BEIJING -- The top legislature began discussing a draft revision to the law on vocational education, in a bid to solve prominent problems in the field and train more high-caliber technical professionals.

The draft revision was presented for the legislators' deliberation for the first time on Monday at the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Proposing that vocational education should enjoy equal importance to general education, the draft calls for leveraging the principal role of enterprises in vocational education and encouraging social participation.

It stipulates giving greater autonomy to vocational schools in their operations, thus promoting the quality and level of education.

The draft also defines further efforts to strengthen the teacher workforce and improve the mechanism for funding in vocational education.

The current Vocational Education Law was put into effect in September 1996.