A group of 18 vocational high school teachers and students from Muzha Vocational High School (木柵高工) and Da-An Vocational High School (大安高工), both located in Taipei, took part in study visit to Toronto, Montréal, and Ottawa from July 15 to July 29, the first of its kind. Their trip was arranged by the Taipei City Department of Education to enhance the professional knowledge and skillsets of Taiwan’s teachers and students, and help them nurture a global vision. The group included students who won awards in skills competitions, and during their visit, the students stayed in a school dormitory to experience the life of Canadian students.

Their courses were conducted at Sheridan College and nearby industry workplaces—for example, courses in smart mechanical engineering—and then at Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology in the capital, Ottawa.

The program at Sheridan College was arranged by its Robotics Centre and the focus was on learning about Canada’s precision machining and innovative smart manufacturing. This included advanced mechanical processes, 3D printing, optical modeling, metal welding and smart robot operation applications.

The college encouraged the visiting students to ask questions and not be afraid of making mistakes. It encourages students to feel free to try operating the equipment and not worry about damaging something that they are unfamiliar with, because they have come there to learn. This was very exciting and the students were impressed with the college’s giant machines, smart robotic arms and other advanced teaching equipment, as well as the CNC (computer numerical control) machine tools, such as lathes and milling machines. The college gave the students and the teachers accompanying them a better understanding of the scope of smart machine manufacturing and its future trends.

Winston Wen-yi Chen (陳文儀), the Representative at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Canada, thanked the Department of Education of the Taipei City Government for attaching importance to vocational education and providing students with opportunities to go on international study tours. This first group of vocational high school teachers and students to travel to Canada to take such a program called in at TECO in Canada while they were in Ottawa.

Winston Chen assured the group that he was committed to continuing to assist the organizing of future exchanges and cooperation with schools in Canada, to benefit more vocational high school students. He believes that this first visiting group of students will have a broader global vision after visiting Canada, and he encouraged them to stay highly motivated, and to be confident about their future professional studies.

This first of its kind study visit by a group of Taiwan’s vocational high school teachers and students was very successful and everyone involved looks forward to engaging in more vocational and technical education cooperation.