A Time for Flexible Solutions: How China Trains In-Demand Specialists

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Building an effective workforce training system requires not only appropriate institutions, but also well-developed intermediary organisations capable of translating policy into practice and connecting different groups of stakeholders, said Dr Po Yang, Professor at Peking University. She was an invited speaker at the XXVI April International Academic Conference named after Evgeny Yasin.

Po Yang delivered a presentation entitled ‘Beyond Institutions: How Intermediary Organisations Enable Firm-School Collaboration in China's Skill Formation.’ According to the professor, one of the key elements in equipping specialists with the necessary skills is the coordination of efforts among academia, industrial companies, and the state, as well as the development of intermediary organisations.

Po Yang

At present, the situation in China is uneven. In Suzhou, for instance, cooperation with companies takes place even at the school level, ‘and its depth is truly striking,’ Po Yang noted. On the other hand, not all the possible and necessary industrial partnerships have been established, although local industry associations have already formed around major sectors.

China has what are known as skills intermediaries—organisations that coordinate efforts across the entire skills development chain, from curriculum design to graduate employment. These organisations both oversee the quality of education and help to develop necessary standards, while also creating joint educational programmes. In her presentation, Po Yang provided several examples of successful educational strategies in China. One of these is the creation of an elevator manufacturing industrial cluster in Suzhou, which has been operating for many years. Suzhou is one of the key centres of the elevator industry in China, hosting several large companies engaged in the production of lifts, escalators, their components, and related services. Each year, the consortium produces more than 500 technical specialists, with an employment rate of 90 per cent.

Speaking about the role of the state in educational strategy, Po Yang emphasised that it should by no means act as a ‘dictator’; rather, ‘the role of the state is that of a catalyst.’ The state is responsible for providing infrastructure, ensuring the legitimacy of educational practices, and reducing transaction costs.

In Po Yang’s view, ‘it is easier to implement a unified educational policy across the whole country or across different regions, but with different types of intermediaries and varying sectoral structures.’ ‘For example, the elevator industry differs greatly from the service sector. Thus, different coordination mechanisms will be applied across industries and regions. We should not impose standardised solutions,’ she argued.

One of the questions posed to the speaker concerned training for future skills: whether China’s educational strategy takes into account the skills that specialists will need in the future. Vocational colleges in the country are primarily focused on ensuring that specialists acquire skills that meet current demands, Po Yang noted. However, given the speed of technological change, the question arises as to whether educational institutions can keep pace with future requirements. The current political confrontation faced by China has led to a lack of fundamental research into long-term strategic needs.

‘Therefore, the capacity of China’s educational institutions to respond to changing demands and meet future needs in the next three to five years is limited. Nevertheless, vocational institutions should strive to take future requirements into account, not just current ones,’ Po Yang stressed.

In particular, she noted that China is currently transforming vocational colleges into universities. However, it is not enough simply to upgrade colleges into professional universities; new forms of cooperation must also be introduced. ‘Let me give the example of Shenzhen Polytechnic University, which used to be a vocational college and has now become a four-year vocational university. It collaborates with China’s largest manufacturer of transport electronics, and students can undertake placements there. In addition, the Polytechnic University educates undergraduate students at its main campuses under the auspices of the so-called Academy of Future Technology. In this area, we are indeed talking about the technologies of the future and about technologies for various manufacturers,’ Po Yang concluded.