Most Shanghai vocational school graduates are earning between 2,000 yuan (US$286) and 3,000 yuan a month and the majority are optimistic they will receive pay rises, says the city's first career report on vocational school students.

The report, released by the Shanghai Education Commission yesterday, asked 133 graduates from 13 local vocational schools about their employment and career development.

More than 41 percent of the respondents said they were earning between 2,000 and 3,000 yuan a month, followed by the second largest group who earned between 3,000 and 4,000 yuan. Most of the graduates, 62 percent, were ordinary front-line workers with only 9 percent handling managerial roles.

Vocational schools, which are different from academic course-oriented high schools, enrol middle school graduates and teach them practical courses like car maintenance or nursing.

"Most schools now team up with employers and tailor courses to suit the employer," said Wu Xianwei, the principal of the Shanghai Information Technology College.

"Despite the lower academic achievements, the strong hands-on work training makes vocation school graduates very competitive in the job market," he added.

(Shanghai Daily April 30, 2008)