1. Establish the important position of higher vocational education in the higher education system and adhere to the characteristics of higher vocational education.
As a type of higher education, higher vocational education should not only have the commonness of higher education, but also adhere to its own characteristics, so that its existence is necessary and its development is vital. In modern society, people's division of labor is more and more detailed, and the demand for talents is multi-type and pyramid-shaped. The distinction between technical talents and skilled talents, which occupy the main part of the pyramid, is mainly based on the intellectual component of labor. The former emphasizes mastering theory and technology and creating skills. The latter emphasizes mastering experience and skills.
According to the above training objectives, in the process of personnel training, we should adhere to the following characteristics:
First, professional setting. The specialty setting of higher vocational education is not aimed at disciplines, but at professional posts or post groups. Because the discipline is relatively stable and the professional posts are ever-changing and changing with each passing day, it is necessary to set up the specialty flexibly in combination with this change. According to the declaration of the World Conference on Higher Education, college graduates "will no longer be job seekers, but first become job creators". To run higher vocational education well, we should be good at discovering new social needs, new professional posts or post groups, and set up new majors accordingly.
Second, the content of education. Vocational education is an education system based on ability. The former State Education Commission once proposed that the theoretical study of higher vocational education should be based on the principle of "necessity and sufficiency" and determined according to the needs of professional posts. Attach importance to the important role of practical teaching in higher vocational education, highlight the pertinence of higher vocational education, and design courses according to the post requirements of future employment.
Third, the faculty. Teachers are the key to realize the teaching plan of higher vocational education. We should vigorously cultivate a "double-qualified" team that understands both theory and practice, including hiring a large number of part-time teachers with practical experience and high cultural level in society. This will not only make teaching closer to reality, but also make it easier to adjust majors, reduce training costs and bring the relationship between schools and society closer.
2. Establish a lifelong education system with vocational education as the mainstream, level connection and category communication.
It is necessary to reform the education system of "single-plank bridge" and "one education for life". Practice has proved that there is only a "single-plank bridge" in higher education in ordinary colleges and universities, which is not conducive to the majority of young people to choose the road to success according to their own conditions and potential, and to mobilizing people to give full play to their wisdom and contribute to socialist construction. It is necessary to pave the way for young people to learn and become talents, so that everyone can choose according to their own situation. It is necessary to get rid of the theory of learning and career stages, get rid of the concept that one education is lifelong, and establish a lifelong education system.
3. Develop private colleges and broaden the development path of higher vocational education.
Higher education is a high-investment undertaking, and the capital investment of higher vocational education is even greater than that of ordinary colleges and universities. China's national condition is that "poor countries run large-scale education". At present, the biggest difficulty in developing higher education is the lack of funds. Therefore, after the policy of "actively developing higher vocational education" is established, the funding problem must be solved. Among them, vigorously developing private higher education is an important way to develop higher vocational education. With the support and help of national laws, policies and education authorities, we will speed up the system reform, rely on various social forces to develop higher vocational education, and realize the private higher education system under various ownership conditions, such as "public and private", "private and non-public" and "private and non-public". This school-running system and mechanism is a new way to develop higher vocational education, which expands the thinking of developing higher vocational education. In addition, it is also an important way to broaden the development of higher vocational education to attach "Vocational and Technical College" and self-taught examination to ordinary undergraduate colleges.
4. Vigorously developing higher vocational education needs government policy support.
Without correct policy guidance and support, higher vocational education is difficult to develop. First of all, the most crucial question is whether higher vocational education should be "vigorously developed". Minister Chen Zhili said at the ninth meeting of the Advisory Committee on the Work of Colleges and Universities directly under the Central Committee: "Actively and steadily develop higher education, vigorously develop higher vocational education, and gradually meet the demand for specialized talents in socialist modernization and the people's desire to receive higher education." This policy reflects the voices of the scientific community, the educational community and the broad masses of the people. However, at present, the enthusiasm of China enterprises to invest in education is not high. Therefore, when China's economy is adjusted to mainly rely on the development of science and education, we should adopt appropriate policies to mobilize the enthusiasm of enterprises to invest. In addition, due to the state's attention, China has accumulated considerable educational resources, especially higher education, and the resources available for higher vocational education are very rich. Of course, only after high school education is basically popularized can economically and socially developed regions or cities have the conditions to "vigorously develop higher vocational education". This is an important strategic thought and policy for the development of higher education in the new century, which must be implemented step by step and in a planned way from reality.
Regarding the policy of developing higher vocational education, we should pay attention to the following points: First, because higher vocational education trains front-line talents, and the industrial structure and social structure in different regions of China are very different, it is best to delegate the management power to provinces and municipalities directly under the Central Government, so that they can do it according to the actual needs and conditions of their own regions. Second, give schools and educational institutions of higher vocational education full autonomy, so that they can face the society and run schools independently according to law; At the same time, there is competition and elimination, and a self-restraint mechanism is established. Thirdly, in view of the multi-channel development of China's higher vocational education, we should encourage diversified school-running modes and set up a guidance catalogue for majors, mainly to prevent redundant construction and guide the development of new majors. The conditions for running a school should have certain requirements, allowing and encouraging the use of social resources and allowing gradual improvement. Running a school should be registered and supervised according to law. Fourth, higher vocational education is non-compulsory and should be charged according to the cost in principle. At present, the cost can be shared by the government, employers and students, and different types of schools and majors take different proportions. Fifth, advocate the overall planning and all-round development of the three religions. We should combine academic education with non-academic training, and combine general education with adult education, not separately.