Organized by the Ameson Foundation and with support from the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education, the Jiangsu Vocational Education International Forum was held in Changzhou from June, 12 to 14, 2006.
More than 500 experts and governmental officials attended the forum. The participants include Mr. Wang Zhan, Vice Chairman of Jiangsu People's Congress; Huang Yao, Director of Vocational and Adult Education, Ministry of Education; Mr. Zhou Jiqiu, Deputy General Director of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education; Prof. Sean Zhang, the Deputy Chairman of the Ameson Foundation; Mr. Tang Qian, Assistant Deputy Secretary-General of UNESCO; Mr. Bernard Hugonnier, Deputy Director for Education, OECD; Dr. Alan Bersin, the Education Secretary of California; Mr. David Taylor, former Director of Inspection, in Ofsted, UK; Mr. Scott Flavell, Director-general of the Queensland Department of Employment and Training; Mr. Craig Sherrin, Director of Southbank Institute, Queensland; Mr. Carlito Schroeder, Hanns Seidel Foundation; Mr. Zhou Yayu, vice director of Changzhou Municipal People’s Congress; Mr. Hans Eberhand Trowe, Capacity Building International (INWENT); Mr. Jiang Dayuan , research fellow of Vocational Education Center, Ministry of Education. In addition, around 200 representatives from the circle of vocational education in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Anhui Provinces also took part.
Prof. Sean Zhang addressed at the opening ceremony Ameson’s pleasure of holding the forum. He expressed that he hoped the participants would not only exchange thoughts about international vocational education, but also share their opinions on vocational education particularly in Changzhou. In addition, it is also an opportunity to promote communication and collaboration about vocational education between China and the international community.