Shanghai tailors vocational education for industry

As host of the 48th WorldSkills Competition that ran from Sept 22 to 27, Shanghai is accelerating the transformation of its vocational education system, aligning classroom instruction with the evolving demands of modern industry.

The metropolis now has more than 4 million skilled workers, including 1.44 million at advanced levels. In 2025, Shanghai provided subsidized vocational training to more than 725,900 people and certified 71,700 new senior technicians or above.

As China's manufacturing sector undergoes digital transformation and industrial restructuring, vocational institutions are revamping curricula to cultivate talent tailored to specific industry needs.

At the Shanghai Construction Management Vocational College, which hosts national training bases for WorldSkills floristry and landscape gardening, the impact of world-class competitions extends far beyond the training of elite competitors.

"Competition standards drive teaching reform by updating professional benchmarks and integrating international evaluation systems," said Ling Min, vice-president of the college. "We embed global best practices into our programs, build world-class teaching teams and upgrade training facilities through hosting these events."

The college has developed a comprehensive methodology for translating WorldSkills standards into general curricula that benefits all students, said Cheng Qun, another vice-president of the college.

She cited a landscape design graduate surnamed Gu as an example. Gu participated in WorldSkills training, won a gold medal at the second national vocational skills competition and secured employment four months before graduation.

"Behind him stands a replicable mechanism," Cheng said.

To align education with market needs, the college has established eight industry colleges in partnership with leading enterprises.

"Front-line industries introduce new technologies and standards, while enterprises co-develop courses that match our academic framework," Ling said. "Mixed teaching teams of corporate engineers and campus instructors use real projects as case studies. Through order-based training, graduates can transition directly into jobs."

Responsiveness to industrial shifts also guides the establishment of new majors. This year, the college added three majors: artificial intelligence data engineering, building reinforcement and restoration and unmanned aerial vehicle application technology.

Similar changes are taking place across the city. According to the 2025 Shanghai vocational education quality report, 28 percent of programs at the city's 28 independent higher vocational colleges directly serve Shanghai's three pioneer industries — integrated circuits, biomedicine and AI — while 53 percent cater to six key industrial clusters, including electronic information.

Meanwhile, institutions such as the Shanghai Business and Information College are preparing for emerging sectors such as the low-altitude economy.

"We began organizing faculty and students to study flight-control technology in 2022, and have since formally incorporated UAV coursework into our intelligent manufacturing program cluster," said Vice-President Ma Mingjuan.

As the lead technical support unit for the unmanned aerial systems project at the 48th WorldSkills Competition, the college has translated competition modules, including drone disassembly, flight programming and AI integration, into regular courses.

The competition has also inspired students. "After visiting, I realized these are areas where China, as a major manufacturing power, must excel. Perhaps one day I can join their ranks," said Zhou Yu, a 17-year-old second-year student majoring in numerical control.

Despite the progress, educators acknowledge persistent challenges, particularly the lag between rapid industrial change and curriculum updates. Ling noted that many instructors lack front-line corporate experience, while upgrading advanced equipment remains costly.

The city is taking steps to close those gaps. A 2025 skills evaluation reform allows academic courses to be combined with professional certifications. Shanghai also launched pilot "production-education-evaluation" skill chains, which support enterprise-led talent bases and subsidize apprenticeships.

Full-time vocational teachers are required to undergo six months of enterprise practice every five years, while the city has introduced 50 master craftsmen to establish specialized skills studios.

Cheng said the college will use one measure to assess its next curriculum review: whether graduates find jobs in the industries for which they were trained.