Vocational, tech schools benefit from int'l co-op (3)

"But now I've added panel discussions, presentations and case study sessions to our class. And I can see that the students have become more interested and active in class."

A report about China's vocational and technical education from 2002 to 2012, released in October, provides a few examples of international cooperation in that field of education in the past decade.

For example, China and Australia together held a vocational education and training program in 2002 in Chongqing. The program, which was authorized and carried out by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Education, the Chongqing government and the Australian Agency for International Development, ended in 2007.

More than 30 schools in Chongqing participated in a trial project with the Australia Technical and Further Education Institutes.

Australia invested nearly A$20 million ($20.7 million) in the program, and China invested A$5 million.

The Education Ministry also cooperates with countries including Germany, Australia and the United States to increase the number of teachers' exchange and training programs. Vocational education has developed rapidly in the past decade.

Nearly 73 million students graduated from vocational and technical schools in those 10 years. The employment rate among graduates of secondary vocational and technical schools stands at more than 95 percent, and that of higher vocational and technical schools at 87 percent, according to the report.