職業教育為中國農民工帶來希望Trade Schools Offer Hope for Rural Migrants in China

職業教育

職業教育為中國農民工帶來希望

CORINNE DILLON 2013年06月14日

BN Vocational School

在北京的百年職校，穿着工作服的學生們正在接受電工的職業訓練。

北京——在14歲的時候，李陽陽（音譯）的前途不容樂觀。2009年，這名初中畢業生隨父母從農村移居至北京，開始在一家餐館打工，雖然每天工作很長時間，但月收入不到700元人民幣。

後來，他的一位也已經住在北京的農村夥伴向他推薦了百年職校(BN Vocational School)，這是中國第一所免學費公益職業中專。

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  BN Vocational School
  在北京的百年職校，學生們在學習給西式蛋糕抹奶油。

如今17歲的李陽陽在學習酒店管理，希望能在這個起薪是以前三倍多的行業找到一份工作。「能在百年職校上學我感到很幸運，」他說，目前他正在準備申請首都幾家豪華酒店的實習機會。「我的未來光明多了，而且機會也因此更多。」

對於像李陽陽這樣的中國2億農民工的子女而言，職業學校意味着未來比父母更高的薪水以及更穩定的工作。

職業學校的課程涵蓋科目範圍廣，通常視當地需求而定。在中國北方的工業區遼寧省，汽修和建築專業頗受青睞。在城市裡，學生們往往會選擇旅遊和客服專業，空調安裝和維修這樣的特殊技能專業也很流行。

雖然中國的公立職業學校已經有相當長的歷史，但批評人士稱，由於需要培訓的年輕人人數龐大，加上受官僚體制的影響，這類學校已經不堪重負。

像百年職校這樣的私立機構可以填補這一空白，但只有在外部 資金的幫助下才能為貧困生提供免費培訓。百年職校建校於2005年，資助單位包括慈善機構（中國青少年發展基金會和福特基金會[Ford Foundation]）、企業（花旗銀行[Citigroup]、沃爾瑪[Wal-Mart]、卡特彼勒[Caterpillar]和美國銀行 [Bank of America]）以及中外政府。百年職校還在其他七個中國城市設有分校。

雖然大學應屆畢業生就業形勢嚴峻，但市場對技能嫻熟的職校畢業生需求量巨大。中國職業技術教育學會2013年的一份報告顯示，從2007年到2011年，職校生就業率超過95%。

中國有巨大的勞動力人口，20-49歲的人口佔比超過75%，但平均受教育水平相對較低。據人力資源和社會保障部統計，在1.4億城鎮職工中，只有半數人能歸類為「高技能」人才。

剛退休的前國家發展和改革委員會高級研究員嚴浩2012年撰寫的一份報告顯示，由於員工欠缺機器操作能力，導致約三分之一的國產產品通不過質量控制測試，每年造成的損失高達2000億元。

經濟學家們稱，儘管大多數中國人正處在工作的黃金年齡，但所謂的「人口紅利」即將結束。中國勞動力人口預計將在2015年達到峰值7.51億——之後將下降並且伴隨人口老齡化的加劇。那時將沒有足夠的年輕人接替退休員工的崗位。

「為了繼續推動經濟增長，政府需要通過更少的勞動人口實現更高的生產效率，」世界銀行(World Bank)高級教育專家梁曉燕說。隨着中國經濟向更加依賴技能型人才的方向轉型，對技術和職業教育培訓的投入有助於縮小這一缺口。

嚴浩說，職業教育面臨的最大挑戰之一是中國人往往偏愛大學學歷，對職校學歷持有偏見。

「因為讀大學能帶來更高的社會地位，家長們更傾向於讓孩子上大學，」嚴博士說，「但由於許多大學生掙的工資跟職校生一樣，這種態度也在逐漸轉變。」

「為了幫助應屆生找工作，政府面臨很大壓力，因此政府在勸導年輕人，特別是高考失利或無法負擔大學學費的學生去讀職業學校，這樣畢業時肯定能有工作，」嚴博士進一步說。

據嚴浩說，政府開始徹底改革課程，以期提供能滿足當地市場需求的職業培訓。但現實情況是許多公立職業學校和當地企業的合作不夠緊密，引發了畢業生與就業市場需求不匹配的問題。

「在20世紀80年代，各類行業開始創辦組建職業學校，因此市場上供需相配，」百年職校北京校區校長曾茂華(Megan Zeng)在談到公立學校時說。在舊有體制下，各行業「清楚企業需要什麼，市場需要什麼人才」，並且相應地培養學生。

「但如今學校由地方教育局管理，專業度不足，」她補充說，往往沒有行業專家參與課程的設計。

許多學校也未能解決教師資質的關鍵問題。雖然職校教師都需要持有學士學位，但他們中許多人沒有行業工作經驗——政府正努力改變這一現狀。

私立學校也需要應對這些挑戰。在百年職校，「學校的八個分校中各有一支全職團隊，專門負責校企協作，以確保我們學生學習的技能以及我們提供的專業課程在當地市場上有大量需求，」北京校區資助項目主任徐升說。

「百年職校因其規模小而更為靈活，」曾校長說，「公立學校官僚作風自然會更嚴重，因此更改課程以適應目前市場形勢需要時間。」

「為使學生的技能滿足中國經濟發展的需求，我們需要開設讓學生有用武之地的專業，對此中國政府非常清楚並予以了大力支持，」世界銀行梁女士說。

隨着服務業逐步取代製造業成為中國經濟增長的引擎，政府正在推進各種舉措調整職業教育，以適應這一潮流。

10年前，學習酒店管理專業對於李陽陽而言是不可想像的，但如今，越來越多的學校都開設了這個專業，另外還有旅遊、網頁製作和平面設計等專業。

百年職校創始人姚莉希望學校調整後的課程能幫助那些有需要的學生，使他們感受到「生活和未來充滿希望」，不至於被中國經濟奇蹟所遺忘。

本文最初發表於2013年6月3日。
翻譯：Charlie

Trade Schools Offer Hope for Rural Migrants in China

By CORINNE DILLON June 14, 2013

 

BEIJING — When he was 14, Li Yangyang’s prospects were grim. A middle school graduate who moved to Beijing with his parents from the countryside in 2009, he worked long hours in a restaurant for less than 700 renminbi a month.

Then a fellow rural migrant, who had also moved to Beijing, introduced him to BN Vocational School, China’s first tuition-free, nonprofit vocational secondary school.

Now 17, Mr. Li is studying hotel management and hoping to enter an industry in which the starting salary is more than triple his old wage of about $100 a month. “I feel lucky to be at B.N.V.S.,” he said, as he prepared to apply for internships at the capital’s luxury hotels. “My future is much brighter, and I have more opportunities because of it.”

For those like Mr. Li, the children of China’s 200 million migrant laborers, vocational schools offer the promise of better-paying, more stable work than their parents had.

Courses cover a wide range of subjects, often depending on the needs of the region. In Liaoning Province, an industrial area in the north, automobile repair and construction are popular. In cities, students opt for tourism and customer service; the niche skill of air-conditioning installation and upkeep is in particular demand.

While China has long had state-run vocational schools, critics say that they are bogged down by bureaucracy and overwhelmed by the huge number of youths who need training.

Private enterprises like BN Vocational School can fill that gap, but only with the outside funding needed to be able to train poor students for free. Founded in 2005, it is supported by charities (the China Youth Development Foundation and Ford Foundation), corporations (Citigroup, Wal-Mart, Caterpillar and Bank of America) and both the Chinese and foreign governments. It also runs schools in seven other Chinese cities.

While newly minted university graduates face a tight job market, skilled vocational school graduates are in high demand, with employment rates above 95 percent between 2007 and 2011, according to a 2013 report by the Chinese Society of Vocational and Technical Education.

China’s labor force is huge, with more than 75 percent of the country’s population between the ages of 20 and 49, but the average worker’s education level is relatively low. According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, only half of China’s 140 million urban employees can be classified as “skilled.”

About one-third of domestically produced products cannot pass quality-control tests because workers are not qualified enough to operate the machinery, resulting in a loss of 200 billion renminbi a year, according to a 2012 report by Yan Hao, a recently retired senior research fellow at the National Development and Reform Commission.

Most of the Chinese population is at the prime of their working lives; but this so-called “demographic dividend” is set to end, according to economists. China’s labor force is predicted to peak at 751 million in 2015 — and age and decline from there. There will not be as many young workers to replace those retiring out of the market.

“The government will need to get greater productivity gains out of a smaller work force to continue to grow the economy,” according to Xiaoyan Liang, a senior education specialist at the World Bank. As China transitions to a more skill-based economy, investing in technical and vocational education training can help bridge this gap.

One of the biggest challenges to vocational education is the traditional Chinese bias in favor of a university degree, Dr. Yan said.

“Parents would prefer to send their children to university because there is higher social status associated with attending college,” Dr. Yan said. “But because so many college graduates end up at a job that is no different in wage level from the vocational school grads, this attitude is gradually changing.”

“There is a lot of pressure on the government to help new graduates find jobs, and so they are trying to persuade young people, particularly those who failed the college entry examination or cannot afford college tuition fees, to attend vocational school and graduate with a guaranteed job,” Dr. Yan added.

According to Dr. Yan, the government began overhauling curriculums to provide targeted employment-oriented training to meet local market demands. But the reality is that many state-run vocational schools do not work closely enough with local industry, generating mismatches in the labor market.

“In the 1980s, vocational schools were funded and organized by various industries, so supply matched demand in the marketplace,” said Megan Zeng, principal at the BN Vocational School campus in Beijing, speaking of state-run schools. Under the old model, industries “knew what they wanted, knew what was needed in the marketplace” and trained students accordingly.

“Now, however, schools are under the control of the regional education agency, so they are less specialized,” she said, adding that those working in industry were not usually involved in designing curriculums.

Many schools are also not addressing the critical issue of teacher qualification. While instructors are required to have a bachelor’s degree, many do not have industry experience — something the government is working to change.

Private schools are also addressing these challenges. At the BN Vocational School, “there is a full-time team on each of our eight campuses that works with employers to ensure that the skills our students learn — and the majors we offer — are in high demand in the local market,” said Xu Sheng, the sponsorship manager at the Beijing campus.

“B.N.V.S. is more flexible because of its small size,” Ms. Zeng said. “State-run schools naturally have more bureaucracy, so it will take time to change the curriculum to adapt to current market conditions.”

“The Chinese government is very supportive and aware of the need for programs that are relevant so students will have the right skills for China’s economy,” Ms. Liang of the World Bank said.

The government is implementing numerous measures to adapt vocational training, which has changed with the times as services replace manufacturing as the country’s engine of growth.

A decade ago, Mr. Li would not have been able to major in hotel management; but today, it is an offering at more schools, along with tourism, Web production and graphic design.

The BN Vocational School’s founder, Yao Li, hopes that its updated curriculum will help students who might otherwise have been left out of China’s economic miracle feel “hopeful about their lives and futures.”