Vocational grads in higher demand

The growing employment rate and monthly salary of Chinese higher vocational college graduates indicate that they are receiving more recognition and are much needed in society, vocational education experts said.

"We can see that the need for these vocational graduates is growing, as enterprises are changing their mind in recruiting," said Li Jin, chairman of National Joint Conference of Vocational Technical College Presidents.

"They tend to hire more higher vocational college graduates who have good practical abilities, because they believe these graduates are cheaper but can play a key role in the industry transformation and upgrading."

Li's remarks were made after an annual report on China's higher vocational education released on Tuesday said that the employment rate of higher vocational college students who graduated in 2013 reached 90.9 percent, 0.5 percentage points higher than that of 2012 and 1.1 percentage points higher than 2011.

It's only a little lower than the employment rate of 2013 college graduates, which is 91.4 percent according to the Chinese College Graduates' Employment Annual Report released by MyCOS in June.

The report on vocational education also said the average monthly salary of higher vocational college students who graduated in 2013 is 2,940 yuan ($474), up from 2,731 yuan in 2012 and 2,482 yuan in 2011.

The report polled more than 90,000 graduates from 1,000-plus higher vocational college across China.

It was compiled jointly by Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences and Beijing data firm MyCOS under the entrustment of National Joint Conference of Vocational Technical College Presidents.

The Chinese government has attached great importance to the development of vocational education.

At the State Council's executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang in late February, more attention, investment and policy were called for to support the development and modernization of vocational education.

Reforming vocational and technical education to adapt to social development and labor market demands is important for improving the employment rate of graduates, and upgrading the manufacturing and service sectors, according to a statement released after the meeting.

"I'm really glad to see that the employment rate of higher vocational college graduates has surpassed 90 percent and their average monthly salary has increasing," said Ma Shuchao, deputy director of the Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences.

"It indicates that the teaching quality of higher vocational colleges is progressing so that the graduates can find their right places in the job market," Ma said.

Wang Boqing, founder of MyCOS, said the 90-plus percent employment rate indicates that it's no longer a big problem for higher vocational college graduates to land a job.

"Under such circumstances, we should pay more attention to the teaching quality of higher vocational colleges, to enable the graduates to do better in their work," he said.