Electronics Industry Recognizes Vocational Schools in China for Excellence

ALEXANDRIA, Va., and STANFORD, Calif., June 29, 2016 /3BL Media/ – The Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), a nonprofit coalition of leading electronics companies dedicated to supply chain responsibility, and the Rural Education Action Program (REAP), a Stanford University research organization dedicated to discovering and correcting the causes of poverty in rural China, today announced they have recognized 22 vocational education and training (VET) programs in China for excellence. 

Last week at an event in Zhengzhou City, Henan, China, hosted by the EICC and REAP, and attended by government officials, these schools were recognized for excellence based on completion of a rigorous credentialing program that included assessment and action plans to meet the increasingly high standards of electronics companies that manufacture in China. EICC Executive Director Rob Lederer and Director of Vocational and Adult Education Teaching and Research Unit of the Henan Department of Education Yuhui Tan presented each school with a plaque to commemorate their achievements.

In 2014-2015, the EICC and REAP developed and piloted a full credentialing program in the Henan province with strict criteria for VET programs and issued a report on direct, statistically significant impacts on student educational outcomes, which included: improved vocational skills by 55 percent, improved math skills by 34 percent, and reduced school dropout by 15 percent.

Phase 1 of the credentialing program took place in 2013-2014, when EICC member companies Apple and Dell, and Stanford University’s REAP, surveyed VET schools that provided student workers to EICC member facilities and suppliers. The assessment tool was provided to all EICC members to evaluate the schools they partnered with and to create a plan for each participating school. 

"We thank these schools for their commitment to the students, to quality education and to partnership with the electronics industry," said Rob Lederer, Executive Director of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC). "In collaboration with the local and national government, we hope to expand this credentialing program to other areas of China." 

"Results from the randomized field experiment show that the credentialing system has a wide range of positive impacts on teaching and student outcomes in vocational schools," said Prashant Loyalka, Assistant Professor, Stanford University, REAP and Graduate School of Education. "The results are extremely gratifying and suggest the potential of industry-government-school collaborations to change the lives of millions of kids in China."

"Starting in 2014, we conducted a pilot assessment of 118 Vocational Schools across Henan province. This has provided us with a large amount of data that will serve as an important decision making reference in our overall effort to raise the quality of vocational education, both in our province and across China," said Hongbin Yin, Deputy Director of the Henan Department of Education. "I hope that the research team will further perfect the assessment and credentialing system, enrich their research findings, and promote and extend the range of these effective research methods. I believe that schools should cherish and take advantage of the credentialing opportunity offered by the EICC and strengthen relations with global coalitions and leading international enterprises. This system will help schools to improve and standardize their own internal management, provide further educational linkages, and continue to raise the quality and serviceability of vocational schools."

A full list of the VET schools that have been credentialed by the EICC and REAP thus far can be found here. Schools interested in completing the assessment in 2017 should contact Deborah Albers at dalbers@EICCoalition.org.

About EICC
The EICC is a nonprofit coalition of leading electronics companies dedicated to the social, environmental and ethical responsibility of their global supply chains. EICC members commit and are held accountable to a common Code of Conduct and utilize a range of training and assessment tools to support continuous improvement. The EICC is comprised of more than 110 electronics companies, representing 17 different sectors from consumer brands to smelters, with combined annual revenue of greater than $4.5 trillion, and directly employing over 6 million people. For more information, visit www.eiccoalition.org and follow @EICCoalition.

About REAP
The Rural Education Action Program (REAP) is a Stanford University research organization, dedicated to discovering the causes of poverty in rural China, and creating simple, yet effective solutions. Comprised of a mix of economists, education and health experts, REAP performs rigorous scientific research on China’s most pressing human capital problems and partners with various government, private and industry groups to scale up effective solutions. To date, REAP’s education and nutrition programs have impacted millions of students across rural China. For more information, visit http://reap.fsi.stanford.edu/ and follow @StanfordREAP.

Media Contact:
Jarrett Bens, Director of Communications
Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition
Phone: +1 571.858.5721
jbens@eiccoalition.org