Assessing the Quality of Upper-Secondary Vocational Education and Training: Evidence from China

Abstract

An increasing number of policymakers in developing countries have made the mass expansion of upper-secondary vocational education and training (VET) a top priority. The goal of this study is to examine whether VET fulfills the objectove of building skills and abilities along multiple dimensions and further identify which school-level factors help vocational students build these skills and abilities. To fulfill this goal, we analyzed representative, longitudinal data that we collected on more than 12,000 students from 118 schools in once province of central China. First, descriptive analysis shows approximately 90% of VET students do not make any gains in vocational or general skills. In addition, negative behaviors (misbehavior in the classroom, antisocial behavior, and other risky behaviors) are highly prevalent among VET students. A nontrivial proportion of student internships also fail to meet minimum government requirements for student safety and well-being. Perhaps as a result of these outcomes, more than 60% of students express dissatisfaction with their VET programs, as evidenced by eitehr self-reports or dropping out. Finally, using a multi-level model, we find that school inputs (such as school size, teacher qualifications, and per pupil expenditure) are not correlated with vocational and general skill at the end of the school year, or student dropout in the academic year.

Human Capital and the Middle Income Trap: How Many of China's Youth are Going to High School?

“…However, a large share of the rise is from VET also. Perhaps because in relative terms VET expanded even faster than AH, there is concern that learning may not be as effective as it could be (if the VET system were delivering a higher quality education in many of the schools) and that many students, while starting upper secondary schooling, are not finishing (in no small part because they do not believe they are learning—Yi et al 2015, ).…”

‘They are bad seeds’: stereotyping habitus in Chinese VET colleges

“…Approximately 48% of all Chinese students are streamed into the vocational route (Woronov 2015, 42). It has been observed that China's VET colleges have inadequately trained teaching staff (Shi 2013), poor student progression (Yi et al 2018), weak links with industry (Liang and Chen 2014;Stewart 2015), and tenuous ties with the needs of the labour market (Cooke 2012). Since the students who enrol in vocational colleges are generally those who have fared worse academically (Li 2004;Mok 2001;Yang 2004;Zha 2012;Liu and Wang 2015), they become stereotyped as 'educational failures' and 'stupid and lazy youths' (Woronov 2015), who are considered to deserve the limited occupational opportunities open to them (Woronov 2015;Ling 2015).…”

Visual impairment and spectacles ownership among upper secondary school students in northwestern China

“…Moreover, VUSS students have a higher tendency to drop out. 11 The primary determinant of whether a student attends an AUSS or a VUSS is that student's performance on an entrance exam. Given that uncorrected vision in primary and middle school can lead to reduced academic performance, 3,7 students without spectacles or with incorrect prescriptions may be attending VUSSs at higher rates than are consistent with their abilities.…”