Vocational program a morale booster for African students

Humphrey Mwambaji, a technologist at the Luban Workshop in Machakos University, 60 kilometers west of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, is a testimony to the workshop's impact on African students and the industry.

The technological prowess of Mwambaji, who graduated from the university in April 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunication and Information Technology, impressed the management of the university which hired him in January.

In 2022-23, he participated in an information technology competition hosted by Chinese company Huawei that saw him progress to international level. The competition involved examining his theoretical knowledge and hands-on information and telecommunication skills, as well as his ability to work as a team member.

"The Luban Workshop is where my mind opened up to the networking industry. It's quite different when you are pursuing a self-led course and an instructor-led course. Here, I had an instructor who taught and directed me, the reason behind my technological prowess," he said.

"As a staff member, I'm now mentoring students to improve their ICT (information and communications technology) skills as well as motivating others to take advantage of the technical skills that are offered at the workshop."

Established in 2019, the Luban Workshop is a partnership between Machakos University and Tianjin City Vocational College. It is one of the 17 Luban Workshops established across Africa with the help of China to provide vocational training to support the continent's industrialization.

Erick Omuya, the chair of the Department of Computing and Information Technology at Machakos University, said the Luban Workshop offers training in cloud computing and information technology, as well as in other emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

He said the workshop has boosted the morale of the students because they can access state-of-the-art machines.

It has also increased the university's capacity, consequently reducing the student-lecturer ratio, he said.

"Most of the students have their own machines as they learn and do practical work, hence are able to gain technical skills," he said.

The lab, he said, has motivated students to come up with innovations such as the Blind Eye, a mobile phone-based application that uses AI to guide the visually challenged to navigate their environment. The university is working on a proposal to collaborate with the Kenya Society for the Blind on the commercialization of the app.

Another innovation is an application that uses AI to assess the mental status of the security officers; whether they are disturbed, distressed or stressed.

"The system uses sentiment analysis. Picking information can be verbal or text-based and then it analyses it and assigns the officer a counselor," he said, adding the student who came up with the application is currently working with the Kenya Defense Forces.

Other innovations are virtual and documented realities applications such as Metraverse Safaris, which use AI and virtual reality to view tourist sites without physically going there.

Omuya said plans are underway to create an innovation corner in the lab where the applications will be kept.

Generating collaborations

The lab has also generated collaborations between Machakos University and other universities, as well as collaborations between the university and industry players such as Huawei and Konza Technopolis, a technology hub proposed to be constructed about 60 km south of Nairobi.

With the help of the lab, Omuya said the university established a new course in 2021, called the Bachelor of Science in Cloud Computing and Information Security. The first cohort of 30 students is expected to graduate next year.

At least 1,000 students have been trained by the lab since its establishment, Omuya said.

Franklin Mutisya, an instructor at the Luban Workshop at Machakos University, said the lab has been able to bridge the gap between academia and industry by integrating the new standards with the university curriculum.

He said the lab has also benefited the local community by offering short-term courses on the Internet of Things, data communication, cloud computing and related courses. The courses are evaluated through the Huawei Academy.

As China and Africa gather for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, Omuya hopes there will be discussions around expanding collaborations on the Luban Workshop, culture, technologies, computing, and engineering, among others, to promote China-Africa higher education collaborations.

Jiang Jiang, the Chinese head of the Luban Workshop in Ethiopia, said that before the establishment of the workshop in April 2021 in the country, only theoretical knowledge was taught, but now students have the opportunity to practice at the workshop, as well as access high-end training platforms in industrial automation to boost their practical skills.

The workshop has also helped to train senior technical staff from the industry to improve their skills. They also provide short-term training for the community.

It offers courses in industrial sensor technology, industrial control, mechatronics, and industrial robotics.

"The Luban Workshop hopes to cultivate a large number of qualified industrial automation talents for Ethiopia to fill the talent gap in the industrial field, help Ethiopia's scientific and technological development, and even export talents to other countries and regions in Africa," Jiang said.

To date, Jiang said the Luban Workshop in Ethiopia had organized 37 training programs at various levels and trained 1,673 local teachers and trainees, including 1,321 undergraduates, 137 master's degree students, and 215 key African teachers.

edithmutethya@chinadaily.com.cn