Vocational schools power labor source of modern manufacturing

Vocational education institutions supplied more than 70 percent of China’s newly employed front-line workers in modern manufacturing, strategic and emerging industries, and modern services in the past five years.

Roughly 10 million technical and skilled personnel have been trained each year by vocational colleges and schools, which offer programs in more than 1,200 specialties, according to figures on vocational education during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020) released yesterday by the Ministry of Education.

China has 11,500 vocational schools with 28.57 million students, said ministry official Chen Ziji.

Secondary vocational schools registered 6 million new enrolments, accounting for 41.7 percent of senior secondary schools. Institutes of higher vocational education had 4.83 million, or 52.9 percent of total college and university enrolments.

More than 70 percent of students in vocational colleges and schools come from rural areas, underlining their role in stopping poverty from being passed on to the next generation.

More than 90 percent of students in secondary vocational schools are exempt from tuition fees, and over 40 percent receive financial aid. China is also working with over 70 countries and international organizations and more than 400 of higher vocational schools are cooperating with their overseas counterparts.