The status of general education and vocational education is equal, not based on different educational levels. "Class" is "a category formed by things with common characteristics", while "level" is more manifested in the order of things with genus relationship, which is a category with different levels in the internal structure of the system composed of generic things.
Vocational education and general education are complementary rather than substitutes, and they should be relatively independent, combined horizontally and promoted each other. As a type of education, vocational education has its unique theoretical origin, policy requirements and operating mechanism, the law of the development of skill knowledge and ability, the complexity of the formation process of procedural knowledge and the diversity of sources, which inevitably require the types of skilled personnel training system, school-running system and mechanism, organizational management and methods. There are obvious differences between general education and vocational education. Compared with the theoretical requirements and academic laws of general education, application, technicality and professionalism are typical characteristics of vocational education. On the basis of the characteristics of application, technology and occupation, primary and secondary education, vocational ability enlightenment education, secondary vocational education and higher vocational education (higher vocational colleges, Universities of Applied Sciences, universities granting master's and doctor's degrees) present three-span characteristics, namely, spanning enterprises and schools, industry and education, and knowledge and technology. This requires taking vocational education as a type of education and forming an independent education system equivalent to general education.