Vocational schools need reforming

China is striving for a transition to a service-oriented economy. But is it ready? Does it have the workers trained in the right skills?

Data from 2010 show that, while restaurants hired more than 6 million chefs, only 60,000 people, or 1 percent of the size of the job market, had studied the culinary arts in the country's vocational schools. In an even more striking contrast, while there are as many as 1.6 million companies registered as providers of temporary workers to help with the household chores, the enrollment of domestic service majors by intermediate vocational schools was no more than 5,000.

Who is failing China's chance of future development?