In order to strengthen industry-education interaction and trial a unique industrial guidance mechanism for vocational education, the MOE has established a series of Steering Committees for Industrial Vocational Education and Teaching, led and managed by relevant authorities or industrial associations. Each committee will act as an expert group providing research, consultancy, guidance and other services for industry-specific vocational education and teaching, while steering work on industrial vocational education and training.
At present, there are 56 Steering Committees in total, covering nearly all categories of industry in China’s national economy and every major in secondary and higher vocational education. The committee members include representatives from 236 state-owned large-scale enterprises and 210 private enterprises, of which 32% are industrial enterprises. The committees offer guidance on eight aspects of industrial vocational education: teaching, internship, teaching materials, planning, appraisal, talent demand, organization of majors and degrees, and the teacher workforce.
As the industry-education partnership promotes reform and innovation in vocational education, strengthened industrial guidance has increasingly become a critical mechanism to accelerate the development of modern vocational education, and a key lever for improving the contribution of vocational education to national strategies. In recent years, following national strategies for industrial development, the Steering Committees organized over a hundred dialogues between vocational schools and enterprises, related forums, seminars and other activities on topics such as elderly care services and advanced manufacturing.
In addition, vocational education work conferences were held in industries like water resources, supply and sales, chemical engineering, non-ferrous metals, machineries, coal, and postal services, leading to the introduction of industry-specific recommendations. 60 reports with forecasts for talent demand in industry and on guidance for major arrangements in vocational schools, were issued. The committees also made a vital contribution to the development of a national teaching standards system and the promotion of schools and programs run by education groups.
