Although China is relieving the heavy burden of homework and after-school tutoring on students for school-age students, China is simultaneously encouraging and promoting vocational education. Vocational education is an important part of China's education system and human resources development. Vocational education bears the important responsibility of cultivating talents, inheriting technical skills and promoting employment and entrepreneurship according to the vocational education policies.
As China enters a new era of development, the role of vocational education is becoming more and more important. However, Vocational Education Law promulgated and implemented in 1996 is obviously unable to keep pace with the development of vocational education. In addition, many issues exist in current vocational education, such as the system construction, the lack of investment, the low quality of student resources and tutors. In this case, Vocational Education Law has been submitted to the National People's Congress Standing Committee for the first-time revision.
Besides, the Communist Party Central Committee and the State Council issued the Guidelines on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Modern Vocational Education (“Guidelines”) on October 12, 2021, to promote the stable development of vocational education. The new Implementing Regulations for the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Promotion of Private Education (“Private Education Regulations”) effective on September 1, 2021, also provides favorable policies for vocational education. Scope of Vocational Education Education can be divided into academic education, pre-school education, training for preparing self-study examinations and other cultural education, vocational qualification training and vocational skill training. Among them, vocational qualification training and vocational skills training generally refer to non-academic vocational education.
Academic education can be divided into compulsory education, senior high education, higher education (including undergraduate education and above education), secondary vocational and technical academic education and higher vocational and technical academic education.
Therefore, vocational education includes academic vocational education (secondary vocational and technical academic education and higher vocational and technical academic education) and non-academic vocational education (vocational qualification training and vocational skill training).
Guidelines to Improve the Social Status and Recognition of Vocational Education Currently, Chinese students generally enter senior high schools after completing compulsory education. Those who fail to enter senior high schools will choose to enter secondary vocational schools instead. The students who have completed senior high school education would enter higher education, and those who fail to enter higher education institutions will choose to enter higher vocational schools instead. Due to the low quality of vocational education and the small number of vocational schools, Chinese students and parents often treat vocational education as the “back-up”. Vocational education enjoys low social status and recognition in Chinese society, and therefore, it is unable to attract the capital to support the school running. The low quality of education and tutors has also led to the inability of vocational schools to acquire excellent student resources. Then, the above facts would again reduce the social status and recognition of vocational education.
However, vocational education and ordinary education are two different types of education with equal importance. Therefore, improving the status and recognition of vocational education is the way to break the awful situation. The Guidelines strengthens the characteristics of vocational education types from three aspects: Promote the coordinated development of vocational education and ordinary education, accelerate the establishment of the “vocational education college entrance examination system”, improve the “cultural quality + vocational skills” examination and enrollment policy and strengthen the theoretical research of vocational education.
Vigorously improve the quality of secondary vocational education, promote the improvement of higher vocational education, steadily develop vocational undergraduate education, design an integrated vocational education talent training system, and promote the connection of professional setting, training objectives, curriculum system and training programs of vocational education at all levels.
Strengthen the connection and link of ordinary education and vocational education at all levels and promote the mutual selection of courses and credit recognition between secondary vocational schools and senior high schools, higher vocational schools and the universities.
Guidelines to Encourage the Capitals to Invest in Vocational Education Encouraging the commercial investment for school running is also an effective measure to improve vocational education. The Guidelines put forward: Build a diversified school running pattern with the overall management of the government, active organization of enterprises and deep participation of social forces.
Encourage listed companies and leading enterprises to build vocational education schools and encourage all kinds of enterprises to participate in vocational education schools according to laws.
Encourage vocational schools to cooperate with the capitals to build vocational education infrastructure and training base, and jointly build and share public training base.
Private Education Regulations provide:
Articles of Private Education Regulations | | A government-run school that provides vocational education may, by attracting the capital, technology, management and other elements of enterprises, establish or participate in the establishment of for-profit privately-run schools that provide vocational education. | Private Education Regulations prohibit government-run schools from establishing or participating in the establishment of a for-profit privately-run school, with the exception of the government-run schools for vocational education. The “exception” would allow the capitals to invest in vocational education. | The State encourages enterprises to establish or participate in the establishment of any privately-run school that provides vocational education in accordance with law by way of a sole proprietorship, joint venture or cooperation. | The Chinese government encourages various types of investment, including foreign investment, to establish or participate in vocational education schools. | Any institution that carries out the examinations recognized by the State, such as educational examinations, vocational qualification examinations and vocational skill level examinations establishes or participates in the establishment of any privately-run school related to the examinations conducted by it shall comply with the relevant provisions of the State. | The previous Private Education Regulations prohibit institution that carries out the examinations from establishing or participating in the establishment of any privately-run school related to the examinations. It is easy to understand the reason why such institutions were prohibited in the past. The students in the affiliated schools may access the content of the examinations which would lead the examinations unfair. However, as mentioned above, the quality of vocational education is low, and the number of schools is small. If all such examination institutions are prohibited from running schools, it will obstruct the development of vocational education. |
Foreign Investment in Vocational Education China allows foreign investment in vocational education:
Special Administrative Measures (Negative List) for Foreign Investment Access in Pilot Free Trade Zones (Edition 2020) permit overseas institutions to establish vocational training institutions in China’s free trade zones without a domestic partner.
According to the Catalogue of Industries for Encouraging Foreign Investment, 10 provinces, such as Shanxi, Liaoning, Anhui, Henan, explicitly welcome foreign investment in vocational schools (including technical training schools) in their respective local investment catalogs. Gansu and Ningxia welcome foreign investment in secondary vocational schools (including technical training schools).
The draft of the new Vocational Education Law provides that foreign investment is allowed in the field of vocational education.
王晓磊 律师 教育与体育专业委员会 业务专长:外商投资、公司与并购、健康与生命科学、社会保障 chris.wang@mhplawyer.com 本微信公众号仅为提供信息之目的,不代表作者/君悦律师事务所的法律意见或对法律的解读,本文所包含的信息仅是作为一般性信息提供,作者/君悦律师事务所不对本文做日常性维护、修改或更新,故可能未反映最新的法律发展。任何仅仅依照本文的全部或者部分内容而做出的作为或不作为决定及因此造成的后果由行为人自行负责,如果您需要法律意见或其他专家意见,应当向具有相关资格的专业人士寻求专业的法律帮助。 |