Vocational schools provide talent as city works to be innovation hub
Print Edition
SHANGHAI’S campaign to become a scientific and technical innovation hub doesn’t rely only on talent churned out by academic universities.
It also needs people like 19-year-old Luo Liang, the son of migrant workers from southwest China’s Sichuan Province, who never had a prayer of going to college and chose vocational education instead.
His forte is auto body repair.
As testament to his skills, the Yangpu Vocational Technical School graduate is on track to receive a Shanghai permanent residency card — a feat normally difficult for vocational school graduates born outside of Shanghai.
Human resources authorities said Luo’s application for hukou, or permanent residency, is being expedited through a “green channel” in recognition of his repair skills and his winning a silver medal last August in the WorldSkills Competition in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
It was the first time a Shanghai contestant won a medal in what the biennial competition, which is an Olympics-style event in manual skills for young people.
In Shanghai, out-of-town students can apply for hukou upon graduation, but only those with high grades stand a chance. Vocational training normally doesn’t give candidates the level of credentials they need.
“Even many academic graduates fail every year, not to mention vocational school students,” said Zhang Lan, deputy director of the Shanghai Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.
The alternative is to wait for seven years to upgrade temporary resident permits to permanent ones. But during those seven years, the applicants have to pay social security fees and taxes while they seek more training or professional qualifications.
“Luo will be an example to inspire other students to pursue their interests and talent, even if that doesn’t take them to mainstream high schools and universities,” said Zhang. “Vocational students have bright future if they work hard.”
Luo came to Shanghai in 2003 from Sichuan with his parents, who are both migrant workers. He studied in local primary and middle schools, but couldn’t enroll in local public high schools because of his residency status.
“Tuition in private high schools was too high,” Luo told Shanghai Daily. “And my academic performance was just so-so. It was hard for me to compete with the caliber or students bound for good universities.”
So he turned to vocational training.
“I am interested in cars, so I chose to study auto body repair,” he said, “I figured I could find a job in a body shop or an auto parts store after graduation.”
His talent was quickly recognized by his teachers at Yangpu Vocational Technical School.
“He was gifted and quick to learn in his first year,” said Zhou Zhichao, vice principal of the school. “And he was willing to work hard. So we selected him to be trained up to participate in the WorldSkills Competition.”
Luo had to spend all his after-class time with trainers for two years, learning basic knowledge and practicing operational skills. His training team included technical staff from the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, which provided bodies and parts from several car models for him to practice on.
He also underwent training to improve his endurance and muscle power because some tool machinery is heavy, and the 22-hour competition requires contestants to operate tools with stability and precision.
A welding machine, for example, weighs over 20 kilograms, and the tolerated error margin in welding specifications is 2 millimeters.
After winning his silver medal in Brazil, Luo received a combined 365,000 yuan (US$56,480) from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in Beijing, its Shanghai counterpart, the district government of Yangpu and SAIC. He was also issued a technician’s certificate, placing him in the second-highest of five tiers for technical workers in China.
Luo began working at SAIC in October. He’s in the company’s research and development center, where engineers turn designs into car parts and vehicles.
“I never expected to work in a company as large as SAIC,” said Luo. “My mentor there is very skilled and gives me excellent guidance.”
“We believe he has a promising future if he continues to work hard,” said Xue Yun, a career development supervisor at SAIC.
Shanghai has an estimated 250,000 students enrolled in vocational schools.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
