News Centre Media Response Background Timetable Photo Gallery Webcast About Tianjin  Home  Chinese(GB)  
 
41.As a national vocational technical education reform experimental zone, Tianjin pioneers a characteristic route to the combination of work and study
http://www.tj-summerdavos.cn    2008-09-19 11:53

“The 2008 Vocational Skills Competition of NationalTechnical Vocational Colleges” was heldin June in Tianjin. More than 3,000 contestantsparticipated in the competition. All of themwere from 37 provinces, autonomous regions,municipalities directly under the Central Government,cities directly under state planning andXingjiang Production & Construction Corps.

The business arena kept a close eye on thecompetition. Nearly 1000 enterprises cameto the competition, 20 of which were amongWorld Top 500 companies. Tianjin has takenvocational education reform experiment as animportant task and decided to hold annual VocationalSkills Competition among all the technicalvocational colleges in China since 2008.

Vocational Skills Competition can help createa situation, in which “the College entranceexamination is for general education, whilevocational skills competition is for vocationaleducation”. This answers to the need that vocationaleducation should adapt to the newtrend of economic and social development.Vocational Skills Competition is also an essentialinnovation of Chinese education system.In 2007, secondary vocational colleges enrolled8.1 million students, resembling the enrollmentscale of senior high schools. The number ofstudents of higher vocational education reached8.61 million, half that of general higher education.The employment rate of graduates fromhigher vocational colleges is over 96 percent.

As the origin of Chinese vocational education,Tianjin has pioneered a route to the combinationof work and study with Tianjin characteristics.In 2005, the Ministry of Education joinedhands with Tianjin Municipal Government,signing an agreement of Establishing a ReformExperimental Region of National VocationalEducation, and confirming five experimentssuch as deepening the reform of vocationaleducation system.

In August 2007, the two parties came to termson eight issues such as the establishment ofBinhai New Area Training Bases for TechnicallyDemanded Learners, annual Vocational SkillsCompetition of National Technical VocationalColleges and promoting the system of obtainingemployment admittance.

At present, in Tianjin, there have been 25 vocationalcolleges recognized as Key MunicipalDemonstrative Vocational, 33 training basesawarded Key Construction Projects and 2higher vocational colleges admitted into NationalDemonstrative Schools. In addition, 93enterprises including Tianjin Pipe Corporationhave been selected as the First External TrainingBases for vocational colleges in Tianjin.

Moreover, Tianjin furthers the reform of vocationaleducation system by establishing 10different vocational educational groups in industrialorganizations, urban communities andrural counties, which ensures close combinationof vocational education and economic development.Nowadays, 50 percent of secondaryvocational colleges and 85 percent of higher vocationalcolleges are set up by industrial enterprises.More than 94 percent of newly employedworkers graduate from vocational colleges.

In Tianjin, vocational education is consideredas an important pillar of economic & socialdevelopment and a main approach of improvingthe quality of workers. The Government willput great efforts in creating innovative ways oftalent cultivation and exploring the developmentpath of vocational education with Tianjincharacteristics.

As far back as Westernization Movement,“Promoting the simultaneous development ofwork and study” had become an indispensabletheory to start business or set up schools. Afterthe founding of People’s Republic of China,“work-study” program carried out in Tianjinby the State had exerted great influence onnational vocational education. In the wake ofChinese reform and opening up, Tianjin hadpioneered a route to the combination of workand study with local characteristics.


From:Enorth.com.cn    Editor: Zhao Jing
 
Preparatory & Coordination Committee of Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2008