At the press conference held by the State Council on 3 1, Liu Changya, director of the Development Planning Department of the Ministry of Education, said that at the end of the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, the state will strive to increase the average education years of the working-age population to 1 1.3 years, which means that the average education level of the working-age population in China will reach the education level above the second year of senior high school in 2025.
The concept of per capita education years of working-age population counts the education status of the labor force aged 16 to 59. At present, the average years of education of the newly-added labor force in China have reached 13.8 years, which is equivalent to entering the higher education stage. However, in 2020, the average years of education of the working-age population will be 10.8 years.
To achieve the goal of 1 1.3 years for the working-age population by 2025, we will focus on three aspects.
First, continue to improve the level of education popularization. By 2025, the gross enrollment rate of higher education will strive to increase to 60%. In this way, the average years of education of the newly added labor force will be further improved, and the average years of education of the working-age population will also be greatly improved.
Second, in the process of improving the level of education popularization and the length of education, the quality of education is constantly improved. Compulsory education should achieve high-quality balance and vigorously develop vocational education.
Third, while improving the education level of new workers, we should constantly improve the human resources development level of existing workers and strive to build an education system that serves lifelong learning for all.
Vocational education is the main channel to cultivate skilled talents, and it is very important to improve the quality of the labor force. Recently, the Ministry of Education released a new edition of the professional catalogue of vocational education.