China sees rise in higher vocational institutions: report

BEIJING - China has added nearly 100 vocational colleges between 2015 and 2019, including 15 that offer bachelor degrees in relevant majors, China Education Daily reported May 25.

Compared with the number in 2015, students in such vocational colleges had increased by over 2.32 million, the newspaper said, citing an annual report on China's vocational education in 2020.

The report was compiled by a team led by the National Institute of Education Sciences, entrusted by the country's Ministry of Education.

Quality vocational courses at the national level had reached 2,978 in 2019, up 37.87 percent from 2016, while such provincial-level courses came in at 15,080, climbing 25.5 percent during the same period, according to the report.

The recent years have also witnessed a significant improvement of facilities at the country's vocational institutions, both in terms of totality and the per-student dimension, said the newspaper, noting a strong momentum in the resources input, financial support and faculty build-up.

Noticeable progress has been made in improving the student-teacher ratio in vocational institutions, said the newspaper, adding that the faculty members boast increasingly robust educational backgrounds.

According to the report, students in such institutions exude a positive attitude regarding the education they have attained, with satisfaction rates among relevant graduates staying above 93 percent in recent years.