German leaders shared keys to the country’s successful vocational education system during an international conference hosted by Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) late October.
Conference attendees provided ideas and suggestions for solving China’s current rising unemployment and the shortage of high-tech talent.
Annette Schavan, the former German Minister of Education and Research, said vocational education is the most diverse, flexible and creative field of Germany’s education system.
“Our understanding of vocational education was not a back plan for those slow-witted students, instead, it was a way to cultivate those excellent talents,” she said.
Professor Hans-Peter Füssel, author of “The Report of Germany’s Education,” added that the key to the success of the dual system of vocational education in Germany lay in the close cooperation between vocational schools and companies.
“This kind of cooperation not only lies in technology, but also lies in the balance between the theory studies and practices,” he said.
Professor Herr Thies, former secretary-general of the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education of Germany, said that China shouldn’t blindly copy Germany’s system of vocational education, but suggested other measures to solve the problem of the rising number of unemployed workers.
“It will be a good choice if the vocational education is applied to those high-quality jobs, which would become another choice besides research-oriented education,” he said.
Dr. Jiang Feng, the university council chair of SISU, presented the status and research results of the newly-established Research and Information Center for German Educational Policies at SISU. He announced the decision to invite Annette Schavan and Hans-Peter Füssel to be guest professors at SISU.