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The transformation of vocational education and higher education in 600 undergraduate colleges is uncertain.

20 14 may 1 1 09:46

Source: China Broadcasting Network

Author: Yan Leiyu

Abstract: The transformation of vocational education and higher education in 600 undergraduate colleges is uncertain.

Keywords: vocational education; Undergraduate colleges; Higher education; Change; Uncertain/unstable

About the author:

According to the Voice of China report, the graduation season for college students is approaching and college life is coming to an end, but the road to job hunting still has a long way to go, Xiu Yuan Xi. There are 7.27 million college graduates nationwide this year, an increase of 280,000 over last year. The employment situation of graduates is extremely severe. For many college students, finding a job is a cruel battle year after year.

I have heard the name "the hardest employment season" for several years. Is there really no job? Corresponding to the grim employment situation, after the Spring Festival every year, business owners in many provinces in China have to spend several months struggling, and they have to endure the difficulties of recruiting workers and the shortage of skilled workers. However, this contrast between "the surplus of college students" and "the serious shortage of technical personnel" may gradually end this year.

The two worlds of ice and fire lead to another kind of thinking. Recently, it has been reported that the Ministry of Education is brewing reforms and starting the restructuring reform of colleges and universities. Of the 1200 national colleges and universities, more than 600, or nearly half, will turn to vocational education. In other words, the proportion of colleges and universities that train skilled talents will rise sharply. So, can this alleviate the increasingly serious employment problem of undergraduates? Is this change appropriate?

The news comes from the statement made by Lu Xin, Vice Minister of Education, at the 20 14 China Development Forum: 1999 After the expansion of colleges and universities, more than 600 local undergraduate colleges will gradually transform into modern vocational education, focusing on training engineers, senior technicians and high-quality workers. In other words, these more than 600 colleges and universities that strive to upgrade from junior college status to undergraduate status will be transformed again and become high-level vocational education institutions. Some media said that as a result, the talent training structure of China's higher education will undergo major changes, and the proportion of colleges and universities that train technical and skilled talents will increase from the existing 55% to 70%-80%. 2 1 Xiong Bingqi, vice president of the Century Institute of Education, believes that the general direction of reform is right, but it is not appropriate to force schools to transform by administrative instructions.

Xiong Bingqi: Because in the past, the reason why these schools wanted to become undergraduates was actually a result of local governments' pursuit of academic qualifications. Now, if they want to transform into vocational education and train professionals, local governments may not be enthusiastic, and schools themselves may not respond. There may be a change under the policy, but the school itself may not be ready for the transformation, which may lead to a superficial change, but the connotation has not changed.

Shangqiu Teachers College in Henan Province is one of the more than 600 colleges and universities mentioned by the Ministry of Education. President cao kui told reporters that his understanding of the transformation is the transformation to an application-oriented university, and vocational and technical schools are not the goal of their transformation.

Cao kui: As far as the current educational theory and practice are concerned, I think it may be beyond the imagination of many undergraduate colleges.

In the view of Dean Cao, there are essential differences between applied education and vocational education.

Cao kui: Vocational education emphasizes skill education and skill training, but applied education emphasizes application ability, that is, when we go to a factory, for example, the mechanic knows how to do it, then the engineer not only knows how to do it, but also knows why, and can come up with a solution immediately if something goes wrong.

Luan Liming, president of Jilin Teachers College of Engineering and Technology, also agrees with the view of applied education. Unlike cao kui, Luan Liming thinks that the applied undergraduate education in colleges and universities is actually undergraduate vocational education, but he also admits that the current applied education is not successful.

Luan Liming: After the enrollment expansion, our equipment can't go up, and the teachers are not really dual-qualified. I'm afraid the students we train are still yours, saying that academics are not academic, that applications are not applied, that society does not recognize them, and that it is difficult to find a job. Isn't this a contradiction? What we need to transfer now is actually the applied undergraduate course we emphasized in the past. How can we turn it into a real application-oriented undergraduate course?

Dean Luan said that academic education and applied education should be the two directions of undergraduate education.

Luan Liming: One direction is like Peking University, and students who may be trained may continue to study in graduate schools or go abroad for further study; The students trained by ordinary undergraduate schools like ours are directly oriented to the society. One is that it may be biased towards the integrity of its own discipline and emphasize on the academic level. On the other hand, we should pay attention to practice.

At present, the relevant policy documents on the transformation and reform of ordinary colleges and universities have not yet been issued. In the public statements of the relevant leaders of the Ministry of Education, both the word applied and the concept of vocational education were mentioned. Therefore, it is still unknown how to locate the local colleges and universities after the transformation. But at present, the general direction of transformation has been determined, that is, to cultivate more applied talents. In this educational reform, higher education is regarded as a revolutionary adjustment. So, how should this transformation turn? And what will be the actual result after switching to vocational education in one fell swoop?

Cao kui, president of Shangqiu Teachers College, said that in recent years, the school began to pay attention to strengthening the application-oriented training of students.

Luan Liming: The talent training mode should be changed, and the trained people can provide intellectual support for the local regional economic and social development.

2 1 Xiong Bingqi, vice president of Century Education Research Institute, pointed out that the transformation is not a simple concept change, but requires the school to carry out a comprehensive transformation in the construction of teaching staff, curriculum system, talent training mode and cooperation with enterprises.

Xiong Bingqi: For example, a teacher may have to know both theory and practice, but now some teachers in our local undergraduate colleges can't meet this requirement. There are courses. In the past, our curriculum emphasized the knowledge base and theory, but neglected the cultivation of students' practice. So in the process of talent training, the school used to focus on campus, and he didn't combine the social needs to train students.

Luan Liming, president of Jilin Teachers College of Engineering and Technology, is worried that if the government does not accurately locate and correctly guide the transformation, the transformation may go astray.

Luan Liming: They may have formed an understanding in colleges and universities. What is the concept of undergraduate higher vocational education? It is wrong to run undergraduate higher vocational education in the worst undergraduate school. What should it be, that is, it is better to position itself as an application-oriented college, engage in application-oriented education in this field, and how to connect with the market.

Xiong Bingqi pointed out that if higher education is to be in line with the market, it is necessary to give full play to the autonomy of colleges and universities and separate management from operation.

Xiong Bingqi: Government departments are macro-strategic policies, and schools run schools independently, forming a benign interaction between the government and schools, rather than administrative instructions from the government, running schools in a single mode. Why we actually run schools in the past is actually related to our original management model.