More than 100 million people have been trained in China's vocational schools since 1978, when the country introduced the reform and opening up policy, said an education official in Beijing on Thursday.

This is the first time these statistics have been released.

Huang Yao, director of the Department of Vocational and Adult Education of the Ministry of Education (MOE), said more than 80 million people had been trained in secondary vocational schools. Another 20 million attended vocational colleges.

In China, students can choose to go to these schools if they are interested in learning special skills related to a trade.

Secondary vocational schools enrolled more than 8 million students in 2007, nearly half the size of the country's high school enrollment.

In 1978 that number was 700,000, accounting for slightly more than 6 percent of China's total high school enrollment, according to MOE statistics.

Statistics for 2008 have not been released.

Graduates from vocational schools in China are popular with employers as they have practical skills and most often demand less pay than people with college degrees.

According to an earlier survey conducted by Manpower Inc., a global employment service, technicians topped the list of the most in-demand jobs in the Chinese labor market during the first half of 2008.

(Xinhua News Agency December 19, 2008)