On April 20, NPUST held a “commencement of training” ceremony for the 41st Overseas Youth Vocational Training School. This year 25 new students—coming from Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Malaysia—were recruited into the program which will focus on Plant Industry and Precision Tropical Agriculture.
NPUST’s president, Chang-Hsien Tai, delivered a speech at the ceremony, stating: “NPUST has many outstanding teachers and a wealth of interdisciplinary resources. You can take advantage of the valuable opportunity these afford you during the two years you will spend here exploring and learning together—then bring Taiwan’s agriculture technology back to the countries where you reside”.
The dean of the Office of International Affairs, Pomin Li, also made a speech, saying that “NPUST’s Overseas Youth Vocational Training School has already trained many outstanding students from Malaysia in many different sectors. You also can take advantage of the time you spend here, working hard at your studies and developing strong networks with the people you meet –learning together and sharing with one another”.
The director of the Department of Plant Industry, Prof. Horng-Liang Lay, said “we have planned out many relevant courses and are training the young students so they will have professional knowledge and applied skills in agriculture. We hope that when they complete their studies and return home they will be able to make real-world or academic contributions for their countries.”
The Overseas Youth Vocational Training School was launched by the (ROC) Overseas Community Affairs Council in 1963 and over the years NPUST has coordinated with it by offering programs and bringing in students from abroad to learn professional skills and knowledge. The 41st Class of the Training School will be the last batch of students before the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee reconstitutes it into an associate degree program. Many of the students commented that they know it is the last offering of the Vocational Training School and so they were determined to come to Taiwan to learn about agriculture technology so that they would be able to return home and make contributions to their home communities and demonstrate their talent.
