From Sept 7 to 11, Losang Jamcan, vice-chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, led an inspection team to East China's Jiangxi province to inspect the implementation of the Vocational Education Law.

During the inspection, he fully affirmed Jiangxi's achievements in implementing the Vocational Education Law and advancing vocational education reform and development. He noted that vocational education is the type of education most closely and directly connected with the economy and society, and that the more the economy and society develop, the more high-quality vocational education is needed.

Taking the opportunity presented by a joint initiative of the ministries and commissions of the central government and the province to build a national highland for innovative development of vocational education, Jiangxi has leveraged its own characteristics and strengths to achieve positive results in optimizing the structure and layout of vocational education, deepening the integration of industry and education, strengthening quality-oriented development and refining policies and measures, he said.

He stressed that as the new round of sci-tech revolution and industrial transformation accelerates, vocational education serves as a foundational project for cultivating high-quality skilled personnel, skilled craftsmen and master craftsmen.

He called for taking this law enforcement inspection as an opportunity to further raise political awareness, fully recognize the importance, arduousness, and urgency of accelerating the development of vocational education, and promote its high-quality development with greater efforts and more pragmatic measures, so as to provide solid talent support for Chinese modernization.

He pointed out that in recent years, China's vocational education has achieved historic leaps and remarkable accomplishments, establishing the world's largest vocational education system and forging a development path with Chinese characteristics. At the same time, he noted, it must be clearly recognized that many difficulties and problems remain in the implementation of the law. The purpose of this inspection is to target these problems, promote coordination among all relevant parties, and overcome bottlenecks constraining vocational education reform and development using the rule of law and law-based thinking, he said.

He urged efforts to give full play to the government's role in overall planning and management, the principal role of enterprises as major providers of education to explore innovative models for cultivating skilled personnel, and the role of industry organizations in providing service and guidance to effectively align talent supply with demand. It is also important to enhance publicity and social coordination to optimize the environment for the development of vocational education, he added.

During their stay in Jiangxi, the inspection team held a symposium in Nanchang, the provincial capital, on the implementation of the Vocational Education Law and listened to relevant reports, opinions and suggestions. They conducted on-site inspections of vocational schools, enterprises, vocational skills training institutions, and municipal industry-education consortia in the cities of Nanchang and Ganzhou to gain a detailed understanding of the implementation of the law. The team also carried out random inspections.