Sergio Cosby Thompson (right) from Ghana in West Africa, and his Chinese classmates, learn automobile repair techniques at Shandong Lanxiang Senior Technical School. [ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY]

Shandong institution makes its mark with quasi-military approach

Since its founding in 1984, Shandong Lanxiang Senior Technical School has had its fair share of controversy.

An international media report in 2010 — the authenticity of which was denied by the school — said the institution was at the heart of a secretive global hacking conspiracy, thus giving it an air of mystique.

In 2014, reports alleged that the school's president had pressured students to assault his father-in-law in Henan province amid a financial dispute with his ex-wife, with whom he fathered six children.

It made headlines again in June, when 77 People's Liberation Army Air Force soldiers graduated from the institution after just three months, during which time they reportedly learned how to operate backhoes.

Many consider the school in Jinan, Shandong province, to even be as well known as one of the country's top academic institutions, Peking University, although the two share few commonalities.

Many also grew up hearing a TV advertisement for the school saying: "Which is the best school for learning technical skills? Come to Lan­xiang in Shandong."

A student learns about gaming designs at the school. [ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY]

Scores of students who have graduated from the school have moved to developed countries for work thanks to skills learned.

However, despite being in the media spotlight, one simple fact has been ignored. Lanxiang is just one of a countless number of vocational schools at which millions of students from rural areas gain skills that help change their destinies. What does help it stand out is its martinetlike student training practices and special incentives for staff members.

Fewer students from rural areas are admitted to competitive high schools compared with their urban counterparts, and the former also have a lower probability of success on college entrance exams, or gaokao, where competition is fierce. The exam has long been described as a "stampede of tens of thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of horses crossing a single log bridge".

It is regular practice for students' tuition fees to be paid before they start their school studies. However, at Lanxiang this is not the case. The annual tuition fee of 11,000 yuan ($1,600) does not have to be paid immediately, only after a one-month trial study period.

"Most students come to us at about the age of 15. Many have no idea at all about the majors they are going to study. They could change to a major that really interests them during the one-month trial," said Jiang Yan, the school's head of reception, adding that this could help save parents from wasting money.

She also said the school will expel students for bad behavior or who are difficult to manage during the trial period.

Rong Lanxiang (center), president of Shandong Lanxiang Senior Technical School, with his students. [ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY]

Once students start at the school, they lead a semi-military life. For example, they have to fold up their blankets and make them box-shaped, just as Chinese soldiers do. Their phones have to be turned off and put in certain place in their classrooms during lessons.

Meanwhile, the closed circuit TV monitoring system at the school covers almost every area.

Students have to stay on campus most of the time, only being allowed out on Sundays. Even then, they have to return before 6 pm. After lessons, students from each class will go to the canteen together in four orderly rows.

Each class has about 60 students, and the total number is more than 20,000. A single class is a highly autonomous body "governed" by a head teacher who is "contracted" and empowered to dispose of 70 percent of students' tuition fees. He pays his teachers money from the 70 percent.

Money will be deducted to pay off losses for the school if students quit, and to cover medical expenses for those who are injured. That which remains covers the "contractors'" income.