According to Wang Zhan, Vice-Minister of Education, more vocational schools will be established in rural and western regions. More than 88 percent of the labor force there has received only minimal education.

Wang said that by 2005, senior vocational schools in rural regions will enroll up to 4 million new students a year. Current enrollment is 2.5 million.

Vocational schools in rural areas will also offer various trainings for 8 million members of the labor force before they get new jobs.

The enrollment of senior vocational schools in western regions, which is now nearly 800,000, will be increased to more than 1.2 million in 2005, said Wang.

The vice-minister also said that companies should take the initiative to establish vocational schools and vocational training institutions so that their staff members can become well educated.

Local governments will take the lead in designing plans for vocational education. The development of vocational education should be combined with local social and economic development, Wang said.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education show that the number of vocational schools in China reached more than 19,200 last year, including more than 1,000 at the junior high school level, 17,800 at the senior level and 386 university-level training institutes.

Last year, over 11 million students studied in China's senior vocational schools. During the current Five-Year Plan (2001-2005), senior vocational schools in China will contribute over 22 million graduates to society.

(People’s Daily July 25, 2002)