The report showed that more than 200 million people had participated in evaluations of vocational skills by the end of 2014, with about 160 million obtaining certificates.

Among the certificate holders, about 1.47 million were senior technicians, the most skilled workers, and some six million were technicians.

Since 2006, the government has stepped up efforts to improve vocational education in rural and poverty-stricken areas as well as places inhabited by ethnic minorities.

The report also said more than 40 million people coming from rural areas had received vocational training in the past decade before landing a city job.

Training of the disabled was also included in the vocational education plan. In the northwestern Gansu Province alone, the government set up 31 training centers for the group in the past five years, with 21,000 people having studied at the centers.

From March to May this year, Zhang headed a team to inspect the enforcement of the law on vocational education in six provinces as well as Chongqing municipality and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The inspectors, who were divided into four groups, held seminars with headmasters, teachers and human resources officials at about 70 institutions, training centers and enterprises on how to improve teaching.

This was the first time the NPC Standing Committee had organized a law enforcement inspection since the law took effect, the report noted.

It also pointed out that problems including unstable levels of investment and lack of experienced teachers are holding the sector back from further development.

The bimonthly session of the top legislature runs from June 24 to July 1.