In Feb. 1979, Tianjin Normal Technical College was founded on the basis of Tianjin Labor Bureau Technical School and Tianjin 5th Machine Tool Plant in an effort to meet the demand for vocational teachers. Approved by Hua Guofeng, premier of the State Council, Deng Xiaoping, vice premier and other 14 heads of state, the school was sponsored by the former State Administration of Labor. (State Administration of Labor, Ministry of Education (79), Labor and Personnel File No. 7, Education Program File No. 51)
In Nov. 1983, having approved by Ministry of Labor and Personnel, the school was renamed as Tianjin College of Vocational Technology and Education. （Labor and Personnel File No. 61﹝1983﹞）；
In Feb. 2000, as approved by the General Office of the State Council, the school began to be co-sponsored by central and local authorities, mainly by local authorities. (File No. 11 issued by the General Office of the State Council﹝2000﹞)
In May, 2004, approved by the Ministry of Education, the school was renamed as Tianjin College of Technology and Education. (File No. 75, issued by the Ministry of Education, 2004)
In March 2010, as approved by the Ministry of Education, the school was renamed Tianjin University of Technology and Education. (File No. 30, issued by the Ministry of Education, 2010)
In March 2012, Ministry of Education and Tianjin Municipal Government signed an official agreement to co-sponsor Tianjin University of Technology and Education.
Founded in 1979, Tianjin University of Technology and education (TUTE) is the first normal university in China to produce vocational teachers. The school was sponsored by the former Ministry of Labor until 2000 when it began to be sponsored by state and local authorities, mainly by the latter. In March 2010, the school was renamed as Tianjin University of Technology and Education. In March 2012, Ministry of Education and Tianjin Municipal Government signed an official agreement to co-sponsor TUTE.
TUTE covers an area of more than 800,000 m2 with a construction area of over 470,000 m2. 1,7000 full-time students are studying on campus. TUTE has a strong and distinctive faculty, 50.25% of which are professors or associate professors. Teachers with technical qualifications make up 70% of those with double certificates. TUTE has 11 national experiment demonstration units (Engineering Training Center) and training centers, 160 training laboratories, 5 innovation bases and advanced laboratory and training equipment worth 0.291 billion Yuan. The value of equipment per student ranks in the forefront of universities in China
TUTE has 7 disciplines, namely engineering, education, science, management, economics, literature and art. It has a postdoctoral workstation, a first-level discipline master’s program, a professional degree program and 38 bachelor’s programs in which 6 are key subject namely: mechanical manufacturing education, automotive maintenance engineering education, electrical technology education, electronic information engineering, vocational and technical education management, and computer science and technology. The postdoctoral workstation is co-established with Tianjin No. 1 Machine Tool Works. TUTE boasts four provincial key subjects (i.e. education, mechanical engineering, transportation engineering, control science and engineering), and 5 school-level key subjects, and 1 school-level key development subject. In terms of laboratories, TUTE has established 2 provincial key laboratories (i.e. High-speed Cutting and Precision Machining Laboratory, Information Sensing and Intelligent Control Laboratory), 1 provincial key technology engineering center (i.e. Fieldbus Control Technology Engineering Center) and 1 provincial humanities and social science key research base (i.e. Pedagogic and Vocational Abilities Research Center).
TUTE sticks to the educational philosophy of “combining theoretic studies with hands-on training to achieve all-round development”. Since 1990s, a new mode has been initiated to produce talents. Integrated vocational teachers have been produced by double-certificate system. (Double-certificate refers to the diploma and a national vocational qualification certificate that the students receive upon graduation. Integrated teachers refer to the students’ capacities of being able to offer theoretical courses as well as guiding professional skills training). In 1996, bachelor students with national senior vocational qualification certificates graduated from TUTE, making the school take the lead in producing such talents. TUTE received 1st prize of national teaching achievements twice. In 2003, bachelor students with national technician vocational qualification certificates graduated from TUTE. In 2006, TUTE was rated as excellent in the undergraduate teaching assessment conducted by the Ministry of Education. In 2009, TUTE received three 1st prizes of Tianjin Teaching Achievements Awards with the project of “Skills, application and innovation centered, improving the quality of talents cultivation”.
In the past 5 years, students from TUTE took part in many contests namely National Electronic Design for College Students, mathematical modeling, engineering training capability, “Challenge Cup” National Extracurricular Academic, Science and Technology Works Competition for College Students, to name just a few, winning 15 national first prizes, 40 second prizes, 4 third prizes; in local contests, TUTE has won 1 grand prize, 130 first prizes, 194 second prizes, 255 third prizes, 223 outstanding awards. Up to now, TUTE has produced over 30,000 vocational teachers who are favorably received by their employers. The employment rate of TUTE has always been taking the lead among universities in Tianjin.
Vocational Education Institute, African Vocational Education Research Center are among the 38 research institutes in TUTE. Over the past 5 years, TUTE has undertaken 191 national and provincial projects, namely National 863 Project, National Natural Science Foundation Project, National Science and Technology Key Project, National SME Innovation Foundation, National Social Science Foundation Project, Humanities and Social Science Foundation Project by Ministry of Education, science and technology project by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, National Education Planning Projects etc. Achievements in the projects include 38 national and provincial awards, 8 authorized patents, 59 new utility patents, 30 software copyright registrations, 27 monographs. Journal of Tianjin University of Technology and Education and Vocational Education Research are school journals which have been rated as first class journals in Tianjin. Vocational Education Research have been winning first prizes in National Vocational Education Journals Competition for many years in a row.
Approved by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, TUTE has been rated among the first schools as 13 training bases, namely “National Key Vocational Teachers Training Base”, “National Vocational and Technical Teachers Training Base”, “National Vocational Teachers Training Base”, “National Highly Skilled Talent Training Base”, “Foreign Aid Base of Ministry of Education” to name just a few. (TUTE led the first 3 projects.) TUTE is the leading body of Vocational Teachers Committee of China Vocational and Technical Education Society, Normal Vocational and Technical School Union, Degree and Postgraduate Education Society and the executive leading body of Vocational Guidance Committee. Over the past 5 years, TUTE organized and hosted vocational and technical contests i.e. National Vocational and Technical Contest for Technical Schools, Tianjin Electric and Electronic Vocational Skills Contest for Secondary Vocational Schools. TUTE also provides technical support and evaluation for Tianjin CNC Skills Contest, National Vocational and Technical Contest organized by China Youth League, State-owned Key Enterprises, SASAC etc., fully displaying the vocational and technical abilities of the faculty and students of TUTE.
As the first foreign aid base approved by the Ministry of Education, TUTE has made remarkable achievements in foreign aid in Africa. In the past 5 years, TUTE sent 123 person-time to teach in Ethiopia, Tanzania and other countries, training nearly 10,000 students. In 2008, in accordance with the agreement between the Ministries of Education of Ethiopia and China, commissioned by the Ministry of Education of China, TUTE undertook the teaching and administration of Ethiopia-China Vocational and Technical College which was selected as one of the “China-Africa 20+20 Cooperation Projects”. TUTE established the first Confucius Institute in Ethiopia i.e. Addis Ababa Confucius Institute, 3 Chinese language centers in Addis Ababa University, Awassa University and Marquette University where Chinese culture is vigorously promoted. In recent years, cooperation and communications is conducted with universities in the US, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and Australia etc. TUTE also recruits students with Chinese Government Scholarship. International undergraduate and graduate students currently studying in TUTE come from Ukraine, Mongolia, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Vietnam etc.
At present, with the reputation of “the cradle of vocational teachers in China”, TUTE is a leading university in vocational and technical education at home and an influential normal polytechnic university in the world. TUTE will accelerate its reform and development to further explore new modes of education and strive to live up to its reputation.
