An Empirical Study On The Contribution Of Higher Vocational Education In Shandong Province To The Economic Development And Related Suggestions

In recent years, China has been in the period of economic reconstruction and industrial transformation and upgrading, the success of which is in desperate need of many high-level skilled talents. However, the graduates from higher vocational colleges cannot meet the market demand in terms of both their quantity and quality. Thus, it is of great significance for the local and national governments to really pay attention this issue and come up of measures to facilitate the development of higher vocational education. Shandong province is reported to have 76 higher vocational colleges, accounting for 54.29% of total institutes of higher education, and with 543,994 students at school, making up for 32.18% of total college students in Shandong Province. Among the 76 higher vocational colleges, there are only 6 demonstration colleges. In comparison with places like Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang and so on, higher vocational colleges in Shandong province take a lead in both the quantity and the number of students, but at no time in the quality of vocational education and their graduates. In this sense, it should be one of objectives of Shandong province to facilitate developing the higher vocational education in order to strengthen its competitiveness.In order to help with the policy making about the higher vocational education in Shandong province, it is much better to calculate the contribution rate of higher vocational colleges to local economic development, which was 1.559% using data from the year 2005 to 2013. This outcome indicated that Shandong province secured itself a place in the top several seats among eastern provinces. But compared with places like Beijing and Tianjin, higher vocational educational in Shandong province still faces many problems, such as imperfect relevant policies, lack of financial investment, and imbalanced deployment as well as discrepancy between curricula arrangement and market demand. There are also other problems, like insufficient profession development of teachers in vocational colleges, and colleges upgrading from junior level to the university level. In all, higher vocational education in Shandong province still faces a long way to go.The development of higher vocational education cannot only provide talents for Shandong's economic and societal transformation and upgrading and the construction of intelligent city, but also constitutes a great force to help facilitate Shandong's economical and local growth in a balanced way. In view of the existing problems, this study came up with some countermeasures from the perspectives of governments, enterprises and higher vocational colleges:(1) government should refine the blueprint for the development of higher vocational education;(2) perfecting market mechanism,improving the guide ability of trade and enhancing the fusion of education and industry; and(3) teachers' professional development should be improved, with relevant curricula being reconstructed, in order strengthen the core competitiveness of higher vocational education in Shandong province.