A Study On Interface Between Vocational Education And Higher Education Under The Australian Qualifications Framework

As economic integration and the concept of life-long learning keep developing, laborswith only one skill can not meet the market demands. People, on the basis of vocationaleducation, need to further their study, learn more skills and knowledge, and improve theiroverall qualities. Therefore, when developing vocational education, every country shouldstrengthen the interface between vocational education and higher education. China has aproblem in this regard. In China, professional qualification certificates can not be linked upeffectively with diploma certificate of higher education. After finishing vocational education,most students choose to get a job, mainly single-skilled and operational ones. Few of themchoose to seek higher education, in this case they can not meet the needs of versatile talents,which is going against personal and social development. The successful experience ofAustralian Qualifications Framework (AQF) provides reference for China. AQF incorporatesqualification certificates and diploma certificate of higher education into its integrated andcoherent framework, offering an effective pathway for the connection between vocationaleducation and higher education. AQF reflects the idea of life-long learning, and promotesindividual and social development.This thesis, proceeding from the interface between vocational education and highereducation under AQF, mainly discusses how to link vocational education and higher educationas a unified whole under AQF. And the article analyzes specific circumstances of the interface,and touches upon the characters and shortages in the process, aiming to provide reference forthe vocational and higher education interface in China. The thesis consists of the followingparts,Introduction: introduces background and significance of the thesis topic and the meaningof the study. The current studies in China and foreign countries on AQF, methodology of thepaper and definitions of the concept are also included in this part.Chapter One: introduces the background and content of AQF. Theoretical and realisticfoundations of the background are mentioned. The structure, issue, management andadjustment of qualification certificates are presented.Chapter Two: elaborates the way to strengthen the vocational and higher education as awhole in the development process, mainly including methods and supporting measures.Chapter Three: analyzes specific circumstances of interface under AQF. The analysiscovers several fields such as interface of certificates, credits and curriculums.Chapter Four: evaluates the interface of vocational education and higher education underAQF, and points out its characters and shortcomings. Conclusion: AQF is founded on the basis of life-long learning concept. It combinesvocational education and higher education together during the process. This meets the needsof individual and social developments, aiming to work as reference for China and promote theinterface between vocational education and higher education in China.