Vocational education to get boost

Premier Li Keqiang chaired a working symposium on employment, where measures to stabilize employment were deployed, on Aug 19 in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province.

Governors from Heilongjiang, Hebei, Shandong, Hunan, and Shaanxi shared their opinions at the symposium, and officials from 10 ministries, including Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, attended the symposium.

Setting the goal of expanding enrollment in vocational colleges this year, the meeting said that under the current situation, more than 2,000 technical colleges nationwide should play a bigger role in enrollment expansion and get integrated into the unified local enrollment platforms.

The decision was made right after Premier Li paid a visit to Mudanjiang Technical Institute before the meeting.

Premier Li said China has a huge gap in technical talent, and more than 2,000 technician schools could play a significant role in the field.

In addition to training in high-end skills, the schools should be more accessible to most families, he said.

To some extent, Premier Li said, vocational education and training are public products, and the government, enterprises, and society should play their respective roles to resolve structural issues in employment and push China's manufacturing and service industries to the medium and high end, Premier Li said.