China's technical vocational education training (TVET) reforms have continued to make progress over recent years, with the goal of aligning vocational education with the country's rapidly evolving economic landscape. The government recognises the crucial role of skilled workers in driving economic growth and has invested in enhancing the quality and relevance of TVET. More recently, further reforms have been implemented to promote industry-academia collaboration, modernise the curriculum, and increase accessibility to TVET.

New reforms initiated by the Chinese government in conjunction with the 20th CPC National Congress aim to cultivate a high-quality vocational education system that fosters co-ordination between government, industry, enterprises and academia through the establishment of industry-education consortiums at the provincial and municipal levels.

A significant aspect of China's TVET reforms involves the construction of practice centres that aim to improve the quality of vocational education through hands-on training and real-world experience. By 2025, approximately 300 national practice centres will be built, alongside provincial and municipal practice centres. Additionally, high-quality teaching resources, including textbooks, course materials and advanced teaching technology, will be provided. Furthermore, China plans to launch 30 vocational education standards, focusing on major subjects, teaching methodologies and internships.

Addressing the shortage of skilled workers in a number of technology and manufacturing sectors is one of the reforms' main goals. The first set of plans will be put into action by the Ministry of Education in the following five industries: aerospace technology, material engineering, defence, marine engineering and advanced rail transport technology.

China's TVET reforms will also aim to increase global recognition of vocational education within China. In order to achieve this, Chinese schools will introduce high-quality foreign vocational education resources and create collaborations with overseas institutions.

Source:

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/70kOxZZDIFZb5pk5sRVyxA 

Further study to inform the UK sector: call for participation in surveys

With this expansion in China's technical and vocational education system, foreign institutions may have increased opportunities to collaborate with Chinese technical and vocational institutions.

However, in order to take advantage of these opportunities, there first needs to be a deeper understanding of the needs of Chinese TVET institutions and as well as of current and upcoming trends in the internationalisation of the TVET sector.

The British Council therefore has commissioned the Beijing Foreign Studies University to undertake a study entitled Research into Models of TVET cooperation between the UK and China – Analysis and feasibility study. The insights will provide cutting edge intelligence and help the UK education sector understand and navigate the evolving TVET internationalisation landscape, as well as support UK institutions in identifying suitable partnership opportunities. The final research report will be shared and roundtable discussions and exploratory conversations conducted (organised by the British Council) to follow up on the findings and recommendations.

We invite you to be part of this research by participating in the following surveys: