The Challenges of the New Century

Faced with information explosion and the globalization of economies, Asian countries must readjust the direction of theirmanpower development, enhance the effectiveness of their education systems, and strengthen the human capital of their cities in order to deal with the challenges of the new century.

The Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research of The Chinese University launched a strategic research project on the interactive relationship of education and development in South China in the mid-1990s. The findings of the research will have important implications for policies governing educational development in mainland China and Hong Kong.

A Study of the Non-State Economic Sector in Shenzhen

Entitled 'Education and Development in South China: A Study of the Manpower System and Relevance of Education for the Development of the Non-State Economic Sector', the project is led by Prof. Chung Yue-ping and funded by the Research Grants Council (RGC). Its objective is to understand the operation of the manpower system in the non-state economic sector in Shenzhen, identify an efficient education system that is also relevant to the economic development of the region, and explore the effect of economic development on educational development.

From 1994 to 1997, four different surveys by random sampling were conducted on the views of schools, as providers of education, students, as recipients of education, Hong Kong enterprises in Shenzhen, as providers of employment, and employees, as recipients of employment. The surveys were supplemented with documentary analysis, interviews, visits, and classroom observations. The major findings of the project, completed in 1998, can be summed up as follows:

	Change in Student Enrolment in Shenzhen

	Change in Number of Schools in Shenzhen

(1) Expansion in and Diversification of Education

It is revealed that there has been a rapid expansion in education at all levels in Shenzhen accompanying growth in the economy. Such expansion is achieved mainly through a dramatic increase in enrolment in schools, including institutions for vocational and adult education. There is, however, a comparatively slow increase in the total number of schools.

The diversification of education following expansion is the result of the central government's policy to increase the provision of vocational and technical training, as well as the local effort to meet the needs of the economy.

(2) Decentralization of Curriculum Development and Financial Arrangement

Curriculum development is observed to show signs of decentralization in response to local needs. About 40 per cent of the schools report that they underwent major curriculum changes in the three years prior to 1997. Alongside government-designed curricula and textbooks, the schools have also adopted locally developed curricula and textbooks.

	Curriculum Analysis

The employment of teachers also shows signs of decentralization. About a quarter of the schools report that the number of teachers they hire falls below the designated level, and the resources have instead been used to improve other aspects of the school. Over half of the schools admit that they have manipulated school resources to attract more and better teachers.

	Sources of Teachers in Shenzhen

(3) A Thriving Labour Market

Walk-in interviews are conducted at 'labour markets' in Shenzhen Requirements for different jobs are listed on an LCD screen

Shenzhen's 'labour market' is the mainland version of the employment agency. Inside the premises of the market, potential employers interview job seekers and, at times, make job offers on the site. Some 'labour markets' have been computerized. They display vacancy notices on large LCD screens, and also provide computerized employer-employee matching service.

The thriving 'labour market' in Shenzhen is an indication of the great manpower mobility there. It also provides an important mechanism for the movement of workers from state units to non-state enterprises.

(4) Education Enlivens Economic Development

The researchers find that, generally speaking, education has raised the productivity and competitiveness of workers in South China during its transition into a market-oriented economy. College and university graduates receive significantly higher wages in the non-state (private) sector. Wage discrepancy between workers with different education levels is also more obvious in private enterprises.

Greater Demand for On-the-job Training

It is also observed that better educated employees have received and hope to receive more on-the-job training. In other words, the demand for on-the-job training is related to the initial level of education of the workers. Basic education, therefore, has long term effects on the pursuit of lifelong learning by workers and the ability of a society to adjust to changes.

Better Adaptability in the Face of Change

Senior secondary students with good academic achievement and high educational aspirations are observed to be more aware of social change and willing to adjust to such change. Education is seen to have helped students anticipate and harness change in a rapidly developing economy.

(5) Economic Development Impacts on Education

Changing Partnership Between Schools and Enterprise

Schools used to receive resources from enterprises to develop training programmes that met the needs of their partner enterprises. Schools also gave higher priority to their partner enterprises when assigning their graduates to work.

This old form of partnership between schools and enterprises has disintegrated following changes in the government's policy towards vocational education, the emergence of new technology, and the shift of labour distribution due to market forces. A new form of school-enterprise partnership needs to be defined and worked out in the future.

Greater Demand for Educated Manpower

The Shenzhen workforce has attained a much higher education level than the general population in mainland China, with employees in the non-state sector being more eduated than those in the state sector. This indicates that, in a rapidly developing economy, particularly in the non-state sector, the workplace demands and has been able to attract highly educated manpower. And this demand for educated labour increases as economic development progresses rapidly.

The survey on enterprises reveals that a significant proportion of senior and intermediate management staff, engineers and senior technicians are recruited from Hong Kong. This means that there is ample employment opportunity in the non-state sector of South China for educated and skilled manpower from Hong Kong. In a broader sense, this flow of human capital from Hong Kong to South China is an example of the economic cooperation and integration between the two regions.

The Changing Role of Schools in the Labour Market

The recruitment of labour by enterprises depends on application by individuals and recommend-ation from schools, two equally important channels, both of which require comprehensive infor-mation about the labour market. This implies that schools have to change their functions from assigning jobs to providing career guidance and counselling for their students.

	Ways of Career Guidance by Schools in Shenzen

The Need to Develop Indigenous Capabilities

The rapid economic development in South China has attracted educated labour easily from all parts of China. Consequently, the development of education in the local areas is not seen as urgent and necessary. In fact, education has not expanded in proportion to economic development. The building up of indigenous capabilities through educational expansion is an important issue in areas with an ample supply of educated manpower from the outside.

(6) Spread of the Shenzhen Experience

The majority of workers in Shenzhen are closely connected with their hometowns and villages. Through them, the development experience of Shenzhen is spread to the rest of China. Other than money capital and technology, Shenzhen's impact also includes human resources, i.e. employees who have been exposed for years to the development of a market economy as well as an open door policy. Shenzhen's mediating function is expected to intensify with the rise in the educational level of its labour force.

On another front, senior secondary students in Shenzhen are observed to be highly aware and receptive of the changes in society: they are willing to take the initiative to deal with change, such as in making new friends and moving to a distant place for the sake of their career. Education, therefore, is the key to the nurturing of China's competitive human resources.

This research shows that education and economic development are closely related. In the context of the new economy, education helps to increase workers' productivity and earnings, and exerts a positive effect on their response to on-the-job training as well as students' attitude towards change. On the other hand, the boom of the non-state sector has brought about changes in education: the decentralization of educational finance and management, the redefinition of partnership between schools and enterprises, a greater demand for more education, a change in the role of schools in the labour market, and an increased demand for general training.