Over 600 Chinese Universities To Be Transformed Into polytechnics

More than 600 higher education institutions in China will be transformed into vocational-oriented colleges or polytechnics to develop more graduates ready to be recruited as technicians, our sister paper Want Daily reported on May 13.

There are only “universities” and “colleges” in China 1t present but many universities are considering converting to polytechnic institutes for the future development of the country’s technical professionals. There will be a total of 7.27 million university graduates this year but many business owners have experienced dificulties recruiting people with the skills they need because “university graduates would rather be jobless rather than be recruited as technicians.”

While university graduates have the option of proceeding to graduate school, no further degree programs exist for college graduates. For this reason many Chinese parents believe that their children will be able to make more money if they go to university instead of to a college.

Lu Xin, China’s deputy minister of education, said more than 600 schools out of the country’s 2,442 universities and colleges will make the switch. The ministry has been aware that many college graduates are discriminated against and feel undervalued compared to their counterparts from universities, Lu said, which is also a major reason to make the change.