Back from London, 36-year-old Cui Weimin prepares her first lesson for the opening spring term. Cui laughs as she recalls how her visa application was rejected at first.

The vice director of the aviation service department of the Beijing Changping Secondary Vocational School studied last December at Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College, as part of an exchange program called London and Beijing World Links.

"The UK visa officer thought I was trying to stay in the UK, since after she checked the information about our school, she thought it was a pretty good one even compared to the ones there," 36-year-old Cui recalls.

The visa officer was right. Founded in 1983, Changping Secondary Vocational School, a State school in north Beijing's Changping district, has taken big steps in its curricular reforms.

"Most people thought vocational education didn't have quality teaching. That is not the case," says Liu Wenjun, vice-president of the school.

At the beginning of this semester, Aviation Service students used new 15-million-yuan ($2 million) flight passenger equipment, which replicates every detail inside a real jet.

"Although we have advanced teaching facilities, it is still necessary to bring effective teaching methods into classes," Liu explains. "The exchange programs will give our teachers a chance to absorb excellent experiences from abroad."

With the help of Learning Together, the organizer of the London Beijing World Links Program, Cui and English teacher Lin Ling traveled to Britain. The six-week training program proved inspirational.

"Vocational education in Britain is more mature," Cui says. "Most of the teachers have long-term working experience in their fields, and the education focuses on many valuable details."

Cui recalls that in a geography class, a teacher marked major international airports on a map and asked students to find out relevant tourism information.

"The teacher required us to not only know the destinations, but also be able to introduce the tourism information to passengers onboard." Cui says that she will introduce this into her lesson plans.

Her colleague Lin was impressed with the details of aviation marketing strategies in the UK.

"Teachers asked students to learn the features of different flight companies and to find out their target markets. They strengthened communication between stewardesses and passengers."

The school offers 10 subjects, teaching more than 40 special skills in services including gardening, car maintenance, leisure and sports management, computer applied technology, financial services and logistical management. Currently, the school boasts more than 4,800 students aged between 16 and 18 from all over the country.

According to Liu, 1,432 students will provide services for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. They are currently being trained for the events.

Cui says that when the Olympics Games begin, eight English students will get an internship at the Beijing Hotel as part of an exchange program with the Changping school.

Liu says the school has established vocational training programs with employers from all over the country. Almost all of the students have internship opportunities before graduation, and the employment rate has been remained higher than 95 percent in recent years.

"In China, people used to believe that going to university was the only way to succeed, but the notion is gradually changing," Liu says.

(China Daily, March 31, 2008)