context: The vocational training market is thriving due to booming demand for blue-collar workers. Vocational college graduates often find employment more readily than university graduates. Yet, secondary vocational schools grapple with student recruitment challenges, forcing many to close.
The number of secondary vocational schools has been declining annually since 2009, according to MoE (Ministry of Education). From 2013-22, the number of secondary vocational schools decreased by a total of 3,039, with a cumulative reduction of 1.093 million students enrolled. There are two reasons for the decrease
- the 14th 5-year plan stipulates integrating schools that lack resources and reputation
- secondary vocational schools have a series of issues, including
- training has yet to be aligned with demand; hence, students currently trained do not yet meet industry requirements
- while jobs demand vocational college or university-level degrees, secondary vocational school students have difficulty accessing higher-level vocational education
- shortage of teachers
Consequently, secondary vocational students struggle to fulfil blue-collar job requirements. As basic assembly roles diminish, technical positions increasingly call for candidates with advanced vocational education, says Yao Yang 姚洋 Peking University National Development Research Institute dean. Yao indicates students either start working at the age of 16 or continue to university because ‘secondary vocational education seems to have reached a dead-end.’
Yao's claim is supported by data. Approximately 50-60 percent of vocational school students advance to higher education, leading to recruitment challenges for companies. A 2020 national survey by Peking University's Institute of Educational Finance revealed that only 35 percent of about 20,000 secondary vocational school graduates joined the workforce.
Vocational colleges increased by 192 from 2013-22. Yet Xiong Bingqi 熊丙奇 21st Century Education Research Institute director anticipates that declining school-age populations will lead to the closure of lower-quality vocational colleges. Xiong underscores the importance of improving vocational education quality and countering its negative perceptions, advising against an exclusive emphasis on university education.