Young Chinese ‘return to the furnace’ for practical skills but Chinese media reports some students are disappointed by education on offer
4-MIN READ4-MIN ListenZhang Tongin BeijingPublished: 2:50pm, 6 Jul 2026China’s technical schools offer hope to desperate university graduates who cannot find a job – but for many, the reality falls short of the promise.
The trend is gaining measurable momentum. According to a survey and field research by the Chinese Society for Technical and Vocational Education, which covers 105 technical schools, the number of institutions offering formal programmes specifically for university graduates rose from 26 in 2023 to 45 in 2025, an increase of 73.08 per cent.
02:57Why China is slashing 12,000 university degreesA 2024 report by Zhaopin, a major Chinese recruitment platform, found that 52.2 per cent of graduates believed that returning to technical school would improve their job prospects.
Personal stories illustrate the diverse motivations driving this shift. An article published by the Henan Association for Science and Technology in May profiled several individuals who had chosen this path.
Zhou Jingbo, a civil engineering graduate, saw his applications for interior design roles repeatedly fail amid a property slump and his lack of experience. He enrolled at Zhengzhou Technician College to study electrical automation, hoping a practical trade would turn his fortunes around, according to the article.
