Growing opportunities

"I have seen young people treating their work very seriously," he said. "I have seen them being diligent and positive in their personal development."

Mann said it is important for policymakers in different countries to try to make vocational education as attractive as general education instead of it looking like a second option.

"Those policymakers need to think that they are designing policies for all children, including their own children, rather than other people's children," he said.

Alexander Birle, chief representative of the Beijing office of Hanns Seidel Foundation, said the German public organization has realized the opportunities provided by vocational education to socially disadvantaged young people, and that it has been working to assist some people in western China.

The foundation initiated a project 18 years ago of financially supporting students, especially women and those from ethnic groups such as Uygurs who drop out of schools because of economic issues, to continue studying through vocational training. Each year, four students are selected for sponsorship to two vocational schools in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Each scholarship, worth 4,800 yuan ($699) a year, is capable of meeting a student's six-month costs at school, and is provided to a beneficiary after he or she completes the first year of learning, "as a reward for their dedication and a motivation for further learning for the following two years", Birle said.

The three years of vocational training meet requirements of the job market in areas such as mechanics, electronics and automotive, he added.