TVET reform in Chongqing: big steps on a long march

Abstract

The introduction of outcomes‐based vocational education in schools can have significant impact on the management and delivery of education and training. These impacts are not limited to classroom practice, and extend to the fields of policy and system coordination. This article reports on the results of a major trial of outcomes‐oriented vocational education and training in vocational schools and colleges in the Chongqing municipality of central China. Between March 2002 and August 2007, a team of Australian advisors worked with the Chongqing Municipal Education Commission to implement new vocational education and training programmes in five key industry fields. Phase 1 of the project worked with five pilot schools, but by the end of the project, over 60 different schools, colleges and universities were participating in the project along with key agencies and ministries at the municipal and national levels. The article provides an overview of the project and highlights the key challenges experienced during the five years of implementation. It situates the key outcomes against the broader process of reform to technical and vocational education and training in China, and then considers the likely long‐term impacts through consideration of what reforms remain in place 18 months after the project ended.