and cultivating more domestic railway talents for Djibouti is one of the original intentions of establishing the Djibouti Luban Workshop.

Helping African Teenagers Dream of Railway

The Luban workshop in Djibouti, jointly built by Tianjin Railway Vocational and Technical College, Tianjin No. 1 Business School, Djibouti Business School and China Civil Engineering Group Co., Ltd., was inaugurated and put into operation at Djibouti Business School in 2019. The workshop opened two railway majors, railway engineering technology and railway operation management, and two business majors, business and logistics, creating a precedent for vocational education in Djibouti and filling the gap in the country's railway majors.

On March 28, 2019, Djibouti Luban Workshop started operation

It is not easy to establish a Luban workshop in Djibouti. During the hot season, the highest temperature is close to 43 degrees. The Chinese teachers sent to the local training are suffering from skin diseases such as eczema and prickly heat while teaching and supervising students. It is only in the dead of night that people can stagger the peak transmission; materials are scarce, and some necessities need to be purchased in neighboring Ethiopia; customs procedures are cumbersome, and various uncertainties in equipment transportation and customs clearance need to be resolved in a very short period of time; professional certification is difficult, and The governor of the Djibouti Ministry of Education communicated and revised the plan many times, and finally obtained all the certifications of the four majors before the workshop started operation, which opened the era of vocational education in Djibouti.

With the completion of the Luban Workshop in Djibouti, Osman became one of the first batch of 24 freshmen in the Luban Workshop. After graduating from high school in Djibouti Business School, Osman did not have a smooth job hunting process. After hearing about the Luban Workshop and the opening of the railway major, he chose to continue his studies without hesitation. It felt like a dream to know that our country also has a railway major. Osman recalled the scene when he signed up for the school with emotion.

teach a man to fish

The Djibouti Luban Workshop adopts a multi-party cooperation model between the government, schools, and enterprises, and has established multiple teaching areas such as a railway operation training area, a locomotive simulation driving training area, and an enterprise simulation operating cognition training room. Students adopt a learning form combining theory and practice. During the three-year schooling period, students learn public basic courses, vocational basic courses and professional core courses according to the requirements, and complete the learning tasks of skills training related courses in the training base outside the workshop.

In April 2019, teachers from Railway College went to Kyrgyzstan to carry out teacher training and student guidance

Through the model of teachers first, Luban Workshop promotes the cooperation of local railway operation and maintenance personnel training and technology transfer, and injects vitality into the sustainable development of local high-quality talent training. Before the epidemic, Chinese teachers were sent to Djibouti for teacher training, or Djibouti teachers were invited to the Chinese campus for theoretical and practical teaching. During the epidemic period, online teaching methods were adopted, and teaching and research activities were held regularly to discuss and solve difficult problems in actual teaching. After the professional knowledge training, the local teachers will teach it to the local students in time. 6 teachers will be trained each time for the railway class, and 8 teachers for the business class, and they will be trained in rotation. Up to now, a total of 69 teachers have been trained, and a total of 148 local railway and business students have been trained.

In September 2020, students from Luban Workshop in Djibouti participated in the practical training of railway engineering technology

Luban is a symbol of ancient Chinese wisdom, expressing the Chinese people's pursuit of the spirit of craftsmanship. Wang Lin, a Chinese teacher, encouraged the students of the Djibouti Luban workshop to have Luban in every country, and you will definitely be able to become Luban in Djibouti. For students who are new to the railway field, the unheard of professional knowledge is difficult to understand. In the daily teaching, the teachers of Luban Workshop led the students to teach on-site at Nagade Station to enhance everyone's understanding of theoretical knowledge.

At present, the first batch of graduates of Luban Workshop in Djibouti are doing internships on the Yajibouti Railway. I really want to stay and work on the Yaji high-speed rail, which is also the dream of all Luban workshop students. Osman, who is about to graduate, said in an interview with People's Daily Online. It is difficult for the youth group in Djibouti to find employment. According to World Bank statistics, the unemployment rate of young people aged 15-24 in Djibouti will be as high as 77% in 2021. The Luban Workshop in Djibouti has trained a group of high-quality railway talents for the country, and it has also significantly improved the employment competitiveness of local youth.

Benefit countries along the Belt and Road

Talking about the local evaluation of Luban Workshop in Djibouti, Yang Xiaodan, a teacher from the International Exchange Office of Tianjin Railway Vocational and Technical College, said: The best evaluation is that President Guelleh attended our start-up operation ceremony.

In 2019, the President of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh, participated in the whole process of the launching ceremony of the Djibouti Luban workshop, from the unveiling of the workshop, delivering a speech, to visiting the training area in the workshop, and finally experiencing the locomotive simulation drive. President Guelleh's inscription read: I am very grateful to all the staff who designed and built the Luban workshop, and also congratulated the Djibouti youth who will be trained in the Luban workshop. Because of Luban Workshop, the youth in Djibouti are very happy, thanks to China. The governor of the Ministry of Education of Djibouti, Xue Mahdi, also highly praised the workshop: the opening of the Yajibouti Railway has greatly enhanced the importance of the local railway industry. Djibouti is committed to becoming a transportation hub in Africa. Luban Workshop will greatly promote the training of talents in the local transportation industry, which is of great significance to Djibouti's railway construction and industrial development.

On March 28, 2019, Djibouti President Guelleh wrote an inscription for the Djibouti Luban Workshop

For Yang Xiaodan, a group of ferrymen in China-Africa cooperative education in the new era, these exciting comments are the motivation for persevering in their work. The construction of Luban Workshop is becoming a technical station for overseas vocational education services and an important carrier to promote cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries and people-to-people bonds.

As a landmark project of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Algeria-Djibouti Railway has shortened the original five or six-day journey to one or two days, providing great transportation convenience for people and goods along the route between Djibouti and Ethiopia. The Luban workshop in Djibouti is one of the epitome of many Luban workshops in Africa. Luban Workshop has effectively helped countries along the Belt and Road to cultivate diversified talents, form professional technology transfer and increase the employment rate of target countries, provide human resources and intellectual support for local economic and social development, and consolidate the road of China-Africa friendship.Editor/Ma Xue