Although a large number of students around the world attend vocational schools, there is little evidence about what factors matter for learning in these schools. Using data on approximately 1,400 vocational students in one eastern province in China, we employ a student fixed-effects model to identify whether teacher enterprise experience, direct…

Through a case study of China (Guangdong Province) the author examines the problem of "diploma disease" in developing nations. "Diploma disease" is the students' desire for the paper credentials of academic education that insure employability. This desire can frustrate government efforts to promote alternate vocational…

Although Chinese officials have optimistically declared their faith in the potential of educational television instruction to present a cost-effective alternative to traditional schooling, it remains to be seen if the Chinese experience is more satisfactory than that of other Third World countries, whose success in this area has been limited.…

Despite remarkable progress in education, China and India still face problems of massive illiteracy; lack of universal access to education; a hierarchical, elitist, examination-oriented system unrelated to economic needs and productive labor; a large number of unemployed school leavers; and dependence on foreign models, particularly at the higher…