Recently, the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting High - quality Development of Modern Vocational Education" (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions). A responsible official of the Ministry of Education answered reporters' questions on relevant issues of the Opinions.

Question: Please introduce the background and process of the issuance of the Opinions.

Answer: In April this year, the National Vocational Education Conference was held. General Secretary Xi Jinping made important instructions on vocational education work, emphasizing accelerating the construction of a modern vocational education system and training more high - quality technical and skilled talents, master craftsmen, and great national artisans. Premier Li Keqiang made instructions, and Vice - Premier Sun Chunlan attended and delivered a speech. The convening of the conference fully reflects the great importance attached to vocational education by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, and will surely strongly promote the high - quality development of vocational education and provide solid talent and skill support for the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country.

The Opinions are supporting documents to implement the spirit of the National Vocational Education Conference. During the drafting process of the Opinions, solid literature research, thematic research, in - depth interviews, and on - the - spot investigations were carried out. Opinions and suggestions from education administrative managers, heads of vocational colleges, teachers, students, and experts were listened to. After the first draft of the Opinions was formed, opinions from relevant departments were solicited. In April 2021, it was submitted to the National Vocational Education Conference for discussion. After the conference, further revisions and improvements were made in combination with the spirit of the conference and the feedback opinions and suggestions from the group discussions at the conference.

Question: Please introduce the basic positioning and considerations of the Opinions.

Answer: The Opinions mainly focus on implementing the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the spirit of the National Vocational Education Conference, aiming to remove the deep - seated institutional and mechanism obstacles in the reform and development of vocational education and promote the high - quality development of vocational education. First, consolidate the type positioning of vocational education. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized optimizing the type positioning of vocational education. The Opinions take the type positioning as the logical starting point for planning vocational education work and consolidate and optimize it. Second, build a modern vocational education system. Focusing on high - quality development, establish a systematic concept, strengthen the basic position of secondary vocational education, develop higher vocational education with high quality, and steadily develop undergraduate vocational education. Third, serve the construction of a skill - based society. It is required to accelerate the construction of a skill - based society where the country values skills, society respects skills, and everyone enjoys skills, so as to encourage more workers, especially the younger generation, to pursue a career through skills and serve the country with skills.

Question: Please introduce the research and development ideas of the Opinions.

　　Answer: The "Opinions" firmly grasp the principle that "vocational education and general education are of different types but equally important". Based on the study of the laws of education, industry, and the growth of technical and skilled talents, efforts are made to make vocational education a type of education with wide - ranging demands and specific functions. By systematically summarizing the reform experience since the "20 Measures for Vocational Education", the "Opinions" analyze what should be adhered to and consolidated, and explore what should be improved and developed. It not only adheres to the effective policy measures in the past but also seeks impetus from reform and innovation, enabling the modern vocational education system with Chinese characteristics to fully demonstrate its strong self - improvement ability and greater vitality. At the same time, in line with the goal requirements for vocational education development in the construction of an education - powerful country and the "China Education Modernization 2035", focusing on the relationships between industry and education, schools and enterprises, teachers and students, and China and foreign countries, the pertinence, feasibility, and effectiveness of policy measures are effectively enhanced. Through overall top - level design and hierarchical docking, as well as overall system reform and system operation, efforts are made to strengthen the foundation, make up for the shortcomings, and improve the quality, so as to significantly enhance the modernization level and service ability of vocational education.

　Question: What are the main contents of the "Opinions"?

　　Answer: The full text of the "Opinions" consists of 7 parts and 22 articles. The first part is "General Requirements". Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, it clarifies the work requirements and main goals, such as adhering to cultivating people with morality, combining morality and skills, promoting the integration of industry and education, cooperation between schools and enterprises, facing the market to promote employment, focusing on practice to strengthen abilities, and catering to everyone with individualized teaching. The second part is "Strengthening the Type Characteristics of Vocational Education". By promoting the vertical connection of vocational education at different levels and the horizontal integration of different types of education, a training system featuring parallel vocational and general education, vertical connection, and horizontal integration is improved, thereby strengthening the type characteristics of vocational education. The third part is "Improving the School - running System of Industry - Education Integration". Focusing on strengthening the connection between vocational education supply and industrial demand, guided by market demand, the hierarchical structure and professional structure of vocational education are dynamically adjusted, a diversified school - running pattern is improved, and in - depth industry - education integration is promoted in a coordinated manner. The fourth part is "Innovating the School - running Mechanism of School - Enterprise Cooperation". Adhering to the basic school - running model of school - enterprise cooperation, by continuously enriching the school - running forms of vocational schools, expanding the forms and contents of school - enterprise cooperation, and optimizing the policy environment, the organizational form and operating mechanism are innovated to form a community of shared future between schools and enterprises. The fifth part is "Deepening Education and Teaching Reform". By strengthening the construction of a dual - qualified teacher team, innovating teaching models and methods, improving teaching contents and textbooks, and improving the quality assurance system, a new teacher - student relationship is constructed, and the combination of morality and skills, and work and learning is strengthened. The sixth part is "Creating a Vocational Education Brand with Chinese Characteristics". Adhering to being rooted in China and integrating Chinese and foreign elements, by improving the level of Sino - foreign cooperative school - running, expanding Sino - foreign cooperation and exchange platforms, and promoting the going - out of vocational education, the international discourse power is enhanced, and China's stories are well - told and China's wisdom is contributed. The seventh part is "Organization and Implementation". It requires giving full play to the leading core role of Party committees at all levels in overall planning and coordinating all parties, strengthening institutional and financial guarantees, and creating a good atmosphere to ensure the actual effectiveness of the work.

　Question: How to strengthen the type characteristics of vocational education?

　　Answer: Characteristics determine vitality. The "Opinions" propose to strengthen the characteristics of vocational education as a distinct type from three aspects: consolidating the type positioning of vocational education, promoting vertical connectivity of vocational education at different levels, and facilitating horizontal integration of different types of education. Firstly, it is necessary to coordinate the coordinated development of vocational education and general education according to local conditions, accelerate the establishment of the "Vocational Education College Entrance Examination" system, improve the enrollment method of "cultural qualities + vocational skills", strengthen provincial-level coordination, and enhance theoretical research on vocational education. Secondly, it is essential to significantly improve the quality of secondary vocational education, promote quality improvement and excellence in higher vocational education, steadily develop vocational undergraduate education, design an integrated talent cultivation system for vocational education, and promote the connection of professional settings, cultivation objectives, curriculum systems, and cultivation plans at all levels of vocational education. Thirdly, it is required to strengthen the infiltration and integration of general education and vocational education at all educational stages, implement vocational enlightenment education in ordinary primary and secondary schools, and promote the mutual selection of courses and mutual recognition of credits between secondary vocational schools and general high schools, as well as between higher vocational schools and applied universities. A national qualification framework should be formulated to accelerate the construction of an education system that serves lifelong learning for all.

Question: How can we deepen the integration of industry and education?

　　Answer: Deepening the integration of industry and education is of great significance for comprehensively improving the quality of vocational education, expanding employment and entrepreneurship, promoting economic transformation and development, and cultivating new drivers of economic development. We should proactively adapt to the new situation of economic development and the new needs of the growth and success of technical and skilled talents, and improve the mechanism of integrating industry and education and collaborative education. The "Opinions" propose measures to improve the school-running system of integrating industry and education from three aspects. Firstly, optimize the supply structure of vocational education. Promote the formation of a professional system that is closely connected to the industrial chain and innovation chain, advance the co - construction of high - quality development zones for vocational education innovation by the ministry and provinces, continuously deepen the east - west cooperation in vocational education, and launch local pilot projects for the construction of a vocational education system in a skills - based society. Secondly, build a diversified school - running pattern with government overall management, active participation of industries and enterprises, and in - depth involvement of social forces. Improve systems such as state - owned asset evaluation, property rights transfer, equity distribution, and cadre and personnel management. Encourage all kinds of enterprises to participate in running vocational education in accordance with the law, and encourage vocational schools to cooperate with social capital to jointly build vocational education infrastructure and training bases. Thirdly, jointly promote in - depth integration of industry and education. Governments at all levels should include the integration of industry and education in the economic and social development plan. Build a number of pilot cities for the integration of industry and education, create a number of benchmark industries leading the integration of industry and education, and cultivate a number of industry - leading enterprises integrating industry and education.

Question: How can we promote the steady development of vocational undergraduate education?

　　Answer: The 'Opinions' propose to steadily develop vocational undergraduate education and build vocational undergraduate schools and majors to high standards. Vocational undergraduate education is at a critical starting stage, and it is necessary to adhere to steady development and control the pace of development. Next, we will follow the general requirements of 'high starting - point, high - standard, and high - quality', gradually improve the school and major setting standards, major catalogs, degree awarding and evaluation mechanisms, etc., and guide schools to adhere to their vocational nature and run schools in accordance with the laws of vocational education. We need to focus on handling three pairs of relationships. First, handle the relationship between speed and quality. On the one hand, we should strengthen top - level design, incorporate vocational undergraduate education into the overall plan of the education cause, clarify the positioning, clear the path, and promote orderly development; on the other hand, implement the setting standards for vocational undergraduate schools and majors, strictly abide by regulations and standards, and ensure the first step of school setting. Promote pilot projects to improve the school - running quality of existing vocational undergraduate schools, create models, select high - quality vocational colleges to offer vocational undergraduate education, and form a number of replicable and popularizable experience models to truly achieve quality improvement while maintaining stability. Second, handle the relationship between scale and efficiency. Expanding the scale of vocational undergraduate education in an orderly and reasonable manner is crucial for optimizing the system structure of vocational education and making up for development shortcomings. However, at the same time, we should avoid low - level redundant construction and break away from the traditional mindset and path dependence of pursuing efficiency through scale. Vocational undergraduate schools and majors should be preferentially arranged in areas urgently needed by high - end industries and new technological revolution areas to optimize the matching degree between the talent supply of schools and the talent demand of industries. Third, handle the relationship between upholding the right path and innovation. 'Upholding the right path' means adhering to the type positioning of vocational education and following the laws of vocational education school - running; 'innovation' means taking the lead in promoting the reform of education methods, school - running models, management systems, and guarantee mechanisms to play a leading role. On the one hand, we should firmly adhere to the vocational education school - running and education models of integrating industry and education, cooperation between schools and enterprises, combination of work and study, and unity of knowledge and practice, and continuously strengthen the type characteristics of vocational education. On the other hand, we should focus on the quality of talent cultivation, drive the construction of majors, courses, teaching staff, conditions, and culture, and promote the formation of a high - level technical and skilled talent cultivation system.

Question: How to implement the 'Opinions' to promote the high - quality development of modern vocational education?

　　Answer: To ensure the implementation of the 'Opinions' and promote the high - quality development of modern vocational education, first, we need to strengthen organizational leadership. Party committees and governments at all levels should place promoting the high - quality development of modern vocational education in a more prominent position and better support and assist the development of vocational education. The joint meeting of vocational education working departments should give full play to its role. The state will incorporate vocational education work into the supervision and evaluation of provincial governments' performance in fulfilling educational responsibilities. Each province will incorporate vocational education work into the assessment of local economic and social development. Second, we need to strengthen institutional guarantees. We should speed up the revision of the Vocational Education Law, and local areas should formulate and revise relevant local regulations in light of actual conditions. Newly added education funds should be tilted towards vocational education. It is strictly prohibited to offset the per - student allocation with tuition fees and social service income. Third, we need to optimize the development environment. We should strengthen positive publicity and carry forward the social fashion of glorifying labor, valuing skills, and respecting creation. We should open up channels for vocational school graduates in employment, household registration, recruitment, professional title evaluation, promotion, etc., so that they can enjoy the same treatment as graduates from ordinary schools. We should increase the incentive for technical and skilled talents and improve their social status.