On The Development Of Hainan Higher Vocational Education

In recent years, Hainan has entered a new stage of development in economy, society and social construction along with the high-speed development of tropic highly productive agriculture, modernized industry, and island tourist industry. The development of economy, science and technology demands numerous skilled workers who master science and technology well. But the work force with technical ability occupies little place in the labor force structure of Hainan, which leads to the shortage of skilled workers, especially high-level skilled workers, and has become a significant obstacles in the economic development in Hainan. In this situation, Hainan higher vocational education being responded of training high-level skilled workers must educate more professional personnel to meet the demand of various capable personnel because of the adjustment of Hainan industry structure.This paper consists four parts. The first part clarified the connotation and characteristics of higher vocational education and analyses history of higher vocational education, explored the relationship between higher vocational education and regional economy. The second part made a further analysis of the conditions about the higher vocational education development in Hainan. The third part pointed out the three problems existing in Hainan higher vocational education, 1) the shortage of educational funds and out-of-date facilities, 2) lack of teaching materials and insufficient quality of faculty, and 3) comparative shrinkage of student enrollments and too many repetitive specialties offering. The article used analysis data from the field research, specifically analyzes the structure of the age, the title, and the credential existed in the current teaching force, and concluded thatthe current structure was not well formed and organized. The article also proposed the direction on resolving these issues. The last portion of the article proposed the resolutions regarding how to improve the higher education development in Hainan. The first and the foremost is to obtain the support from the government in addition to the support from the local companies. The second is to optimize the establishment of schools' departments and majors and adjust the course teaching system. The third is to value the teaching force and improve their teaching quality. The fourth is to reform the practical teaching methods and strengthen the training and practicing facilities. And the fifth is to provide the career center to facilitate the employment activities.