German certificates to give Chinese students job edge

By Han Bingbin (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-18 07:52

As many as 440 students will benefit from a newly launched Sino-German cooperative education program, offering opportunities in both Beijing and German markets.

Issued by Deutscher Industrie-und Handelskammertag (DIHK), a German vocational qualification certificate is being introduced by the Beijing municipal commission of education as a way to lead local students toward a bright career.

According to the official website of the commission, the city now has more than 50 international cooperative higher education programs in progress, of which 15 are vocational education programs.

Set to run for three and a half years, the DIHK program will issue students with German vocational qualification certificates that can reportedly open doors to most Western job markets. Students will also receive Chinese certificates to help ensure success in the domestic job market.

Eight local vocational colleges have already participated in the program, and plan to recruit around 440 students this year alone. Students studying in five related fields, including transportation, electronics, logistics, technical drawing, and numerical control, can start taking training courses in the coming autumn semester.

Beijing Polytechnic College, one of the program participants, is about to send six teachers to receive intensive training during summer vacation. DIHK will also help train local teachers to become qualified lecturers.

An official, surnamed Niu, from Beijing Polytechnic College, said students would ultimately acquire the same diploma as handed out in Germany.

This will provide them with job opportunities in German markets.

Niu also said that according to the evaluation done by DIHK, the expected monthly salary in the Chinese market for a student with a DIHK certificate should be more than 6,000 yuan.

However, Niu added that the estimated cost of the program would be higher than regular tuition.

This is DIHK's first launch of a vocational qualification program in China's higher education market, Niu said. Mercedes-Benz, along with other Chinese and other German company representatives, attended the contract signing ceremony. Niu said this suggested a number of companies supported the DIHK vocational qualification certificate.

But despite the positive outlook, not everyone believed the school is heading in the right academic direction.

According to a human resource staff member at Wilo, a German water pump company, the DIHK certificate is not important enough to appeal to them.