TVET Development: Reflecting on China's Education Reform Plan 2010-2020

1. Are We Ready for the New Round of TVET development？——based on China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020) Prof. Dr. Shi Weiping Dr. Kuang Ying Institute of Vocational and Technical Education East China Normal University Shanghai, China

2. 1. Background of the Plan 2. Brief Introduction of the Plan 3. Contents of TVET in the Plan 4. Comments and Discussion

3. China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020) was published on July 8th, 2010. • The plan is the first key document in 21st century which advances that China attains in the main her education modernization by the year of 2020. • This is an inevitable demand of China’s socio-economic development, the promotion of the international status, and the solution to the problems arising in education progress.

4. 1. Background of the Plan

5. 1.1 International situations and education development We are experiencing a new era which is characterized by 3 features: • Knowledge-based economy which has been a dominant economy in the world should be supported by millions of knowledgeable workers; • Internationalization which leads more cooperation and communication in all kinds of fields including education; • Informationization and network popularity has changed thoroughly in civil living style and social operation system。

6. To sum up • The quality of human resources is reflected as a more and more important factor by that 3 features of our world. • Human resources especially creative talents are inevitably becoming the priority of international competency. • Therefore, whether a country’s education can produce these human resources will determine the future of the country’s development.

7. 1.2 Domestic situations and education development 1.2.1 Demand of completing a lifelong education system and building a learning society • In China, we are in the progress of building a learning society. Learning needs to be organized on a different set of principles requiring a new learning system. • People not only learn during their student’s time but learn through their lives as well. It is necessary and urgent to completing a lifelong education system to provide all sorts of education service for all kinds of people with different ages, different situations and to meet different needs. • At that time, everyone will enter the learning system at anytime with any identification and get the appropriate education.

8. 1.2.2 Demand of sustainable economic growth • GDP in China has increased from 300 billion in 1980 to over 3,000,000 billion in 2009, nearly 86 times increase. • However, the economic growth in China cost a lot including resources consumption, environment damage, and cheap labor force. These cannot support a sustainable economic growth in the future year. • So we have to change our way of economic development --from relying on cheap labor force to skilled and qualified labor force, --from relying on high consumption of resources to high-tech advances, --from relying on investment and export to improving management.

9. 1.2.3 Demand of turning China into a country rich in human resources • strategic arrangement of the 17 Communist Party of China National Congress to “give priority to education and turn China into a country rich in human resources” • we have to enhance citizens’ overall quality, boost educational development in a scientific way, and speed up socialist modernization. • The future development and great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation are predicated on talents or professionals, and on education. • All those have highlighted the pressing need to enhance citizens’ quality and cultivate innovative personnel.

10. 1.2.4 Meeting the needs of people’s desire for education • After 30 years’ rapid development, China has popularized its compulsory education; • the enrollment rate of senior secondary education has reached 80%; the enrollment rate of higher education has been increased from 7% in 1995 to 24.2% in 2009; the average educating time has increased from 5.3 years to 9.5 years. • However, it is not enough though. Chinese people have more requirements for education including getting more opportunities to enjoy higher and more qualified education, richer and higher qualified education provision.

11. 2. Brief Introduction of the Plan

12. 2.1Procedure of Establishing the Plan • The establishment of the Plan was first discussed during 2007-2008. The whole procedure of establishing the Plan can be divided into 4 stages. • The first stage: comprehensive, from Aug. 2008 to Feb. 2009. The survey was divided for 11 key strategy topics and 36 sub-topics. • The second stage: drafting, from Mar. 2009 to Feb. 2010. The drafting group was composed of over 200 talents covering scholars, leaders, administrators, headmasters, presidents and teacher. • The third stage: asking the public for comments, from Feb. 28th 2010 to Mar. 28th 2010 • The last stage: revising, reviewing and approving, from Apr. 15th 2010 to Jun.

13. 2.2 Workload of Establishing Work The establishment of the Plan is a huge project. • 11 key strategy topic groups, including over 500 scholars and nearly 2000 people from different institutions • 14 related departments joined the whole procedure and cooperated with each other • Over 40 times of revision of the document • Over 1,800 meetings for discussion • Over 350,000 people joined the establishment • Over 4,600,000 comments for the Plan • Over 5 million words of survey reports

14. 2.3 Framework of the Plan The Plan is composed of 4 sections, 22 chapters, 70 terms and 27,000 words. • SECTION I: GENERAL STRATEGY CHAPTER 1: GUIDELINES AND EXECUTIVE PRINCIPLES CHAPTER 2: STRATEGIC GOALS AND THEMES. • SECTION II: DEVELOPMENT MISSIONS CHAPTER 3: PRESCHOOL EDUCATION CHAPTER 4: COMPULSORY EDUCATION CHAPTER 5: SENIOR MIDDLE SCHOOL EDUCATION CHAPTER 6: VOCATIONAL EDUCATION CHAPTER 7: HIGHER EDUCATION CHAPTER 8: FURTHER OR CONTINUING EDUCATION CHAPTER 9: EDUCATION FOR ETHNIC MINORITIES CHAPTER 10: SPECIAL EDUCATION

15. SECTION III: EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM REFORMS CHAPTER 11: REFORM OF CULTIVATION SYSTEM FOR TALENTS OR PROFESSIONALS. CHAPTER 12: REFORM OF EXAMINATIONS AND ENROLLMENT SYSTEMS CHAPTER 13: BUILDING A MODERN SCHOOL SYSTEM CHAPTER 14: REFORM ON SCHOOL‐RUNNING SYSTEM CHAPTER 15: REFORM OF EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM CHAPTER 16: FURTHER OPENING CHINA’S EDUCATION • SECTION IV: GUARANTEEING MEASURES CHAPTER 17: STRENGTHENING BUILDING OF THE TEACHERS’ CONTINGENT CHAPTER 18: ENSURING EDUCATION INPUT CHAPTER 19: ACCELERATING INFORMATIZATION IN EDUCATION CHAPTER 20: PROMOTING RULE OF LAW IN EDUCATION CHAPTER 21: MAJOR PROJECTS AND PILOT REFORM PROGRAMS CHAPTER 22: INTENSIFYING ORGANIZATION AND LEADERSHIP

16. 2.4 Strategic goals • The strategic goals to be attained by the year 2020 are to basically modernize education, bring a learning society into shape, and turn China into a country rich in human resources. • Further Popularize education. • preschool education-universalized • compulsory education-consolidated and enhanced • senior middle school education-90% gross enrolment rate • higher education-40% gross enrolment rate • Twenty percent of the working-age population shall have finished higher education by 2020, doubling that of 2009

17. 2. Delivering equal education to everyone. • 13.5 year of schooling for new labor force, and more than half of the working adults participating in continuing education each year. 3. Offering quality education in various ways.

18. 4. Building a consummate framework for lifelong education. • To build a lifelong learning system, with the integration of formal education with inform education, vocational education with general education, and initial education with in-service training. 5. Establishing a full-fledged, vibrant education system.

19. 3. Contents of TVET in the Plan

20. 3.1 TVET terms Chapter 6: Vocational Education • (14) Intensifying efforts in developing vocational education. • (15) Mobilizing the enthusiasm of industries and enterprises in vocational education. • (16) Speeding up vocational education development to meet the needs of rural areas. • (17) Making vocational education more appealing.

21. 3.2 TVET related terms (11) Accelerating popularization of senior middle school education. (13) Promoting diversification of senior middle schools. (53) Raising teachers’ professional efficiency. (57) Improving distribution mechanism

22. (66) Major projects to be organized and undertaken • Enhancing vocational education’s basic capacities • Developing education for ethnic minorities. • Providing financial aid for students from low-income families. • Developing national educational informatization. • International education exchanges and cooperation. (67) Pilot reform to be undertaken. • Pilot reform of operation modes of vocational education schools.

23. 3.3 Main development tasks and requirements 3.3.1 Speed up the universalizing of upper secondary education • At the upper-secondary education level, half of the student population should be in vocational schools and this proportion should be maintained in future. 3.3.2 Promote the development of diversified upper secondary education • To encourage general upper-secondary schools and comprehensive high schools to provide more vocational courses for their students and graduates who failed in their entrance examination to colleges for Vocational Education Particular

24. 3.3.3 Greatly develop vocational education • To develop vocational education is ---- an important way to promote economic development, to improve employment rate, to have a better life; ----a critical measure to relieve the tension between supply and demand in labor market; • So vocational education is priority among the priorities for national development.

25. 4. Comments and Discussion

26. The Plan aroused a new round reform of TVET in China. • There will be more changes in the field of vocational education focusing on the following aspects.

27. Comments 4.1 The Plan put forward more requirements for government and VET schools/colleges • Requirement for the Government • To include the vocational education into the planning of economic-social development and industrial development, enabling the size of vocational education, its major setting matched with the needs of economic-social development. • To increase the investment in vocational education, to create a multi-channel investment mechanism for vocational education. • To create the standard for vocational schooling • To improve the training facilities and teacher’s quality in vocational schools • To improve the qualification standard for vocational schools • To establish quality insurance system for vocational education • To get the industry involved for quality evaluation.

28. Requirement for Vocational Schools/Colleges • The main task is to serve the industry, to provide employment-oriented education and training by the way of reform, so as to improve the quality of vocational education. • School learning should be integrated with workplace learning, to establish internship, to be arranged by the partnership between schools and enterprise. • Initial vocational education should be integrated with in-service training, full-time along with the part-time. • School teachers integrated with master workers in the formation of vocational teaching forces.

29. 4.2 The Plan gives more emphasis on school and business partnership • To create mechanism for vocational schooling, with support from government, guidance from the industry, and involvement from the enterprises. • To establish a law and a national system to promote school-business cooperation in the delivery of vocational education and training. • School and Business Partnership • To encourage the industry and enterprises to run vocational schools • To encourage vocational schools to be involved in staff training in enterprises • To establish favorable policy to encourage enterprises to accept students and teachers for their job skill training and working experience.

30. 4.3 The Plan facilitates developing VET in rural areas • To enhance agriculture education • To enhance the training of new farmers • To enhance the training of new migrant workers from rural areas • By the way of cooperation with vocational schools in the city, integration with basic education, adult education in the rural villages, formation of network of vocational training from villages to town and up to county capital.

31. 4.4 The Plan tries to make TVET More Attractive • The Plan enhances the supporting policy for vocational education so as to make vocational education more attractive. • To introduce the system of free secondary vocational education step by step • To implement the policy of financial assistantship for vocational school students from poor families • To promote “double-qualification system” to integrating vocational school curriculum standard with the standard of vocational qualification • To improve “no job without training” system, to implement earnestly the policy of “training before employment” and “training before working” • To improve the continuing education system for vocational school graduates and widen the career pathway for them • To raise the social and economic status for skilled and high-skilled workers.

32. 4.5 The Plan improves the quality for vocational teaching forces • To train more “double-qualified teachers” (both in professional knowledge and job skills) • To improve the regulation of working experience practice for vocational school teachers • To reform the school staffing system, so as to introduce more master-workers with rich working experience to vocational schools/colleges as part-time teachers

33. 4.6 The Plan innovates the investment mechanism • For the upper secondary education, senior high schools to be invest by public funding • Investment in upper secondary education should be increased with the stronger government financial power. • While vocational schools to be funded by a multi-channel investment mechanism, which is formed in partnership with government, business sectors, big companies and other social partners.

34. 4.7 TVET in the Plan is mainly based on the needs of market instead of based on the development of students • The function of TVET is emphasized as a method to meet the needs of market, industries and economy. • Actually, TVET has its original function as a way to education qualified people and meet the needs of diverse TVET students. • The Plan covers less about the career development of TVET student; cares less about giving rich provision to meet individual needs and his/her career development. But it does act as a base to setting up a learning society.

35. 4.8 The Plan focuses more on vocational education, but less on technical education • When it talks about TVET, the Plan focuses more on vocational education which mainly improving skills. It is of importance in China. • But it is not enough. In China, we are going to build a creative country which needs more creative talents and personnel. Those human resources are not cultivated only by vocational education. The more important and relevant education in technical education. • The Plan should have taken more attention to how to develop technical education in China in the coming 10 years.

36. Discussion • The duration of the Plan is 10 years. In the Plan, we are ready to conduct a series of projects and issues about TVET in China. • It is really a huge blueprint which will benefit a large amount to China’s TVET, but we still bear some worries about the difficulties among the 10-year time period.

37. Are we ready for school-industry cooperation? --immature industries and enterprises --from employee-used to employee-developed --severe obstacle for cooperation • Are we ready for connecting TVET with salary series? --Building a uniformed NQF which can change the status of TVET thoroughly --Can Dept. of Edu & Dept. of HR and Social Security hand-in-hand to solve the problem?

38. Are we ready for reforming TVET as a system? --upgrading TVET level and setting up diplomas and degrees for majors not only for academics • Are we ready for achieving the goals within 10 years?   --too many tasks, they are related to each other. --shall we pick up the most important ones which affect TVET nowadays most?

39. Thank you!