By Li Xinran | 00:05 UTC+8 March 17, 2021
The Lingang Special Area not only plays a leading role in the country’s economic reform and institutional innovation but will also spearhead the construction of a high-quality social services system and make breakthroughs in education and healthcare, according to a press release yesterday.
In line with the planning for the construction of a high-quality social service system in Lingang, the special area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone will become a pilot zone for the reform and opening-up of education and a leading area with a high-quality health service, according to Chen Shiyan, deputy director of the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission.
In education, major tasks include the building of a core area of industry integrated education. A number of high-level colleges, disciplines and experimental training platforms will be built in connection with the key industries in the special area while the establishment of vocational or secondary schools with mixed ownership will be explored to promote school-enterprise cooperation.
The plan proposes to introduce prestigious overseas universities and focus on fundamental research and industrial innovation to create high-level research institutes, and new models of lifelong education, Chen added.
Vocational schools
Wu Wei, deputy director of the Lingang Special Area administrative committee, said construction of the east campus of Shanghai High School, the Lingang Youth Activity Center and a number of public schools is under way and expected to be completed and put into operation in 2023.
Lingang is also introducing high-quality vocational schools from Germany and promoting the construction of a work-integrated education base jointly run by local enterprises and schools, Wu said.
Mao Lijuan, deputy director of the Shanghai Education Commission, said Lingang’s reform will support the construction of high-level vocational schools to serve leading industries and talent in the area and support local universities to establish modern industrial schools.
“The reform will support the cultivation of new industrial universities, focus on integrated circuits, artificial intelligence and other fields, and build an integrated system of vocational training plus academic education plus an open platform.”
