More than 130 million people have graduated from vocational schools and colleges in China since September 1996, according to a report from the top legislator Monday.
Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, told the bimonthly session of the legislature that vocational schools and colleges have become the main training ground for technical workers.
China has about 13,300 vocational schools and colleges, with 30 million students. In 2014, there were about 18 million students in secondary vocational schools, compared with 12.7 million in 1996. The number of students enrolled at vocational colleges stood at 10 million last year, compared to 1.23 million in 1996.
Along with the increasing number of students, investment in vocational education has expanded in the past 19 years. According to the report, annual spending rose from 114 billion yuan (then about 14.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2006 to 345 billion yuan (about 57 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013, an increase of 17 percent per year.
A project initiated in 2009 to exempt some students at secondary vocational schools from tuition fees has benefited 34.6 million people. In the 19 years since the law on vocational schools and colleges was introduced, more than 200 million people have participated in evaluations of vocational skills, with about 160 million obtaining certificates.
Among those who earned certificates, about 1.47 million were as senior technicians, the most skilled workers, and some 6 million were as technicians.
Since 2006, vocational education in rural, poverty-stricken or ethnic minority areas has greatly improved. More than 40 million people from rural areas received vocational training in the past decade.
Training for the disabled was also included in the vocational education plan. In the northwestern province of Gansu alone, the government has set up 31 training centers for the group in the past five years, with 21,000 people having studied at the centers.
From March to May this year, Zhang led a team who held seminars with headmasters, teachers and human resources officials at about 70 institutions, training centers and enterprises on how to improve teaching, the first time the NPC Standing Committee had organized an event. Problems unearthed included unstable levels of investment and lack of experienced teachers.
WHY VOCATIONAL EDUCATION MATTERS
Zhang said training skilled technicians did not only help young people secure better jobs, but also helped international competitiveness.
Vocational education is important to the "Made-in-China 2025" plan to reform the manufacturing sector and change the reputation of "Made-in-China" goods.
Often dubbed the factory of the world, China earned the title at the expense of the environment, with many manufacturers describing their production processes as dull, dirty and dangerous. "Made-in-China 2025" lays out strategies for switching from low-end manufacturing to more value-added production, with domestic manufacturers expected to make technological breakthroughs in a number of emerging industries from numerical control tools and robotics to aerospace equipment and new energy vehicles.
The bimonthly session of the top legislature runs from June 24 to July 1.
