Chinese Higher Vocational Education Development and Reform

Abstract

Education researchers have examined whether innovative education and training initiatives might assist in promoting a nation's economic growth. A focus upon Chinese higher vocational education (CHVE) offers an opportunity to study these factors, as CHVE plays an important role in China's educational, economic, and social development. The role of CHVE is to contribute a skilled workforce to the knowledge economy; however, it faces challenges from cultural traditions, teaching/curriculum, and funding issues. The question of how CHVE might better serve social and economic development is of concern to both the nation and government because it is associated with the nation's future economic reform. Through analysis of government policy, the author discusses the development of CHVE as having four major stages with different policy emphases. The new policy reform addresses movement towards optimization of teaching/curriculum, development of decentralization/localization, improvement of industry cooperation, and enhancement of internationalization.