Industry 4.0 era is the golden age of vocational education, and it is also a challenging era.

Under the tide of this era of great development, great change and great adjustment, social development is accelerating and the skills needed for social development are constantly being updated. How should vocational education gain a firm foothold in the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial revolution, and how should it "take over"?

About 300 experts and scholars from home and abroad, representatives from schools, other educational institutions and related enterprises discussed this at the international vocational and technical education conference held from July 4 to 6.

How to take over vocational education?

Andrea Schleicher said, "Knowledge is changing rapidly, and people can get these contents through many Internet channels such as Weibo and Google. More importantly, for many disciplines and knowledge, we have to think with the thinking of a scientist, philosopher or engineer, which is far more important than just mastering a lot of knowledge. " He suggested that while improving the quality of vocational education, more attention should be paid to the cultivation of students' comprehensive ability, not just a certain skill.

In addition, Andrea Schleicher believes that "many skills of 2 1 century were acquired not from school education, but from work, so it is very important to combine work and study. We must ensure that those who choose vocational and technical education can study in the workplace and gain practical experience. "

"In the era of Industry 4.0, enterprises play an important role in shaping the new system of vocational education." Britta Buschfeld, director of vocational training at the German Chamber of Commerce in China, suggested that enterprises should undertake the responsibility of training employees, which can not only help enterprises to have good-quality employees, but also promote social prosperity and stability.

Katerina Ananiadou, a project expert in UNESCO's Youth, Literacy and Skills Development Section, believes that skills training should be more flexible. "For those who want to continue their studies and work-study programs after working for a period of time, they should provide some training programs with flexible time, or provide online or distance education. At the same time, it is hoped that higher education can provide more opportunities for people from vocational education to receive further education, and better meet their needs of improving skills or work-study programs.

"Facing the future, we should re-examine the existing policies to better meet the needs of today's society. We also need to rationally allocate social resources, raise people's attention to vocational education and skills training, and let everyone know that even people who are not so talented have their own stage. " Stanley Matouba Himata said in an interview with China Youth Daily and Zhongqing Online.