New Law

"China's economy and society have undergone tremendous changes in the past 26 years, and the introduction of the newly revised vocational education law is a matter of celebration." After the introduction of the Vocational Education Law on April 20, Sheng Song, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said in an interview with reporters that it was necessary to overhaul the original Vocational Education Law. The introduction of the new law will help break the "ceiling" of vocational education development and build a "bridge" for multi-level development.

The anxiety about education caused by the low level of vocational education

Stephen is an engineer and has experience working in both enterprises and universities, so he is especially concerned about the development of vocational education and the cultivation of high-quality skilled talents. In his opinion, the lack of undergraduate level has always led to the low ceiling of vocational education students' development, and their social status and attractiveness have always been unattractive. The compulsory education stage also has an obvious pressure-boosting effect. On the other hand, although there are high-level education systems such as master's degrees in engineering and doctorate in engineering, the absence of vocational education undergraduates coupled with the generalized academic orientation of general undergraduate colleges and universities has led to an unsound education chain of applied and skilled talents.

"In 2014, the State Council held a national vocational education work conference to put forward 'exploring the development of undergraduate level vocational education. However, due to the lack of unified understanding of relevant departments over the years, the path is not clear and the concerted promotion is not effective, resulting in the development at the practical level has been relatively slow, with some specific policies lagging from constraints." : Stephen said that during the period when the whole society cannot effectively change its value orientation towards academic diplomas, vocational education is still restricted to below bachelor's degree as a whole, which will not have an effective effect on the candidates, parents and even the whole society to change their supporting attitude towards vocational education.

In 2006, Stephen, in his capacity as a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) of a province, publicly called for a trial run of undergraduate vocational education in the media. After serving as a member of the CPPCC National Committee, he continued to call for this issue. "Even in a province like a province with an urgent demand for highly skilled personnel for economic development and a high level of vocational education development, the proportion of undergraduate level vocational education enrollment in undergraduate enrollment in 2021 is only about 1%." Based on the research, during the 2022 National People's Congress, Stephen specifically recommended "accelerating the development of vocational undergraduate education and making up for the shortcomings of the vocational education system.

The new law breaks the "ceiling" of students' development

Stephen is pleased that the newly revised Vocational Education Law has broken new ground on these issues. "The newly revised text of the Vocational Education Law has been revised from more than 3,400 words in the current law to more than 10,000 words, which is more enriched and comprehensive." Sheng Song said, the new law makes it clear that vocational education is a type of education with the same importance as general education; emphasizes the need to establish a sound vocational education system, and promotes the integration and integration of vocational education and general education; improves the system and measures for the protection of vocational education, creates a favorable development environment, and makes efforts to enhance the social recognition of vocational education, etc. These provisions are very important for promoting the reform of the existing vocational education system and optimizing the entire national education ecology These provisions are of great importance to promote the reform of the existing vocational education system and optimize the whole national education ecology.

For example, the training goal of vocational education is no longer limited to "cultivating practical talents and skilled workers" but "cultivating high quality technical and skilled talents"; it is no longer mentioned that "the focus of education is on post-secondary education"; the diversion of education stages is no longer mentioned. It is no longer mentioned that "post-secondary education is the focus of education stream"; instead, it is mentioned that "it is a type of education with the same importance as general education" and "vocational education and general education are integrated and different levels of vocational education are effectively connected"; vocational education can be run at Undergraduate and higher levels. For example, the relevant article reads "higher vocational education shall be implemented by higher vocational schools and general higher education schools at the specialist, undergraduate, and higher education levels"; the new law opens an important ceiling for graduates of vocational education above the undergraduate level through "the possibility of applying for corresponding degrees according to the law". The new law has opened up an important ceiling for VET graduates above the bachelor's degree level through "the possibility to apply for the corresponding degree according to the law"; it has incorporated technical schools into the category of higher vocational schools, "according to the provisions of the system of setting up higher vocational schools, the qualified technical colleges will be incorporated into the sequence of higher vocational schools"; the new law has given a new and important positioning to VET run by enterprises, which is no longer limited to training the internal personnel of the enterprises, as the new law states that "The state plays the important role of enterprises as the main body of schooling, promotes the in-depth participation of enterprises in vocational education, and encourages enterprises to organize high-quality vocational education"; and establishes an examination and enrollment system in line with the characteristics of vocational education, etc.

"The most important point is that the new law reflects the importance the state attaches to the vocational education cause." : Stephen analyzed article by article against the legal provisions: for example, establishing a coordinating body at the direct level of the State Council, "the state takes measures to improve the social status and treatment of technically skilled personnel" "the second week of May every year is the vocational education activity week" "appropriate subsidies concerning relevant funding standards and support policies such as per capita funding of similar public schools at the same level" "vocational school students enjoy equal opportunities with students of ordinary schools at the same level in terms of further education, employment, and career development" and other aspects, these initiatives will help to improve the level of vocational education and social development environment.

Increase the interpretation and propaganda to guide the community to understand vocational education scientifically

At present, China's vocational education has 11,300 vocational schools with over 30 million students. However, for a long time, prejudices against vocational education such as "vocational education are inferior" and "vocational education students are hard to find jobs" have appeared from time to time, and a relatively fixed social perception of vocational education has been formed.

In Stephen's opinion, it is crucial to implement the new law, change the status quo and guide society to understand the educational value and social function of vocational education scientifically. "From a certain perspective, the old law, although relatively simple, actually does not essentially have many specific restrictive provisions affecting the development of vocational education, that is, many of the existing problems of vocational education are not caused by the constraints of the old law, but are confined to the traditional concepts and management habits." : Stephen said, for example, "For example, the old law does not stipulate that undergraduate vocational education cannot be run, but the lack of undergraduate and higher vocational education has seriously affected the soundness and social attractiveness of the vocational education system, etc. So it is still very important to establish a sound VET system while strengthening guidance and changing people's discriminatory ideas about vocational education."

"At present, China has built the world's largest vocational education system, and as China enters a new stage of development, industrial upgrading and economic restructuring continue to accelerate, the demand for technically skilled personnel in various industries is becoming more and more urgent." As an engineering educator, Stephen especially suggested that after the introduction of the new law, first of all, it is necessary to increase publicity, guide governments, and leading cadres at all levels to change traditional concepts, truly recognize the value orientation of the new law, accelerate the implementation of the newly revised vocational education law, so that the actual policies and initiatives to guide the general public in society to change their perceptions so that the recognition of vocational education and social status has improved He is also convinced that the reality of social development is that there is a need for vocational education. He is also convinced that the real demand for social development and the escort of the newly revised vocational education law will promote a new look at vocational education in China, and the important status and role of vocational education will be more and more prominent.