Shanxi revises the Measures for Implementing the Vocational Education Law, effective from September 1

The General Office of the Standing Committee of the Shanxi Provincial People’s Congress held a press conference on August 3 to introduce the newly revised Measures of Shanxi Province for Implementing the Vocational Education Law of the People’s Republic of China. The measures were adopted at the 29th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th Shanxi Provincial People’s Congress and will officially take effect on September 1. Shanxi said the revision was made because the original measures have been in effect since 1997 for nearly 30 years, and some provisions are inconsistent with the higherlevel law and can no longer meet the needs of current highquality development and industrial transformation for skilled talent. The new measures remove the chapter divisions and contain 38 articles, placing greater emphasis on government responsibilities, the development of a modern vocational education system, safeguarding the rights and interests of teachers and students, integration of industry and education, schoolenterprise cooperation, and related support and guarantee measures. Regarding integration of industry and education, the new measures propose strengthening the construction of vocational schools, promoting integrated development of vocational education at the secondary, junior college, undergraduate, and higher levels; guiding schools to prioritize the establishment of majors needed for industrial transformation and increasing the development of artificial intelligencerelated majors; smoothing channels for mutual appointments between schools and enterprises and supporting the recruitment of urgently needed and scarce specialized teachers from industries and enterprises; and, at the same time, supporting industryeducation integration enterprises through a combination of fiscal, land, and tax and fee policies. The Shanxi Provincial Department of Education said that next it will use the implementation of the measures to optimize the layout of vocational schools, adva