Document of

The World Bank

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Report No. 16759

IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT

CHINA

VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROJECT

(CREDIT 2114-CHA)

May 29, 1997

Rural and Social Development Operations DivisionChina and Mongolia DepartmentEast Asia and Pacific Regional Office

This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in theperformance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without

World Bank authorization.

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CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS

Currency Unit = Yuan (Y)

1989 $1= Y 3.761990 $1= Y 4.781991 $1=Y5.321992 $1= Y 5.421993 $1= Y 5.731994 $1= Y 8.50

FISCAL YEAR-

January 1 - December 31

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

Metric System

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

FILO - Foreign Investnent and Loan OfficeFRG - Federal Republic of GennanyGSS - General Secondary SchoolGTZ - German Agency for Technical CooperationICR - Implementation Completion ReportMEdC - Municipal Education CommissionMOL - Ministry of LaborPEdC - Provincial Education CommissionPIO - Project Implementation OfficePPI - Proposed Project InstitutionR&D - Research and DevelopmentSAR - Staff Appraisal ReportSEdC - State Education CommissionSOE - Statement of ExpenditureSTS - Secondary Technical SchoolSVS - Secondary Vocational SchoolSWS - Skilled Workers SchoolTA - Technical AssistanceTTC - Technical Teacher Training CollegeTTD - University Technical Teacher Training DepartmentUBE - Universal Basic EducationVTC - Vocational Training CenterVTE - Vocational and Technical Education

GLOSSARY

Key Provinces: Municipalities of Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, and Provinces ofJiangsu and Liaoning are called Key Provinces in this report.

Vice President : Jean Michel Severino, EAPDirector : Nicholas C. Hope, EA2Division Chief Joseph Goldberg, EA2Staff Member : Dingyong Hou, Consultant, EA2RS

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

CONTENTS

PREFACE .................................................... iii

EVALUATION SUMMARY ..................................................... v

PART I. IMPLEMENTATION ASSESSMENT ..................................................... 1

A. Project Objectives and Description ..................................................... 1B. Achievement of Objectives ..................................................... 2C. Major Factors Affecting the Project ..................................................... 7D. Project Sustainability ..................................................... 8E. IDA Performance ..................................................... 8F. Borrower Perfornance ..................................................... 9G. Assessment of Outcome .................................................... 10H. Future Operation ..................................................... 1.1I. Lessons Learned ..................................................... 11

PART II: STATISTICAL TABLES .................................................... 12

Table 1: Summary of Assessments .................................................... 12Table 2: Related Bank Loans/Credits .................................................... 13Table 3: Project Timetable .................................................... 14Table 4: Loan/Credit Disbursement: Cumulative Estimate and Actual ....................... 15Table 5: Key Indicators for Project Implementation .................................................... 15Table 6: Key Indicators For Project Operations .................................................... 16Table 8a: Project Costs .................................................... 18Table 8b: Project Costs .................................................... 19Table 8c: Project Financing .................................................... 19Table 10: Status of Legal Covenants .................................................... 20Table 11: Compliance with Operational Manual Statements ....................................... 21Table 12: Bank Resources: Staff Inputs .................................................... 21Table 13: Bank Resources: Missions .................................................... 21

ANNEX A: BORROWER'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE ICR ....................................... 22

This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in theperformance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed withoutWorld Bank authorization.

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ANNEX B: ICR MISSION'S AIDE MEMOIRE ................................. 25

ANNEX C: OPERATION PLAN ................................. 33

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IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT

CHINA

Vocational and Technical Education Project

CREDIT 2114-CHA

PREFACE

This is the Implementation Completion Report (ICR) for the Vocational andTechnical Education Project in China, for which Credit 2114-CHA in the amount ofSDR 38.5 million ($50 million equivalent) was approved on March 27, 1990 and madeeffective on August 21, 1990. The credit was closed on December 31, 1996. Funds werefully disbursed, and the last disbursement took place on February 25, 1997.

The ICR was prepared by Dingyong Hou, Rene Welter and Jan Segerstrom in theRural and Social Development Operations Division, China and Mongolia Department ofthe East Asia and Pacific Region, and reviewed by Joseph Goldberg, Chief, EA2RS andYo Kimura, Project Advisor, EA2DR.

Preparation of this ICR was begun during the Bank's final supervision mission inJune 1996, and an ICR mission in December 1996. The ICR is based on materials in theproject file. The Borrower contributed to the preparation of the ICR by providing viewsreflected in the mission's aide-memoire, preparing its own evaluation of the project'sexecution and initial preparation, and commenting on the draft ICR.

CHINA

Vocational and Technical Education Project

(CREDIT 2114-CHA)

EVALUATION SUMMARY

Project Objectives and Description

1. The main objectives of the project were to expand, upgrade and increase theefficiency of the secondary vocational and technical education (VTE) system with emphasison improvements in the quality of the system, including its institutions at all levels. Theproject concentrated on five highly industrialized provinces and municipalities' while alsocovering eight other provinces. The project included four components: (a) construction,laboratory and workshop equipment, library books and teaching materials, and relatedtechnical assistance for 59 secondary VTE schools in 10 provinces and 3 municipalities todevelop into vocational training centers (VTC) which would serve as models for furtherdevelopment of VTE; (b) similar provision as in (a) above for 9 technical teacher trainingcolleges (TTCs) and 3 university technical teacher training departments (TTDs) to expandenrollments and upgrade the quality of laboratory and workshop instruction; (c) strengthenthe management of the VTE system at all levels through technical assistance (TA); and(d) equipment and technical assistance required to establish a national and two regionalVTE research and development (R&D) centers to research and recommend policy measuresto improve the quality, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of the VTE system. Assistance forthe latter component was provided through parallel financing by the then Federal Republicof Germany through the German agency for technical cooperation, GTZ.

Implementation Experience and Results

2. Negotiations for the project were completed early in May 1989 and Boardpresentation was initially scheduled for mid-June of the same year. This was delayed toMarch 27, 1990 due to the delays experienced during the previous year in presenting Chinaprojects to the Board. Local funding, however, was not affected during the abeyanceperiod, thus allowing civil works, furniture procurement and some local training to proceedas originally planned. Once the project was declared effective on September 21, 1990,implementation proceeded smoothly. The high inflation prevalent since 1990, coupled withdepreciation of the local currency against the US dollar did not appear to affectimplementation substantially. (The exchange rate was 1:3.8 between the dollar and theYuan at appraisal and was 1:8.3 at project completion.) A likely cause was the fact thatmost civil works to be financed by counterpart funding were completed early in theimplementation cycle, mostly within the first and second year of implementation and before

1 The highly industrialized jurisdictions were Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Liaoning and Jiangsu.

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the inflationary trend could have major repercussions. The local governments were able tosecure the planned counterpart funding. A one-year extension of the closing date wasgranted (from 31/12/95-31/12/96), in order to allow for the completion of the trainingprogram and the procurement of computers. As a result of the extension and upon requestfrom the Government, reallocations between categories of Credit funds were made to reflectminor changes, some allocation for training was transferred to equipment, but did notinvolve any use of savings or any change in the project description.

Summary of Findings, Future Operations, and Key Lessons Learned

3. Overall Outcome. The project is rated generally satisfactory in that it initiated aprocess of quality and efficiency improvements in the VTE system that are nowaccelerating with the pace of economic reform. The most important external factor indetermining the success of the project has been the growth of the economy with strongdemand for the schools' graduates. Also contributing to this outcome were a number ofimportant reforms of the VTE system introduced by the government during the projectperiod, including: the elimination of guaranteed employment and assignment of graduates;encouragement for progressive increase in the number of and proportion of studentssponsored by enterprises and by self-support fee payment, improvement of teachers'qualifications, and improved conditions of services, and adoption of a national VocationalEducation Law. With the exceptions noted (paras. 13, 14, 17, 18), the developmentobjectives were relevant and achieved.

4. The transformation of 59 selected schools within the vocational system in 12provinces and municipalities into Vocational Training Centers or "centers of excellence,"through the proceeds of about 80 percent of the Credit, thus enabling a very significantincrease in enrollments and internal efficiency gains, has been a major achievement of theproject. Of equal importance is the fact that all graduates have been gainfully employed andthat, through establishment of Industrial Liaison Committees, more flexibility has beenintroduced in the curriculum as well as the new institutions receiving increasing financialassistance from industry. Similar achievements can be reported on the teacher traininginstitutions with respect to facilities, equipment, and enrollments. On practice-orientedcurriculum development and the "training of trainers," the introduction of system efficiencymeasures and indicators points toward evolution and changes already in place. The threeresearch and development centers were established with some delay due to externalfinancing issues. GTZ, on behalf of the German government which provided parallelfinancing for these centers, conducted an implementation review in March 1997 and sharedwith the Bank a summary of its findings. The GTZ review found the componentsatisfactory but noted issues in recruiting qualified VTE research specialists and provisionof project staff. Training for the VTCs and TTCs included overseas fellowships and in-country workshops were provided through a program with Ohio State University. Formanagement training, the programs were implemented as planned. The TA program wasimplemented mostly in terms of number of trainees, while some weaknesses in quality andappropriateness were observed. Other weaknesses identified were related to the difficultyof measuring improvements in teaching or improvements in management as a result of

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teacher and management training for the absence of a more effective monitoring andevaluation system and some aspects of project management.

5. Sustainability. The probability of maintaining the project's achievements in termsof expansion of the VTE system is high due to the demand for skilled manpower generatedby an economy in expansion, industry and state-owned enterprises absorbing the fullcomplement of graduates produced by the system and industry's growing share of trainingcosts (50 percent). Because of this strong demand and its economic impact, upgrading andefficiency of the system is part of a continuing process of reform the project was able tofacilitate. Since the major part of funding of secondary vocational and technical educationhas gradually shifted to the provinces and industry which are assuming full financialresponsibility, sustainability could also be seen on a case by case basis and according to theeconomic development of each region. Most of the schools supported by the projectbecame national or provincial "key schools," which very often receive priority funding fromlocal governments both in recurrent and capital expenditures. In the case of Jiangsu, one ofthe fast-growing provinces with high demand for skilled labor, the provincial governmenthas established an earmarked vocational training fund for the next five years. The fund willbe used to finance physical expansion and maintenance and qualitative improvements in itsVTE institutions, for which the project schools would be able to compete along with otherinstitutions. The fact that five out of twelve participating provinces are also involved in theVocational Education Reform Project speaks highly for sustainability, while the remainingseven are now experiencing high demand for skills provided by project schools and havealso proven their high commitrnent to the project and its objectives.

6. Future Operations. The project Operation Plan provides a Government strategywith respect to the development and reform of vocational education and its plans to sustainthe project impact in project institutions and replicate to nonproject institutions. Thelessons learned from implementing this project are reflected and integrated in the design ofthe Vocational Education Reform Project, approved in July 1997, which capitalizes on theexperience and strength provided by the Vocational and Technical Education Project.

7. Lessons Learned. The main lessons learned from the project are: (a)establishment of Industrial Liaison Committees is a useful vehicle in promoting increasedparticipation of industries and in advising VTE training institutions on policy, financingand curricula renewal in response to market demand; (para. 7b) (b) a monitoring andevaluation system is essential to track implementation and assess project impact. Under thisoperation, the design of project performance indicators should have focused on projectimpact and results on the ground rather than only quantitative targets. The extent of thisproject's quite apparent improvements in VTE training quality could therefore not besystematically monitored during implementation. (para. 15); and (c) under the project,more supervision resources, both in terms of staff time and appropriate technicalexpertise, should have been provided by IDA. Heavy supervision is essential during theearly years of implementation with a focus on sectoral issues rather than processes in bothsupervision and reporting. (para.24)

IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT

CHINA

VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROJECT

(CREDIT 2114-CHA)

PART I. IMPLEMENTATION ASSESSMENT

A. PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION

1. Objectives. The main objectives of the project were to expand, upgrade andincrease the efficiency of the secondary vocational and technical education (VTE) systemwith emphasis on improvements in the quality of the system, including its institutions at alllevels. The project concentrated on five highly industrialized provinces and municipalities2

while also covering eight other provinces.3

2. Project Components. The project included four components:

(a) Assist 59 secondary VTE schools in 9 provinces and 3 municipalities todevelop into vocational training centers (VTC) serving as models for furtherdevelopment of VTE through the provision of construction, laboratory andworkshop equipment, library books and teaching materials, and relatedtechnical assistance;

(b) Provide similar inputs as in (a) to 9 technical teacher training colleges(TTCs) and 3 university technical teacher training departments (TfDs) toexpand enrollments and upgrade the quality of laboratory and workshopinstruction;

(c) Strengthen the management of the VTE system at all levels throughtechnical assistance (TA); and

(d) Provide equipment and technical assistance required to establish a nationaland two regional VTE research and development (R&D) centers to researchand recommend policy measures to improve the quality, efficiency, andcost-effectiveness of the VTE system. Assistance for this component wasprovided through parallel financing by the then Federal Republic ofGermany (through the GTZ, The German agency for technical cooperation).

2 The highly industrialized jurisdictions were Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Liaoning and Jiangsu.

3 The eight other jurisdictions were Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Fujian,Guangdong.

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3. Despite extensive prior lending operations of the Bank Group in Chinese education,this was the first vocational and technical education project in China, which was initiatedthrough a sector study carried out late in 1986, followed within months by a Bank projectpreparation mission in 1987. The project concept and objectives were generally welldesigned and appropriate to the Government's strategy to expand and upgrade the VTEsystem to meet the growing demands for technical manpower. However, in terms of theresearch and development component and overall technical assistance, expected outcomescould have been more clearly outlined. Also, the inclusion of eight additional provinces tothe five key provinces spread available resources too thinly.

B. ACHIEVEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

Component One-Vocational Training Centers

4. General. The development of the Vocational Training Centers (VTCs), a majorcomponent of the project, absorbed about 65 percent of project funds. The financing ofconstruction, lab and workshop equipment, training materials and technical assistanceenabled 59 selected secondary vocational schools (SVSs), secondary technical schools(STSs) and skilled workers schools (SWSs) from 13 provinces and municipalities to buildup capacity, initiate improvements and transform from a group of traditional narrowlyspecialized, poorly equipped and exclusive preservice VET schools into a new generation ofmultifunctional and adequately equipped training centers. Of the above schools, 31 or 53percent of the total were located in the 5 highly industrialized provinces/municipalitiesreferred to as key provinces. Graduates from project schools have to a very high degreebeen employed in industry in positions they have trained for.

5. Infrastructure. Construction, mostly of laboratory and workshop facilitiesrequired to enable the above transition to take place, has been very satisfactory. Entirelyfinanced by counterpart funds and implemented early in the project, planned areas havelargely been exceeded and user satisfaction is quite positive as verified during site visits to arepresentative sample of institutions. Similarly, in terms of equipment and trainingmaterials, the outcome has been very positive. The institutions have been upgraded to alevel appropriate to the country's present level of industrialization and meet the demandsfor classrooms, laboratories, workshop and practice equipment as required by thecurriculum.

6. Quantitative Expansion. In response to the demand for skilled workers, theproject set out as one of its essential goals the expansion of regular enrollment at theselected 59 schools. Based on data from all the institutions, full time enrollment increasedby about 98 percent over the period 1988-1995 from 43,052 to 87,019. The project also setout to expand inservice training enrollments and to make the equipment and facilitiesavailable to students from nearby schools. Expansion of enrollment in short and part-timeupgrading and retraining programs increased by about 620 percent from 11,929 to 73,886annually, compared with an expected increase of about 330 percent. These courses wereexpanded more rapidly than estimated at appraisal in response to a heavy demand for theseskills from industry.

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7. Qualitative Improvements. A fundamental goal of the project, while supportingthe expansion of capacity, was to improve the quality of teaching, curriculum developmentand management processes by piloting a package of quality improvement measures.Reports from the VTCs also indicate efficiency improvements in specific areas designedunder the project and grouped under (a) immediately below:

(a) improvement in the utilization rates of facilities and equipment, which havedoubled, averaging about 90 percent of the target set in the SAR; weeklyteaching contact hours for technical teachers, which ranged from 6-10 hoursat the time of appraisal, have been increased to an overall average of 14hours. This increase has also been a factor in increasing student/staff ratiofrom an average of 9/1 to about 14/1, thus allowing for increased enrollmentwithout corresponding increases in staffing; the proportion of nonteachingstaff in the institutions has been reduced, with the ratio of teachers to non-teaching staff increasing from about 1.4/1 to a value of 1.9/1.

(b) a process was initiated to improve the participation of industry and fostercloser links between employers and training providers through establishingIndustrial Liaison Committees at each project school. These committeesappear to have had successful outcomes including: assistance withplacement of trainees for industrial training as part of their trainingprograms, sponsorship of trainees and associated payment of tuition fees,donation of funds and equipment, advice on training needs, and employmentopportunities for graduates.

(c) institutions are able to provide facilities for conduct of most of the practicalexercises required by the curriculum. Attempts were made in many schoolsto diversify the mode of delivery by mounting new, short term, quick andtailor-made courses to market demands, particularly in their inservice andcontract training programs. The project schools possess greater flexibility todevelop and revise their curricula and syllabus within a broader frameworkset by national and provincial authorities and in response to demand forskilled manpower. Practice has been prioritized in the total curriculumrequirement compared to a previous theory oriented curriculum. Also, newcourses have been established in Secondary Vocational Schools to satisfydemand from industry.

(d) the majority of institutions have set up arrangements for student counseling,particularly to assist with job placement following the gradual elimination ofthe system of guaranteed employment which prevailed, particularly at theSTSs, at the time of project appraisal; and

(e) project institutions have supported nonproject institutions in a number ofways, including making available their upgraded specialist laboratories andworkshop facilities to the trainees of those schools, and providing training

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for their teachers. It appears that typically such dissemination activitiesaccount for 5-10 percent of the project institutions' total work program.

8. Assessment. In this major component of the project, quantitative expansion inregular enrollments and even more in short-term/part time training exceeded allexpectations and targets set at appraisal. The full employment of graduates from projectinstitutions, in response to economic development and industrial expansion, was a verypositive and important outcome as well as the closer and more responsive links between theVTCs and industry, which is also taking on an increasing share in the financing of theseinstitutions. Despite many efficiency improvements, continuing effort is needed in theareas of improved curriculum and better trained teachers. Nonetheless, project-initiatedchanges have had a positive impact on the participating institutions in terms of theirmanagement, operations and, to a lesser extent, teaching processes, including utilization offacilities and equipment. The impact is likely to be sustained in their future operations andwith high probability can be replicated through effective dissemination.

Component Two-Technical Teacher Training

9. General. Complementing the expansion and quality improvement of theVocational Training Centers, the project also assisted the technical teacher education systemto provide an adequate supply of well trained technical teachers. Since most of theindustrialized provinces had a Teacher Training Center (TTC) or Technical TeacherTraining Department (TTD) attached to a university, the project supported 12 TTCs orTTDs in the relevant provinces. This support, utilizing about 25 percent of funds allocatedto the project, included: (a) provision of civil works; (b) procurement of workshop andlaboratory equipment; (c) teaching materials including books; and (d) a technical assistancecomponent consisting of overseas and domestic staff development programs. These inputshave enabled the institutions to complete 100 percent of all lab/workshop exercisesprescribed by the curriculum and to improve the quality of their instructional programswhile greatly increasing their enrollments.

10. Infrastructure. The process of upgrading and equipping facilities for both TTCsand VTCs was very similar and the implementation process for both types of institutionsfollowed very much the same course. As for the VTCs (para. 5), physical expansion andprocurement of equipment and materials have been successful and the same commentsapply.

11. Quantitative Expansion. As a result of the resources provided for expansion of theTTCs and TTDs, the enrollment of students increased according to targets and in manycases exceeded them. Preservice student enrollment in the key provinces increased from5,200 in 1988 to 10,784 in 1996, while in the other seven provinces the figures were 6,400in 1988 and 14,477 in 1996, respectively. In terms of preservice training, the key provincesrecorded enrollments of 1,300 in 1988 against 5,902 in 1996. At the same time, theenrollment for inservice students went from 1,000 in 1988 to 3,828 in 1996. Altogether,preservice enrollment of 11,500 in 1988 was forecast to rise to 21,500 by the end of theproject, whereas the final number in 1996 reached 25,261. The corresponding enrollment

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for inservice training was 2,300 in 1988, forecast at 10,000 by 1994, but reached only 9,730in 1996. In addition, enrollments at the 12 project TTCs and TTDs, which have providedtraining for students in less developed provinces, were forecast at about 5,000 annually by1994, but reached 4,900 in 1996 instead.

12. Qualitative Improvements. Through the TA program, trainers benefited fromoutside training both overseas and in the one-year national programs. While a positiveinitial step, effectiveness of the training is difficult to measure in terms of improvement inteaching methods as a result of training. Efficiency measures and indicators, common toboth VTCs and TTCs, which were introduced in the project and described under para.7above for the VTC component, point toward quality improvements. The new facilities andnew equipment greatly facilitated lab/workshop practice. Curriculum changes have beeninitiated but do not yet fully reflect the new approach.

13. Assessment In the technical education system analysis in the SAR, it was statedthat technical teacher training needed upgrading and that a high percentage of the coursework was to be conducted in classrooms and lecture halls as theoretical instruction while arather small part was allocated to practice, such as workshop and laboratory practice and,very importantly, industrial and teaching practice. It is of crucial importance that futureteachers, assigned to instruct and train skilled workers for industry, should have thepractical skills to carry out this assignment. The provisions under the project have initiatedthe process of change but have not yet substantially changed the mode of operation of theTTCs and TTDs, and continuing curriculum reform, to reflect the necessary practicalelements of technical teacher training, would be a very high priority. In this context, itwould also be important that the "trainers of trainers" should have the background andexperience to follow a new curriculum which would be technically and practically orientedwith much less academic and theoretical content.

Component Three-Upgrading of Management

14. General. The primary objective was to improve management of the VTE system atthe national, provincial, municipal, and project institution levels. It was aimed at the topVTE echelons including officials of the State Education Commission (SEdC), ProvincialEducation Commissions (PEdCs) and Municipal Education Commissions (MEdCs) withemphasis on management principles related to enrollment planning, data processing andanalysis, VTE financial and personnel management, evaluation of curricula, VTEinstitutions and standards of graduates, facility and equipment planning. Less han 1percent of project resources were allocated to this component which nevertheless providedextensive local and overseas training programs for VTE administrators at all levels andspecialist services.

15. Assessment. Although the training programs were implemented as planned, theireffectiveness was difficult to assess fully because of the absence of assistance forestablishing improved systems, including the provision of hardware and software andcomprehensive training of administrative support staff. The vocational educationdepartment of SEdC and the Central Research Institute designed and pilot tested a set of

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instruments for evaluation of training performance, these appear not to have been fullyimplemented on a routine basis.

IDA Financed Technical Assistance

16. The IDA-financed technical assistance was similar for all three components.Technical assistance was provided overseas and in-country as consultant services and long-and short-term staff training for key teachers and principals, including some overseas studytours. Consultants, both domestic and international, conducted seminars for institutionalstaff in the VTCs and the TTC/TTDs (about 40 man-months of international experts andabout 1,020 man-months of domestic consultants). As regards short term staff training,provisions were made for one, two and three months training benefiting about 2,200 staffthrough domestic training focusing on instructor and management training as well asindustrial practice. Long-term training, about one year, mainly in pedagogic and instructionmethods, was given in-country to about 2,000 teachers and trainers from VTCs and TTCs,respectively. Another 80 staff, mainly teachers, teacher trainers and principals from theVTCs and TTCtlTDs, went through one-year training programs overseas. Also, about 35administrative staff participated in a three week study tour abroad to study VTE systems inother industrialized countries.

17. The foreign part of the technical assistance was executed by Ohio State University.For a variety of reasons, mostly foreign language capability, the fellowship program fellshort of the target set at appraisal by about 20 percent which were converted into localtraining. The foreign consultant-led seminars were completed as planned, but the selectionof participants did not take sufficient note of prerequisite knowledge and skills. Thenecessary Chinese-English interpretation during the seminars was in many instancesinadequate, since interpreters often lacked knowledge of the subject matter being discussed.This raises concern whether this type of seminar is an effective method of transferringknowledge and skills. As regards the domestic training, the targets were met, although farfrom the full amount allocated was utilized because costs were overestimated at appraisaland higher cost efficiency was achieved. As a result, some funds were reallocated to theequipment category in connection with the extension of the Credit closing in late 1995.

Component Four-VTE Research and Development Centers

18. General. The objective of the component was to develop a research anddevelopment (R & D) capability to address the problems of the VTE system, includinguneconomical use of facilities and equipment, imbalances between teaching andnonteaching staff, inadequate links with industry and a narrowly based curriculum. Theproject assisted in the establishment of a national R & D center in Beijing and two regionalcenters located in Tianjin and Shanghai. No new construction was required since the R &D centers were established in existing institutions. The project therefore included onlyequipment, books and periodicals, and related technical assistance representing about 10percent of the project, which was provided on a grant basis and through parallel financingfrom the Federal Republic of Germany.

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19. Implementation. The National Center was established in Beijing and one regionalcenter in Shanghai. The third center, originally planned for Tianjin as a regional centerunder the Ministry of Labor (MOL), was later transferred to SEdC and located in Shenyang,Liaoning province. A steering committee for the centers was established with membershipfrom SEdC and MOL. The roles and functions for the three centers were planned in greatdetail and the National Center in Beijing was to be the coordinating center. Major activitiesfor the centers were inter alia: linkages with industry related to trainee performance andgeneral feedback, curriculum review, job analysis, development of new programs and moreeffective utilization of workshop and laboratory equipment. Implementation of thecomponent was delayed for a number of reasons, including MOL's decision not toparticipate. Secondly, recruiting the necessary research staff for the centers proved difficultand SAR targets for staffing were not met. Despite the foregoing, the National Centerprepared the framework and details for a national vocational education law, which wasapproved by the Government in June 1996. The same center is responsible for preparation,with the VTE department, of annual reports on Vocational Education and the first report for1995 was published in Chinese and English. The center also publishes a monthly journalon vocational education with a circulation of 40,000 copies. It has also been reported thatthe center has been given an increased role in national policy formulation and developmentin association with the VTE department. Most of the research staff has been trained inGermany and the technical assistance team also comes from Germany.

20. Assessment. The evolution and late inclusion in the project of this research anddevelopment component, after the overall financing plan of the project had been agreed toin principle, required seeking external financing to accommodate the component, placed itoutside IDA control, and resulted in some implementation delays. GTZ, on behalf of theGerman government, conducted an implementation review of the three centers in March1997, and shared with the Bank a summary of its findings. The GTZ review of thecomponent found it satisfactory but noted issues in recruiting qualified VTE researchspecialists and provision of project staff as constraints in the implementation. While theimprovement made in the later stage of project implementation and the infrastructure theproject helped create in these centers, provide a base to be capitalized on, the expectedoutcome of this component could have better supported formulation of VTE policy andrelated strategy, considering demand from employers.

C. MAJOR FACTORS AFFECTING THE PROJECT

21. Implementation-Record. Negotiations for the project were completed early inMay 1989 and Board presentation was initially scheduled for mid-June of the same year.This was delayed to March 27, 1990 due to the delays experienced during the previous yearin presenting China projects to the Board. Local funding, however, was not affected duringthe abeyance period, thus allowing civil works, furniture procurement and some localtraining to proceed as originally planned. Once the project was declared effective onSeptember 21, 1990, implementation proceeded smoothly. The high inflation prevalentsince 1990, coupled with depreciation of the local currency against the dollar did not appearto affect implementation substantially. (The exchange rate was 1:3.8 between the dollar and

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the Yuan at appraisal and was 1:8.3 at project completion.) A likely cause was the fact thatmost civil works to be financed by counterpart funding were completed early in theimplementation cycle, mostly within the first and second year of implementation and beforethe inflationary trend could have major repercussions. The local governments were able tosecure the planned counterpart funding. A one-year extension of the closing date wasgranted (from 12/31/95-12/31/96), in order to allow for the completion of the trainingprogram and the procurement of computers. As a result of the extension and upon requestfrom the Government, reallocations between categories of Credit funds were made to reflectminor changes, some allocation for training was transferred to equipment, but did notinvolve any use of savings or any change in the project description.

D. PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY

22. The probability of maintaining the project's achievements in terms of expansion ofthe VET system is high due to the demand for skilled manpower generated by an economyin expansion, industry and SOEs absorbing the full complement of graduates produced bythe system and industry's growing share of training costs (50 percent). Because of thisstrong demand and its economic impact, upgrading and efficiency of the system is part of acontinuing process of reform the project was able to facilitate. Since the major part offunding of secondary vocational and technical education has gradually shifted to theprovinces and industry, which are assuming full financial responsibility, sustainability couldalso be seen on a case by case basis and according to the economic development of eachregion. Most of the schools supported by the project became national or provincial "keyschools" which very often receive priority funding from local governments both in recurrentand capital expenditures. In the case of Jiangsu, one of the fast-growing provinces withhigh demand for skilled labor, the provincial government has established an earmarkedvocational training fund for the next five years. This fund will be used to finance physicalexpansion and maintenance and qualitative improvements in its VTE institutions, for whichthe project schools would be able to compete along with other institutions. The fact thatfive out of twelve participating provinces are also involved in the Vocational EducationReform Project speaks highly for sustainability, while the remaining seven are nowexperiencing high demand for skills provided by project schools and have also proven theircommitment to the project and its objectives.

E. IDA PERFORMANCE

23. When China decided to expand vocational education, a sector dialogue was initiatedwith IDA which provided guidance, initially through the findings of the sector study,followed by the formulation and development of the project. Although there was consensuson the objectives, there was some divergence of views on project design. The Governmentwanted to maximize project resources over a greater number of provinces and institutions,while IDA's position was one of concentration in fewer provinces, resulting in manageablesupervision. The project resulted from a compromise where eight provinces were added tothe initial five key provinces. Also, the relatively late inclusion in the project of theresearch and development centers (between preappraisal and appraisal), after the overall

9

financing plan of the project had been agreed to in principle, required seeking externalfinancing to accommodate the component.

24. Project generation from the early stages of identification and preparation toappraisal was carried out satisfactorily by IDA in terms of development and processing ofthe project as well as completing these stages in a timely manner. IDA staff and consultantsassigned to these tasks, in terms of numbers and skill mix, were also appropriate. Projectsupervision, however, was deficient with only three missions carried out during more than42 months from October 1990 (project effectiveness) to May 1994. Supervisioncoefficients during this period varied from one to two staff/weeks in the field per yearwithout the professional expertise required to assess and advise the Borrower. This situationwas beyond the control of the staff involved who, apart from the VTE project,simultaneously supervised up to three other projects in the course of a single mission orcombined supervision with other lending operations because of budgetary limitations. As aresult of this situation, two project provinces were not visited and the mid-term reviewrather than being a joint exercise as specified in the credit agreement was prepared by theBorrower and submitted to the Bank without ensuing comments. From mid-1994 up tocompletion of the project the situation improved with the raising of frequency of missionsand assigning a technical education specialist as task manager. Finally, the content ofannual reports should have been discussed and agreed in more detail with the implementingagencies.

F. BORROWER PERFORMANCE

25. As with other projects in the education sector, SEdC had overall responsibility forimplementing the project and acted as coordinating body at the central level as well as withthe project entities in the provinces. The Foreign Investment and Loan Office (FILO), thecoordinating and executing arm of SEdC and its affiliates in the provinces, was responsiblefor day-to-day management of the project including equipment procurement, technicalassistance and accounts including withdrawals and audits.

26. Areas of strength were in the phases of project design and preparation where SEdCand the PEdCs/MEdCs provided all the necessary means, information and dialogue to movethe project ahead. Also, several aspects of implementation were handled well by FILOincluding local and international procurement, accounting and disbursements andsubmission of yearly audits on time. Regarding implementation in general, the projectbenefited at the central level from the experience and procedures in place for otherBank/IDA education projects; this being particularly applicable to procurement andaccounts. Procurement of equipment through ICB was contracted to the InternationalTendering Company under the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade withgood results. The Technical Assistance program managed by FILO was effective inorganizing local training with its very large number of workshops and participants, signingof the major TA contract and liaison with Ohio State University as well as the mechanics ofsending candidates on overseas training. With respect to selection of competent fellows,advising on contents of workshops and training programs and the long term benefits of the

10

training, however, there were weaknesses in evidence in directing the program overall andassessing its appropriateness in relation to the project's objectives.

27. FILO, by engaging the technical vocational department of SEdC, could haveprovided more necessary and specialized staff to travel to the provinces, organize regularmeetings either centrally or regionally to deal in a comprehensive way withprogram/curriculum issues to achieve quality improvement of the system. From IDA'sperspective through travels to the various entities, it appeared that there was more interestand knowledge at that level.

28. Although annual reports were prepared regularly during the course ofimplementation in accordance with the Credit Agreement, information contained in thesereports proved to be of less value due to their submission three months after the end of thereporting year. Also reporting on implementation by categories of the project withemphasis mainly on equipment, contracts and disbursement gave a very limited view ofoverall implementation. For the future, reports should provide a comprehensive view of theproject, its activities, problems and adjustments and, most important, the meeting of itsobjectives. The format and contents for reporting need to be discussed with the Bank at thebeginning of project implementation.

G. ASSESSMENT OF OUTCOME

29. The project is rated generally satisfactory in that it initiated a process of quality andefficiency improvements in the VTE system that are now accelerating with the pace ofeconomic reform. The most important external factor in determining the success of theproject has been the growth of the economy with strong demand for the schools' graduates.Also contributing to this outcome were a number of important reforms of the VTE systemintroduced by the government during the project period, including: the elimination ofguaranteed employment and assignment of graduates; encouragement for progressiveincrease in the number of and proportion of students sponsored by enterprises and by self-support fee payment, improvement of teachers' qualifications, and improved conditions ofservices and adoption of a national Vocational Education Law. With the exceptions notedabove, the development objectives were relevant and achieved.

30. The transformation of 59 selected schools within the vocational system in 12provinces and municipalities into Vocational Training Centers or "centers of excellence,"through the proceeds of about 80 percent of the Credit, thus enabling a very significantincrease in enrollments and internal efficiency gains, has been a major achievement of theproject. Of equal importance is the fact that all graduates have been gainfully employed andthat, through establishment of Industrial Liaison Committees, more flexibility has beenintroduced in the curriculum as well as the new institutions receiving increasing financialassistance from industry. Similar achievements can be reported on the teacher traininginstitutions with respect to facilities, equipment, and enrollments. On practice-orientedcurriculum development and the "training of trainers," the introduction of system efficiencymeasures and indicators points toward evolution and changes already in place. The three

11

research and development centers were established with some delay due to externalfinancing issues. GTZ, on behalf of the German government which provided parallelfinancing for these centers, conducted an implementation review in March 1997, and sharedwith the Bank a summary of its findings. The GTZ review found the componentsatisfactory but noted issues in recruiting qualified VTE research specialists and provisionof project staff. Training for the VTCs and TTCs included overseas fellowships and in-country workshops were provided through a program with Ohio State University. Formanagement training, the programs were implemented as planned. The TA program wasimplemented mostly in terms of number of trainees, while some weaknesses in quality andappropriateness were observed. Other weaknesses identified were related to difficulty ofmeasuring improvements in teaching or improvements in management as a result of teacherand management training for the absence of a more effective monitoring and evaluationsystem and some aspects of project management.

H. FUTURE OPERATION

31. The Government prepared and submitted to the Association a draft Operation Planin December 1996. Integrating the comments provided by the Association, the Governmentresubmitted the Operation Plan in April 1997, which is attached in this report as Annex C.This plan provides a government strategy with respect to the development and reform ofvocational education and its plans to sustain the project impact in project institutions andreplicate to nonproject institutions. The lessons learned from implementing this project arereflected and integrated in the design of a Vocational Education Reform Project, approvedin July 1997, which capitalizes on the experience and strength provided by the Vocationaland Technical Education Project.

I. LESSONS LEARNED

32. The main lessons learned from the project are:

(a) establishment of Industrial Liaison Committees is a useful vehicle inpromoting increased participation of industries and in advising VTE traininginstitutions on policy, financing and curricula renewal in response to marketdemand (para. 7b);

(b) a monitoring and evaluation system is essential to track implementation andassess project impact. Under this operation, the design of projectperformance indicators should have focused on project impact and results onthe ground rather than only quantitative targets. The extent of this project'squite apparent improvements in VTE training quality could therefore not besystematically monitored during implementation. (para. 15); and

(c) more supervision resources, both in terms of staff time and appropriatetechnical expertise, should have been provided by IDA. Heavy supervisionis essential during the early years of implementation with a focus on sectoralissues rather than processes in both supervision and reporting (para. 24).

12

PART II: STATISTICAL TABLES

TABLE 1: SUMMARY OF ASSESSMENTS

A. Achievement of Objectives Substantial Partial Negligible Not Applicable

Macroeconomic policies XSector policies XFinancial objectives XInstitutional development XPhysical objectives XPoverty reduction XGender issues XOther social objectives XEnvironmental objectives XPublic sector management XPrivate sector development X

B. Project Sustainability Likely Unlikely Uncertain

x

C. Bank Performance Highly Satisfactory Satisfactory Deficient

Identification XPreparation assistance XAppraisal XSupervision X

D. Borrower Performance Highly Satisfactory Satisfactory Deficient

Preparation XImplementation XCovenant compliance XOperation (if applicable) X

E. Assessment of Outcome Highly Satisfactory Satisfactory Unsatisfactory HighlyUnsatisfactory

x

13

TABLE 2: RELATED BANK LOANS/CREDITS

LOAN/CREDIT PURPOSE YEAR OF STATUSAPPROVAL

PRECEDING OPERATIONS

UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT To strengthen science & engineering in 28 leading 1981 CompletedPROJECT Chinese Universities. Objectives were to 1986

(LN 2021-CHA, CR. 1167-CHA) increase the quality & quantity of graduates &research, to strengthen the planning &management capabilities & to prepareinvestments in the education sector.

AGRICULTURE EDUCATION To assist agriculture higher education and research 1982 CompletedAND RESEARCH PROJECT in 11 agricultural colleges and 7 institutions. 1989

(CR. 1297-CHA)

POLYTECHNIC/TELEVISION To increase the number of students & to improve 1983 CompletedUNIVERSITY PROJECT the quality of instruction in China's 17 1992

(CR. 141 1-CHA) polytechnic institutions & 28 televisionuniversities.

RURAL HEALTH MEDICAL The educational component of this project was 1984 CompletedEDUCATION PROJECT designed to enhance the quality of education, 1991

(CR. 1472-CHA) training & curriculum.

SECOND AGRICULTURAL To improve & assist agriculture education in 23 1984 CompletedEDUCATION PROJECT agricultural colleges, 12 agricultural technical 1992

(LN. 2444-CHA) schools.

SECOND UNIVERSITY To increase technical & managerial personnel 1985 CompletedDEVELOPMENT PROJECT through policy & institutional changes related to 1992

(CR. 1551-CHA) the engineering and economic/finance educationsubsector.

PROVINCIAL UNIVERSITY To provide direct assistance to 60 provincial 1986 CompletedPROJECT universities in 28 provinces and planning 1992

CR. 1671-CHA) assistance for the higher education subsector.

FOLLOWING OPERATIONS

TEXTBOOK DEVELOPMENT To support the textbooks upgrading program by 1989 CompletedPROJECT the Chinese Government. Objectives are to 6/30/95

(CR. 2006-CHA) improve the educational quality of textbooks atall levels of schooling, to increase the variety ofavailable textbooks & to improve the efficiencyof textbook production.

VOCATIONAL & TECHNICAL To improve the quality of technical & vocational 1990 CompletedEDUCATION PROJECT training in China through supporting 59 secondary 12/31/96

(CR. 2114-CHA) vocational/technical schools in 10 provinces and 3municipalities.

MEDIUM-SIZED CITIES To assist Changzhou, Luoyang and Shashi cities to 1991 To beDEVELOPMENT PROJECT improve overall and sector planning and completed

(LN. 3286-CHA) management, including education. 6/30/97

KEY STUDIES DEVELOPMENT To support the government's plan to reform the 1991 To bePROJECT management of science and technology programs. completed

(CR. 2210-CHA) It consists of support for research and graduate 6/30/97training in 133 State Key Laboratories and SpecialLabs affiliated with Universities and with theChinese Academy of Sciences.

EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT To support three main goals for the development of 1992 To beIN POOR PROVINCES education in relatively poor provinces - Shanxi, completed

(CR. 2339-CHA) Shaanxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunan. 12/31/98

14

LOAN/CREDIT PURPOSE YEAR OF STATUSAPPROVAL

EFFECTIVE TEACHING To contribute to improved learning at the lower 1993 To beSERVICES PROJECT middle school level by providing teaching completed

(CR.2471-CHA) services, including instructional methodology, 12/31/98teacher training and management of teacherstraining and assignment.

BASIC EDUCATION IN POOR To support the attainment of universal primary 1994 To beAND MINORITY AREAS education and expansion of coverage of lower completed

PROJECT secondary education in poor and minority areas in 12/31/2000(CR. 265 1-CHA) 6 provinces: Xinjiang, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia,

Ningxia, Guangxi, and Jiangxi.

THIRD BASIC EDUCATION To support the attainment of universal primary 1995 To bePROJECT education and expansion of coverage of lower completed

CR. 2831 -CHA secondary education in poor and minority areas in 12/31/20017 provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Hebei, Henan,Jilin and Qinghai.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION To improve and increase the supply of skilled labor, 1996 To beREFORM PROJECT raise the quality and efficiency of the VTE system completed

(CR.4063/Ln2898-CHA) and build up capacity for monitoring and 12/31/2002evaluation in four high growth provinces andTianjin municipality.

TABLE 3: PROJECT TIMETABLE

Steps in project cycle Date planned Date actual

Identification 04/23/87 04/23/87Preappraisal 01/15/88 01/15/88Appraisal 01/20/89 01/20/89Negotiations 05/01/89 05/01/89Board presentation 06/15/89 03/27/90Signing 05/23/90 05/23/90Effectiveness 08/21/90 08/21/90Project completion 12/31/94 12/31/95Loan closing 12/31/95 12/31/96

15

TABLE 4: LOAN/CREDIT DISBURSEMENT: CUMULATIVE ESTIMATE AND ACTUAL

($ million)

FY90 FY91 FY92 FY93 FY94 FY95 FY96 FY97

Appraisal estimate 3.0 28.0 42.0 48.0 49.0 50.0 0 0Actual 6.2 15.7 35.0 40.21 43.7 52.6 53.8Actual as % of adjusted estimate 22.1 37.4 72.9 82.0 87.4Final date of disbursement 02/25/97

TABLE 5: KEY INDICATORS FOR PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

Key Quantitative Indicators Vocational Training Centers Technical Teacher TrainingInstitutes/Departments (12)

Start Target Actual Start Target Actual

Full-time Enrollment 43,967 66,819 85,359 13,517 21,500 25,261Inservice Enrollment 11,907 40,680 55,370 4,267 9,890 9,730Full-time Teachers 4,703 6,120 5,406 4,021 3,408 1,906Student/Teacher Ratio 9 11 13.9 4 6 13Teacher/Nonteaching Staff 1.4 1.86 1.9 1 2 2RatioTeacher Weekly Contact n/a 12 13.8 n/a 12 11.6HoursFacility Utilization n/a 90 90 n/a 90 88

16

TABLE 6: KEY INDICATORS FOR PROJECT OPERATIONS

Key Qualitative Indicators Status at Start Actual at Completion

Effectiveness of Management

(a) positive effect on work of nonproject n/a majority of schools reportschools increase in support for

nonproject schools by makingaval able specialist labs forstudent/teachers for practice andtraining of teachers comprisinga 10 percent school load.

(b) improved utilization of physical low utilization rate overall facility/equipmentfacilities utilization factor is reported to

have increased to a value based oncriteria agreed at appraisal.

(c) increased contact hours for teachers low weekly contact hours average teacher contact hours inVTCs increased to about 13 hoursper week, double that at appraisal.

(d) reducing proportion of nonteaching high proportion of overall teacher to non teachingstaff nonteaching staff staff ratio reduced from 1.4 to I to

1.9 to 1.

(e) reasonable cost sharing with other not in place a user fee was introduced byparticipating schools participating schools for the use of

labs/works to contribute tomaintenance costs

(f) maintenance, including adequacy of not in place all schools report themaintenance budget establishment of

arrangements/budget formaintenance.

(g) effectiveness of student counseling and not in place majority of schools reportjob placement establishment of counseling

services, particularly in jobplacement.

17

Key Qualitative Indicators Status at Start Actual at Completion

Improved Quality of Project andNonproject Schools

(a) effectiveness of VET teacher training n/a volume of staff upgrading trainingand retraining has exceeded the amount planned

under the project

(b) allocation of teaching responsibilities n/a project-trained staff participated inand teacher performance development of VET programs.

Many schools report promotion ofstaff after training to positions ofresponsibility and to theirdesignation as key teacher status.

(c) improved utilization of teachers in n/a majority of schools reportnonproject schools improved utilization ofteachers.

Improvement of VET and IndustrialLiaison

(a) establishment of Industrial Liaison not in place majority of PEdCs/schools reportCommittees (ILC) establishment of ILCs

(b) meetings between PEdC and ILC not in place meetings are reported normallytaking place 2 or 4 times a year

(c) effect of work of ILC on school not in place outcomes include placement ofcurriculum and student training and trainees for industrial traininplacement in industry employment of graduates, advice

on training needs, financialsupport and technical supportincluding teaching by industrialstaff.

Improvement of Senior Management

(a) management staff training n/a most schools report participationin overseas or domestic trainingfor senior managers but needs tobe continued and expanded.

(b) arrangement and participation in n/a most schools report participationconferences and seminars etc. in overseas or domestic seminars

and conferences but needs to beexpanded.

18

TABLE 8A: PROJECT COSTS

(Yuan million)

Item Appraisal Estimate Actual/latest EstimateLocal Foreign Total Local Foreign Total

Civil Works 47.6 5.3 52.9 171.8 0.0 171.8Furnitur 7.9 0.9 8.8 17.4 1.7 19.1Equipment 76.6 92.7 169.3 373.5 94.6 468.1Books and Teaching materials 2.2 0.9 3.1 4.9 1.7 6.6Overseas Training 0.4 6.8 7.2 0.8 1.7 2.5Local Training 11.8 0.0 11.8 1.7 0.0 1.7Foreign Specialists 0.2 1.5 1.7 0.8 3.3 4.1Local Specialists 0.6 0.0 0.6 24.1 0.0 24.1

Total Base Costs 147.3 108.1 255.4 - - -

Physical Contingency 14.1 10.4 24.5Price Contingency 27.8 5.3 33.1

Total 189.2 123.8 313.0 595.0 103.0 698.0

R&D Centers (FRG financed) 5.5 20.5 26.0 12.5 45.7 58.1

Total 339.0 756.1

19

TABLE 8B: PROJECT COSTS

($ million)

Item Appraisal Estinate Actual/latest EstimateLocal Foreign Total Local Foreign Total

Civil Works 12.8 1.4 14.2 20.7 0.0 20.7Furniture 2.1 0.2 2.3 2.1 0.2 2.3Equipment 20.5 25.2 45.7 45.0 11.4 55.8Books and Teaching materials 0.6 0.2 0.8 0.6 0.2 0.8Overseas Training 0.1 1.8 1.9 0.1 0.2 0.3Local Training 3.2 0.0 3.2 0.2 0.0 0.6Foreign Specialists 0.1 0.4 0.5 0.1 0.4 0.5Local Specialists 0.2 0.0 0.2 2.9 0.0 2.9

Total Base Costs 39.6 29.2 68.8 - - -

Physical Contingency 3.7 2.8 6.5Price Contingency 7.4 1.3 8.7

Total 50.7 33.3 84.0 71.7 12.2 83.9

R&D Centers (FRG financed) 1.5 5.5 7.0 1.5 5.5 7.0

Total 91.0 90.9

TABLE 8c: PROJECT FINANCING

($ million)

Category IDA Government FRG TotalEstimates Actual Estimates Actual Estimates Actual Esimates Actal

Civil Works 0 0 17.5 20.7 0 0 17.5 20.7Equipment, Books and Furniture 46.5 49.6 16.5 9.3 0 0 59.2 59.1Technical Assistance 5.8 4.13 0 0 0 0 7.3 6.13R&D Centers 0 0 0 0 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0

Total 50.0 53.73 34.0 30.0 0 7.0 91.0 90.9

20

TABLE 10: STATUS OF LEGAL COVENANTS

Covenant Present Original RevisedAgreement Section type Status fulfillment fulfillment Description of covenant Comments

date date

Credit 3.01.A 10 C Project to be carried out withdue diligence through SEdCand to provide funds,facilities and services asrequired.

Credit 3.01.B 10 C Project to be implemented inaccordance with theimplementation program setforth in part A of schedule 4.

Credit 3.01.C 3 C proceeds of credit to be madeavailable to provinces underthe project.

Credit 4.01 1 C Annual Audit report to besubmitted to the Associationno later than August 31 ofeach year.

Credit Sch.4, A. 1. a 9, 10 C Submit annual progress reportin accordance with indicatorsagreed with the Associationno later than September I ofeach year.

Credit Sch.4, A. I.b 9 C 12/19/1992 Conduct mid-term review withthe Association no later thanDecember 31, 1992.

Credit Sch.4, A.2 10 C Training under the project tobe carried out in accordancewith program agreed with theAssociation.

Credit Sch.4, A.3 10 C Each province shall maintain aPIO during the projectimplementation period.

Credit Sch.4, B.2 10 C provinces agree to undertakemeasures agreed with theAssociation to make thevocational/technicaleducation system moreefficient.

Credit Sch.4, B.3 10, 5,4 C provinces are to carry out theircomponents with duediligence through SEdC andto provide funds, facilities,and services as required.

Credit Sch.4, B.4 4,3 C provinces are to allocatesufficient funds for themaintenance, repair andpurchases of spare parts forschools and institutions.

Covenant Class: Status:I = Accounts/audits 8 = Indigenous people C = covenant complied with2 = Financial performance/revenue 9 = Monitoring, review, and reporting CD = complied with after delay

generation from beneficiaries 10 = Project implementation not CP = complied with partially3 = Flow and utilization of project covered by categories 1-9

funds 11 = Sectoral or cross-sectoral4 = Counterpart funding budgetary or other resources5 = Management aspects of the allocation

project or executing agency 12 = Sectoral or cross-sectoral policy!6 = Environmental covenants regulatory/institutional action7 = Involuntary resettlement 13 = Other

21

TABLE 11: COMPLIANCE WITH OPERATIONAL MANUAL STATEMENTS

Not Applicable

TABLE 12: BANK RESOURCES: STAFF INPUTS

Project Cycle Planned ActualSWs $'000 SWs $'000

Preparation to Appraisal n/a n/a 171.7 389.9Appraisal n/a n/a 12.0 24.7Negotiations to Board n/a n/a 9.2 18.5Supervision n/a n/a 57.8 191.8Completion n/a n/a 19.0 28.6

Total n/a n/a 269.7 653.5

TABLE 13: BANK RESOURCES: MISSIONS

Stage of project Month/year Number Days in Specialized staff Performing rating Type ofcycle of persons field skills represented La problems

Implementa- Developmenttion status Lb objectives

Identification 07/87 3 n/a PO/EC/Ed - - -

Preparation 11/87 5 28 TEd/PS/EdC/Ar - - -

Preappraisal 02/88 4 20 TEd/PS/EC/EdC - - -

Appraisal 06/88 4 17 TEd/PS/EC/EdC - - -

Supervision 1 11/90 2 15 EC/Ed I I -

Supervision 2 10//91 1 7 EC 2 1 -

Supervision 3 09/92 2 14 EC/Ed I I -

Supervision 4 09/93 1 10 EC 1 I -

Supervision 5 06/94 2 7 STEd/TEd I I -

Supervision 6 10/94 2 5 STEd/E S S -

Supervision 7 01/96 3 20 STEd/IS/OA S S -

Supervision 8 06/96 3 20 STED/OA/TS S S -

Completion 12/96 3 14 STED/IS/OA S S -

La Ar: Architect; EC: Economist; Ed: Educator; EdC: Education consultant; IS: Implementation specialist;OA: Operation Analyst; PS: Procurement specialist; STEd: Senior technical educator.

/b 1: Highly satisfactory; 2: Satisfactory.L/ Typical problems included: implementation delays in technical assistance and studies.

22

ANNEX A: BORROWER'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE ICR

1. Introductory remark This appendix was prepared in accordance with the newBank procedures for ICR preparation replacing the original guidelines for ICRpreparation.

2. Comments on the Two parts of the ICR prepared by the Bank. The Borrowerrecognizes that, on the whole, the brief descriptions of the project objectives, contents,implementation and outcomes contained in Part I of the ICR are clear, conform to reality,and acknowledges that the tables of statistical information given in Part II are sufficientfor illustrating the key factors relating to the project implementation. The Borroweragrees in general with the views, analysis and comments of the Bank on the projectexecution.

3. Project Background. After the "Compulsory Education Law" of 1986 mandateduniversal basic education through grade 9, the Chinese government has stronglyemphasized the development of secondary vocational and technical education (VTE) toprovide the technical manpower required by the rapid expansion of national economy anddecrease the pressure for admission to upper secondary schools and higher educationinstitutions. Although the Chinese VTE has a certain solid foundation, there aredeficiencies in enrollment, school building and equipment (some of them are dilapidated),major construction, teachers' quantity and quality, teaching method, managementcapability and financing of school and VTE research. To address these problems, thegovernment designed the VTE developing program that led to this project with the WorldBank.

4. Project Objective. To expand and upgrade the secondary vocational andtechnical education system and technical teacher training system that provides teachers tosecondary VTE schools. The project emphasizes improvements in the quality of theproject institutions and institution building in the VTE system at all levels, concentratingon five highly industrialized provinces and municipalities. The project has fourcomponents: (a) to assist 59 secondary VTE schools in 10 provinces and 3 municipalitiesto be promoted into vocational training centers (VTC) which would serve as models forfurther development of VTE; (b) to assist 9 technical teacher training colleges (TTCs)and 3 university technical teacher training departments (TTDs) to expand enrollment andupgrade the quality of laboratory and workshop instruction; (c) to establish one nationaland two regional VTE research and development (R&D) centers to conduct research andrecommend policy measures to improve the quality, efficiency, and cost effectiveness ofthe VTE system and to develop inexpensive teaching materials and equipment for theVTE schools; and (d) to improve the management capability of the VTE system. The

23

project would provide construction, instructional equipment, books and teachingmaterials and related technical assistance (TA).

5. Project Implementation. The project was executed by SEdC at the central level.In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the project, a series of implementingunits (some of them are belonged to other ministries) were closely organized at variouslevel and a number of appointments were assigned to take responsibility for theimplementation. During the five years of the project circle, under the successfuladministration and of SEdC according to the guidance of the World Bank, the overallimplementation went well in disbursement, civil works, equipment procurement andtraining and technical assistance and administration at all levels. The project wassuccessfully completed by the closing date on December 31, 1996, which was extendedfrom December 31, 1995 as the requirement of the project implementation. The totalcredit amount was disbursed and the total local counterpart fund was expended. Inanother aspect, most of the key indicators for monitoring the overall progress of theproject development were met or exceeded. In addition, the management capability indifferent levels are improved. It is natural that there are also a few of deficiencies lossesin work to be corrected in future, e.g., the teacher training should be further strengthenedin model, contents and arrangement for better servicing education and economic needs.Quite a lot of items illustrating the achievement of project objectives have been listed andanalyzed in Part I of the ICR in detail. The Borrower agrees in general with thecomments and will not take any further review in detail.

6. Project Sustainability. Although the project is affirmed successfully, there arestill work to be done to sustain the project benefits in the future. Attention should begiven to the following respects to the sustainability: (a) Further expand vocationaleducation; (b) Continue and disseminate project initiated improvements; (c) Strengthentechnical teacher training; (d) Further improve links between the project institutes andindustry; and (e) Continually investment in project institutes.

7. Bank's Performance. The bank officials and staff participating the project'sproportion appraisal and initial operation were highly professional and qualified with thetask. Moreover, having been involved in the work of the previous education projects,most of them had established close and efficient working relationship with the counterChinese staff and were efficient working relationship with the counter Chinese staff andwere familiar with the working situation of Chinese projects. In the later period of theproject's life, however, quite the number of Bank officials were transferred to newpositions in the Bank and some were retired. It had affected, to certain extent, theunderstanding of each other and weakened the familiarity with the project.

8. Borrower's Performance. It was the first time for the project institutions to dealwith the World Bank financed project. Hence most of them need indeed time tofamiliarize themselves with the situation of their task. In addition, the evolution andimplementation of the project were simultaneously with economic and education reformand great development of the vocational and technical education in China and hence

24

affected by frequent changes of condition and policies. These difficulties, on the otherhand, turns into a positive factor to the enthusiastic and diligent staff of the projectentities under the well directed leadership of SEdC and other relative parts of Chinagovernment. To accelerate the reform and development of education, the project has justserved the central purpose of such accelerated reform and development in the vocationaland technical education in China. The impressive achievements of project are conclusiveevidences of the performance and quality of the participating institutions of the Borrower.

-25 - ANNEX B

ANNEX B: ICR MISSION'S AIDE MEMOIRE

November 25 - December 6, 1996

GENERAL

1. A completion mission for the Technical/Vocational Education Project, Cr. 2114-CHA, visited China between November 25 and December 5, 1996. The missionconsisted of Jan Segerstrom (mission leader), Dingyong Hou, Gordon Hunting, WenjinWang, Rene Welter, and Wenbin Hu (RMC). The mission met with officials ofSEDC/FILO to review progress in implementation since the previous supervision visit inJune 1996, collect data and information for the preparation of the ImplementationCompletion Report (ICR), and discuss the respective inputs into the report by the Bankand the Borrower.

2. During 1996, and in anticipation of the completion process, the Bank visited arepresentative sample of project institutions in the provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Liaoning,Sichuan and the Beijing prefecture. The mission wishes to express its appreciation for allthe assistance provided including the arrangements made and hospitality extended byFILO, SEdC, officials and staff of the provinces and institutions visited.

OVERALL IMPLEMENTATION STATUS

3. With less than one month left until completion of the project on 31 December1996, almost all activities related to implementation have been completed. The projectwas extended by one year in order to provide the necessary time for an additionaltechnical assistance and training program to be carried out (replacing previously plannedtraining programs which could not be carried out) and procurement of personalcomputers for selected project institutions. At this point in time, both of these majoractivities have been carried out satisfactorily with only minor exceptions.

4. Construction and Procurement. Civil works and procurement of equipment hasbeen successfully carried out. Almost all construction, using Government counterpartfunds, was completed in 1995 and exceeded original planned areas by about 32 percent.Designs are functional and of good quality. Equipment for laboratories and workshopswas procured and installed. Altogether there were five major procurement exercises inthe project totaling $44.8 million, of which three ICB, one LCB and one through DirectPurchase.

5. Technical Assistance. The program as defined in the SAR was mostly completedby the end of 1995. One to two month training programs for: (a) teachers, lab instructorsand technicians on pedagogy and in industry; and (b) administrators on management,

-26- ANNEX B

largely exceeded the SAR figures on the average by a factor of four. There was,however, a considerable shortfall in the one-year full-time domestic study program (1,385actual versus 2,000 planned) and to a lesser extent in the one-year overseas trainingprogram (104 actual versus 128 planned). The initialized project funds resulting fromthese two shortfalls were reallocated in order to purchase more equipment.

6. Consultant Services. Twenty four foreign expert-led workshops were conductedout of a planned twenty six for faculty groups from the TTCs, TTDs and VTCs and werecompleted by the end of 1994. These workshops absorbed the foreign expert man/monthprovided in the SAR.

7. Disbursements/Audits. At completion, the Credit of SDR 38.5 million or $50.0million will be fully disbursed. Audits were submitted annually throughoutimplementation in a timely fashion, reviewed and found acceptable by the Bank, with thefinal Audit falling due on 01/08/97.

IMPLEMENTATION OF PROJECT COMPONENTS

Development of Vocational Training Centers(VTCs)

8. The implementation of this component has been overall successful. The intendedproject objectives have been achieved. The project financed technical assistance,construction, lab and workshop equipment and training materials which enabled 59selected SVS, STS and SWs from 13 provinces and municipalities to build up thecapacity, initiate improvements and transform from a group of traditional narrowlyspecialized, poorly equipped and exclusive preservice VET schools into a new generationof multifunctional, and adequately equipped training centers.

Quantitative Expansion

9. In response to the anticipated demand for skilled workers, the project set out theexpansion of the regular enrollment at these 59 training center as one of its essentialgoals. Based on data from 49 of the 59 project institutions, the enrollment in full timeincreased by about 93 percent over the period of 1988 to 1995 from 37,134 to 71,581,compared with a planned expansion of about 52 percent.

10. The project also set out to expand inservice training enrollment and to make theequipment and facilities available to students from nearby schools. The expansion ofenrollment in short and part-time upgrading and retraining programs increased by a factorof about 10 times, from only 4,496 to 51,507 annually, compared with an expectedincrease of about 250 percent.

11. The infrastructure at these training facilities has been upgraded to the levelappropriate for the current level of industrialization meeting the demands for classrooms,laboratories, workshop and practice equipment as required by the curriculum.

-27- ANNEX B

Qualitative Improvements

12. A fundamental goal of the project while supporting the expansion of capacity, isto improve the quality of teaching, curriculum development and management processesby piloting a package of quality improvement measures in these project institutions.

13. The reports from 49 of 59 project institutes indicated efficiency improvements inthe following specific areas designed under the project:

(a) utilization rate of facilities and equipment has been improved, includingthe abandonment of the previous practice of scheduling laboratory andworkshop activities only in the afternoons. Utilization rates were reportedto have doubled, averaging about 90 percent in line with the target set inthe SAR;

(b) weekly teaching contact hours for technical teachers, which ranged from 6to 10 hours at the time of appraisal have been increased to an overallaverage of about 14 hours per week, compared with a target of about 12hours per week. This increase has been a factor in increasing student staffratio from an average of about 9 to 1 to about 14 to 1 compared with thetarget of 11 to 1 thus allowing for increased enrollment withoutcomparable increases in staffing;

(c) the proportion of nonteaching staff in the institutions, which at appraisalwas relatively large, has been reduced, with the ratio of teachers tononteaching staff increasing from about 1.4 to 1 to a value of 1.9 to 1.Tlhis ratio is short of the target, and the potential for further improvementis indicated by the large variation in the reported ratio from individualinstitutions ranging from 1:1 up to 8:1.

(d) a process was initiated to improve the participation of industries and fostercloser links between employers and training providers throughestablishing Industrial Liaison Committees at each project school. Thesecommittees appear to have had successful outcomes including: assistancewith placement of trainees for industrial training as part of their trainingprograms, sponsorship of trainees and associated payment of tuition fees,donation of funds and equipment, advice on training needs, andemployment opportunities for graduates.

(e) institutions are able to provide facilities for conduct of most the practicalexercises required by the curriculum. Attempts were made in manyschools to diversify the mode of delivery by mounting new, short term,quick and tailor-made courses to market demands, particularly in theirinservice and contract training programs. The project schools possessgreater flexibility to develop and revise their curricular and syllabus withina broader framework set by national and provincial authorities and the

- 28 - ANNEX B

practice has been prioritized in total curriculum requirement compared to apreviously theory oriented curriculum. Despite these gains, curriculumdevelopment and the quality of teaching by inter alia doing away fromrote-learning remain the priority areas for further improvements.

(f) the majority of institutions have set up arrangements for studentcounseling, particularly to assist with job placement following theelimination of the system of guaranteed employment which prevailed atthe time of project appraisal.

(g) project institutions have supported nonproject institutions in a number ofways including: making available their upgraded specialist laboratoriesand workshop facilities to the trainees of those schools, and providingtraining for their teachers. It appears that typically such disseminationactivities account for 5 to 10 percent of the project institutions, total workprograms.

Upgrading of Management

14. The upgrading of management of the VET system was focused on training forsenior managers, particularly for improvement of planning, management and financingand evaluation. Although the training programs were implemented as planned, theireffectiveness was limited because of the absence of assistance for establishment ofimproved systems, including the provision of hardware and software and comprehensivetraining of administrative support staff. One example is that of the monitoring andevaluation of performance of the VET system. Although the Vocational Education Dept.of SEdC and the Central Research Institute designed and pilot tested a set of instrumentsfor evaluation of training performance these appear not to have been implemented on aroutine basis. Furthermore, the evaluation carried out by foreign and local consultantsunder the supplementary Technical Assistance program during the project extension haslittle value as a structured evaluation of performance of the sampled institutions becauseof weaknesses in the instruments employed and absence of measurement of outputs.

Policy Development in the VET Sector

15. During project implementation the Government introduced a number of importantreforms of the VET system including: the elimination of guaranteed employment andassignment of graduates; encouragement for progressive increase in the number andproportion of students sponsored by enterprises and by self support fee payment,improvement of teachers' qualification and improved conditions of service. The mostimportant external factor in determining the success of the project has been the growth ofthe economy with the strong demand for the schools' graduates.

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Financing of the VET System

16. In line with the government policy prevailing at the time the project waslaunched, the SAR for the project makes no explicit proposal for increasing cost sharingor diversification of fmancing sources. However, since 1993, the government hasencouraged VET institutions to obtain funds from sources other than governmentallocation including tuition fees, contributions from enterprises, school run ventures andother donations. A survey conducted by SEdC and the Bank during preparation of thevocational education reform project showed that in a group of 75 large technicalinstitutions such nongovemment sources accounted for about 50 percent of totaloperational expenditure. Although the survey was not aimed at the institutions in thepresent project, there is no doubt the findings apply to the entire VET system includingthe project schools.

17. The overall implementation experience of this component points to the fact thatthe project instituted changes have had a positive impact over the project institutions intheir teaching, management and operational processes and the impact is likely to besustained in their future operations and with high probability to be replicated if aneffective dissemination strategy and system is put in place.

Technical Teacher Training Component

18. In order to support the expansion and quality improvement in the VocationalTraining Centers the project also provided assistance to the technical teacher educationsystem. As most of the industrialized provinces have one TTC (Technical TeacherTraining Center) or TTD (Technical Teacher Training Department, attached to auniversity) the project supported 12 TTCs or TTDs in project provinces. This supportcan be summarized as provision of civil works, procurement of workshop and laboratoryequipment, other instructional equipment and teaching materials including books. Inaddition, the project assisted a technical assistance component consisting of an overseasand domestic staff development program. The overseas training program consisted of 42one-year scholarships for key province staff in eight major industrial specialization andwas complemented by 17 man-months of international consultant services to update theTTD/TTC faculties in pedagogy and institutional management. With regard to domesticstaff training there has been provision for inservice teacher training as one year coursesaiming at upgrading in both technical and pedagogical subjects benefiting about 400teachers. Also, about 65 specialized teachers and workshop instructors have beenexposed to industrial practice for about two months each to gain industrial experience.Finally, 60 domestic experts have provided advice to TTC/TTD trainers andadministrators for an average period of three months each.

19. As a result of the resources provided for an expansion of the TTCs and TTDs, theenrollment of students have increased according to project plans and in many casesexceeded them. Preservice student enrollment in the key provinces has increased from5,200 in 1988 to 10,784 in 1996, while in the other seven provinces it was 6,400 in 1988

-30- ANNEX B

and has reached 14,477 in 1996. In terms of inservice training the key provinces recorded1,300 in 1988 against 5,902 in 1996. At the same time, the enrollment of inservicetraining students in the remaining provinces went from 1,000 in 1988 to 3,828 in 1996.All in all, preservice enrollment was 11,500 in 1988 and was planned to have risen to21,500 at the end of the project and in 1996 it is 25,261. Corresponding enrollment forinservice training was 2,300 in 1988 and was planned to have reached 10,000 in 1994 andis 9,730 in 1996. In addition the 12 projects, TTCs and TTDs have provided training forstudents in less developed provinces planned for about 5,000 annually in 1994 and hasreached 4,900 in 1996.

20. In terms of physical expansion and procurement of equipment and materials thiscomponent has been successful. Also, the enrollment of students have mostly exceededthe plans laid down in the SAR. In the analysis of the technical education system in theSAR it is stated that technical teacher training needs upgrading and that a high percentageof the course work is conducted in classrooms and lecture halls as theoretical instructionand a rather small part is allocated to practices such as workshop and laboratory practicesand very importantly industrial and teaching practices. It is obviously of crucialimportance that those future teachers to be assigned to instruct and train skilled workersfor industry have the practical skills to successfully carry out this assignment. It appears,though, that the provisions under the project have not substantially changed the mode ofoperation of the TTDc and TTCs and a curriculum reform to reflect the necessarypractical elements of technical teacher training would be a very high priority. In thiscontext, it would also be important that the "trainers of the trainers" have the adequatebackground and experience to follow a new curriculum that would be technically andpractically oriented with much less academic and theoretical content.

VET Research and Development Centers

21. The objective behind the research and development component was to develop aresearch capability that would address the problems and issues affecting the efficiency ofthe VET system. Under the Project was established a National Center in Beijing and aregional center in Shanghai. The third center originally planned for Tianjin as a regionalcenter under Ministry of Labor, MOL, was later transferred to SEdC and located inShenyang in Liaoning province. A steering committee for the research centers wasestablished with membership besides SEdC also of MOL The roles and functions for thethree centers were planned in great detail and the National Center in Beijing was to be thecoordinating center. Major activities for the centers were inter alia linkages with industryin terms of trainee performance and general feed-back, curriculum review, job analysis,development of new programs and related materials, and studies of the effectiveutilization of workshop and laboratory equipment. At a rather late stage in the processingof the project, the then Federal Republic of Germany volunteered to finance the entireresearch and development component through parallel grant financing of about $7million.

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22. The implementation of the component has been delayed for a number of reasonsincluding the fact that Ministry of Labor wished not to participate in the component asplanned. Secondly, it proved difficult to recruit the necessary research staff for thecenters and, at the end of the IDA project, the staffing complement was below what wasplanned during appraisal. Even so, the national center (Central Institute) has prepared theframework and details for a national vocational law which was approved by theGovernment in June 1996. The Central Institute is also responsible for preparation, withthe VTE department, of annual report on Vocational Education. The first, for 1995, ispublished in both Chinese and English languages. The Institute also publishes a. monthlyjournal on Vocational Education with a circulation of 40,000 copies. It was also reportedthat the Institute has been given an increased role in national policy formulation anddevelopment in association with the VTE department. Most of the present research staffhas been trained in Germany and the technical assistance team also comes from Germany.As a result, a substantial number of publications from the centers are published inGerman; however,: the central institute has started to publish important materials inEnglish as well as in Chinese in order to have a wider spread and use of the researchpublications to benefit as many participants as possible in the Chinese VET system. Theevaluation of the three centers is not complete as the mission was informed by GTZ thatthe German Government is making a thorough review of the progress of the researchcenters in March 1997 and will share its findings with the Bank. This information willconstitute a very important input to the ICR.

AGREEMENTS ON ICR

23. The revised guidelines prepared by the Bank (April 1994) were discussed betweenFILO/SEDC and the mission and the following respective inputs with submission dateswere agreed upon.

Operational Plan

24. It is expected that the Operational Plan to be prepared by SEdC in consultationwith the project provinces and institutions will include steps to address the following:

(a) continued upgrading and revision of teacher training and retraining;

(b) continued strengthening and expansion of links with industry;

(c) establishment of effective systems for moritoring and evaluation ofvocational education, particularly evaluation of outcomes; and

(d) continued upgrading and modernization of teaching content and methodrelevant to modem sector industrial employment, e.g., upgrading of thetraining in computer application. SEdC will prepare an interim OP byJanuary 15, 1997 and final version by March, 1997.

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Key Indicators (ICR Tables 5A and 5B)

25. Draft table format of indicators are attached and SEdC agreed to update them andsubmit to the Bank by January 15, 1997.

Financial Tables (ICR Tables 8A and 8B)

26. The two tables, Project Costs and Project Financing, include data related to LocalCosts. The mission requested that a first draft or interim data be submitted as soon aspossible, preferably before the mission's departure. Final Local Cost figures are to besubmitted to the Bank following the closing of the project accounts and finaldisbursements made.

ICR Preparation

27. Part I of the ICR will be completed by the Bank and sent to SEDC/FILO not laterthan March 15, 1997. Part II of the ICR, prepared by the Borrower, should be completedand sent to the Bank by April 30, 1997.

-33- ANNEX C

ANNEX C: OPERATION PLAN

Introduction

1. The Vocational and Technical Education Project has been completed successfully.The project assisted to create an expanded and improved infrastructure for the delivery oftraining of skilled labor and initiate improvements in technical teacher training andmanagement at system and institutional level. This plan intends to outline- thegovernment strategy and actions to sustain the project benefits and impact in the area ofvocational education beyond the project period.

2. Vocational education constitutes one of the four important pillars of China'seducation system. As set out in its ninth Five-Year Plan (1995-2000), the Chinesegovernment will continue to vigorously promote the development of vocational educationincluding fuirther improvement in its secondary vocational system and plans to expand itstertiary vocational education system. In 1996, the last year of project implementation, aVocational Education Law was enacted which provides a legal framework for theGovernment to guide the further development of vocational education in China.

Action Plan

A. FURTHER EXPAND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

3. As outlined in its ninth Five-Year Plan, the Govermment has set out to furtherexpand vocational education mainly at post-lower-secondary level with bifurcationoccurring at post-primary, post-lower-secondary and post-upper secondary stages. Atarget set for total enrollment in all type of vocational schools is to pursue an averageannual growth rate of 6.3 percent comprising about 60 percent of the total secondaryenrollment.

B. CONTINUE AND DISSEMINATE PROJECT INITIATED IMPROVEMENTS

4. Project initiated changes in qualitative improvements in management, teaching,curriculum and textbook development, teaching methodology and pedagogy will becontinuously carried out beyond the project life in the project institution and expand tononproject institutions in the project provinces and possibly into the entire vocationaleducation system as part of a system reform effort.

C. STRENGTHEN TECHNICAL TEACHER TRAINING

5. To improve the quality of technical teacher training, SEdC will launch a study ontechnical teacher training with a view to identify the issues and develop plans as how to

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further improve the training for technical teachers. The study will particularly focus onthe institutions supported under the project which are the key institutions in vocationaltraining in the country.

6. During the ninth Five-Year Plan period, the project supported 12 TechnicalTeacher Training Colleges/Departments will be further strengthened in qualityimprovements and quantitative expansion as to better equip teachers to address the issuesin curriculum development, mode of training and industrial practice. Thesedevelopments will not only aim at meeting current national guideline but also at re-orienting the training programs to reflect science and technology development and marketneeds for skilled human capital in economic development.

D. FURTHER IMPROVE LINKs BETWEEN PROJECT INSTITUTIONS AND INDUSTRY

7. The project supported establishment of Industrial Liaison Committees and Boardof Trustees will be maintained. The institutions will continue to seek the advice of thesecommittees on the overall development and/operation of the institutions. Theseinstitutions will continue to develop as multifunction training institutions to providetraining of skilled labor for the needs of local economic development.

E. CONTINUE INVESTMENT IN PROJECT INSTITUTIONS

8. Following project completion and project evaluation, SEdC will developguidelines and urge the local governments to continue and increase the investmentthrough regular budgetary resources in these institutions as to capitalize the initialinvestment under the project and sustain them as models for other institutions.