Without high-level education and scientific research, there can be no or very unlikely high-quality education development. Vocational education and scientific research are crucial for the development of vocational education. "Wu Yan, Vice Minister of Education, emphasized at the 2024 National Vocational Education Science (Education) Research Work Conference that in order to implement the" Outline of the Plan for Building an Education Strong Country (2024-2035) "(hereinafter referred to as the" Outline "), the Ministry of Education is preparing a" three-year action plan "for vocational education. The Outline is the "design plan", while the "three-year action plan" is the "construction plan" and "implementation plan".

Wu Yan pointed out that vocational education is in a period of transformation and turning point, facing four changes: firstly, starting from the National Education Conference, the entire education industry has entered the channel of building an education powerhouse. Secondly, the international situation is constantly changing, and education, including vocational education, is facing important tests such as high winds, waves, and even rough seas. Third, the acceleration of Chinese path to modernization, the threshold of new industrialization, requires vocational education to train a large number of highly skilled personnel. Fourthly, China's population has reached a turning point, and population changes will have a huge impact on vocational education.

Wu Yan emphasized that vocational education research is currently facing the problems of "scattered", "weak", and "virtual", and there is still a gap compared to the development requirements. Vocational education research needs to shift its paradigm, understanding, methods, and habits, striving to step out of its comfort zone and initiate a self revolution in vocational education research. Research should consider the thoughts of the country, respond to the needs of the country, and address the urgent needs of the country. At present, vocational education research should focus on 15 areas: moral education and talent cultivation, vocational education positioning, integration of industry and education, integration of vocational and general education, standards, adaptability, and specifications of vocational colleges, development of secondary vocational education, comprehensive high school research, "new double high", vocational undergraduate education, "hardware" (Jin Zhuan, Jin Ke, Jin Shi, Jin Di, and Jin Textbook), digitalization of vocational education, certification standards of Luban Workshop, Chinese model of vocational education development, vocational education going global and vocational education meta research.

Wu Yan encouraged the attending representatives that China is approaching the goal of building an education powerhouse by 2035, which is urgent and arduous. Vocational education research institutions should closely follow the national strategy and the needs of economic and social development, actively carry out theoretical innovation and practical exploration, and effectively play the role of "preserving history", "providing guidance", "warning" and "guiding".

Lin Yu, Director of the Vocational Education Development Center of the Ministry of Education, emphasized that in response to the problems of scattered, weak, and virtual vocational education research, the next step of vocational education research work should be demand-oriented, focusing on national needs, industrial needs, and career needs, strengthening the foresight of research, playing a predictive role, and supporting policy implementation; To collaborate as a team and organize a 'big team' to tackle key issues; We need to conduct systematic and in-depth research, track and delve into the front line for a long time, put in a lot of effort, and do real research; To achieve practical results, empirical research should be conducted to obtain practical effects and come up with executable and effective countermeasures and suggestions.

He suggested clarifying the relationship between vocational education and further education, the relationship between vocational education system and vocational education philosophy, and the relationship between vocational education system and vocational school system derived from it before studying specific issues. As a national level vocational education research institution, the Vocational Education Development Center of the Ministry of Education has also established a national vocational education collaborative research mechanism and conducted meta research on vocational education through the release of projects and research topics.

(Jin Haotian, all media reporter of Guangming Daily)