Huge market:
Some institutions estimate that the market size of China's funeral service industry in 2020 will be 257.7 billion yuan, an increase of 236.1 billion yuan compared with 2019, and the market size is expected to reach 411.4 billion yuan in 2026.
Talent in short supply:
The reporter's investigation found that there are only 5 vocational colleges and 3 secondary vocational colleges in the country that offer funeral and interment majors, but there is a large demand for talents in the funeral industry. Only in funeral homes, the annual talent gap is about 10,000.
Funeral meaning:
Funerals are not just technical or service in nature; funerals themselves are a cultural activity.
The so-called funeral, on the one hand, is the treatment of the remains, and on the other hand, the spiritual treatment.
Secular vision often fears and taboos death, and also taboos "people related to death".
Despite the opposition and misunderstandings that may arise from those around them, young people enter the funeral majors in colleges every year to learn how to "handle death" and learn how to live from death.
Funeral education has been in existence for nearly 30 years since its inception. At present, there are 8 middle and higher vocational colleges in my country that have set up funeral majors, and no school has set up funeral majors at the undergraduate level.
The reporter learned from the interview that many students, teachers and even the founders of funeral education have called for the establishment of an undergraduate major in funerals, hoping that professionals with higher education will lead this unpopular and ancient industry a step forward and truly achieve "let the dead." Rest in peace, consolation for the living".
funeral parlor
The annual talent gap is about 10,000
Recently, Bilibili's self-produced drama "Sanyue Has a New Job" once again put the funeral industry in the spotlight, causing heated discussions.
In the play, Sanyue is not a funeral professional, but she can still work as a makeup artist for the remains.
In fact, a situation similar to Sanyue is not uncommon in domestic funeral homes, and workers with non-professional backgrounds account for the majority of funeral service agencies.
He Zhenfeng, dean of the School of Life and Culture of Beijing Vocational College of Social Management, once conducted a survey of more than 1,500 practitioners in 150 funeral service agencies across the country. Only 21.52% of them majored in funerals, and the proportion of those with a professional learning background was very low.
Non-professional background does not necessarily mean unprofessional, but the lack of professional talents in the funeral industry is a reality.
The aforementioned survey also found that among the more than 1,500 respondents, 53.74% had no vocational qualification certificates, and only 13.39% had advanced vocational qualifications.
One of the reasons is that there are few colleges offering funeral and interment majors or there is a lack of professional talents.
The reporter combed and found that at present, only 5 higher vocational colleges and 3 secondary vocational colleges in the country offer funeral majors, and the professional directions mainly include funeral services, funeral equipment, anti-corrosion and cosmetic surgery, and cemetery design four categories.
But in general, the 8 colleges have fewer graduates and lower educational levels.
According to the data of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in 2021, there are 4,373 funeral service agencies nationwide, including 1,774 funeral homes, 815 funeral management agencies, and 1,673 cemeteries managed by civil affairs departments.
In contrast, the number of deaths, the number of cremated remains, and the cremation rate in my country are increasing year by year.
Some institutions estimate that the market size of China's funeral service industry in 2020 will be 257.7 billion yuan, an increase of 236.1 billion yuan compared with 2019, and the market size is expected to reach 411.4 billion yuan in 2026.
Xie Haibo, director of the Admissions Office of Changsha Civil Affairs Vocational and Technical College, said in an interview that there is a large demand for talents in the funeral industry. For funeral homes alone, the annual talent gap is about 10,000 people, and there are 8 existing funeral and interment majors in the country. In higher vocational colleges, there are fewer than 1,000 graduates of funeral and interment majors every year.
As the aging population continues to grow, the talent gap in the funeral industry is expected to grow.
many funeral homes
Recruitment requires a bachelor's degree
In addition to the lack of people, the low level of education in the funeral profession also brings many problems.
According to the "Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Funeral Development Plan (2018-2022)", according to statistics at the end of 2017, there were 1,886 funeral practitioners in Guangxi, of which 308 had a bachelor's degree or above, accounting for 16.3%; there are front-line funeral workers. Older age, low cultural and professional level, and low professional quality.
Shen Hongge, deputy dean of the School of Civil Affairs and Social Work of Changsha Civil Affairs Vocational and Technical College, said that because the academic system for junior college students is three years in total, there will be at least half a year of internships.
This means that there are only two and a half years of studying in school, and "the first year is basically a public course with few professional courses, because the specialized teaching focuses on technology and less theory."
The college degree may have an impact on the admission and promotion of students.
According to a funeral professional teacher, taking funeral homes as an example, many funeral homes currently require "undergraduate education" for recruitment. "This profession has a good employment rate, but the upper limit is very low. Even if some funeral homes do not require 'undergraduate', However, in the follow-up competition, junior college students lack advantages, and it is difficult to promote." The teacher said that many students in the school choose to improve their academic qualifications through "specialized sets", that is, students study undergraduate courses while studying junior colleges. After passing the undergraduate course examination, the junior college graduates with a higher education undergraduate diploma.
However, such numbers are limited.
In addition to the "specialized set", upgrading to a specialization is also a way out.
At present, there is no undergraduate major that directly corresponds to funeral and interment. Shen Hongge said, "The proportion of students who go to college every year is less than 10%. The vast majority of students will still choose employment if they have a suitable employment unit." Shen Hongge told reporters, Judging from the admission scores, the admission scores of funeral and interment majors in Hunan Province are generally more than ten points higher than the undergraduate line.
Ren Junsheng, an associate professor at Chongqing Vocational College of Urban Management, also said that most of the students enrolled in modern funeral technology and management majors have higher college entrance examination scores than undergraduates.
From insiders in the funeral industry to teachers and students, they have told reporters many times that they hope to have undergraduate programs in funerals.
However, there are also different voices.
According to Xiao Liu, a sophomore majoring in funerals, the techniques learned in school can be mastered even after spending two months in a funeral home, and even with a good teacher, they can learn them faster.
Xiao Liu feels that practical learning in school is relatively lacking. "For example, our anti-corrosion and cosmetic surgery courses basically only learn some theoretical knowledge in books, and there is no opportunity for practical operation." She wants to go to a funeral home in a northern city after graduation, but "Most of the establishments of funeral homes in these places are for undergraduates." She plans to go to college first, and then take the examination.
It is hoped that professionals with higher education will lead this unpopular and ancient industry a step forward and truly achieve "let the dead rest in peace and the living comfort".
What kind of funeral education do we need
What is the problem with funeral education?
"Funeral education will take at most 30 years from 1995 to 2025. Compared with other disciplines, the foundation itself is weak." On the other hand, funeral and interment majors are not included in the catalogue of undergraduate majors announced by the Ministry of Education. "If you don't have an undergraduate degree, you can recruit If you don’t come to undergraduates, you can’t be included in the enrollment plan.”
The reporter learned that my country's funeral education began in the 1990s.
In 1993, Sun Shuren, the former vice-principal of Jinan Civil Affairs School, was invited by the relevant divisions of the Department of Personnel Education of the Ministry of Civil Affairs to carry out the demonstration work of the funeral profession.
In 1995, Jinan Civil Affairs School offered funeral technology and management majors, and then civil affairs schools in seven provinces and cities including Chongqing and Wuhan also had funeral majors, but as of 2022, there is no funeral major.
Sun Shuren, the current secretary-general of the China Funeral Association, told reporters, "Funeral education will take at most 30 years from 1995 to 2025. Compared with other disciplines, its foundation is weak." On the other hand, the funeral major is not included in the undergraduate program announced by the Ministry of Education. In the professional catalogue, "Without an undergraduate degree, you will not be able to recruit undergraduate students, and you will not be able to be included in the enrollment plan."
In addition, entering the funeral profession often faces doubts and opposition from the outside world.
It is recorded that the early funeral majors were often mocked by other students as "dead majors" and "crematorium majors", and students of other majors were not even willing to line up for meals with them.
Several interviewed funeral and interment major students said that they were opposed by their parents when applying for the exam.
Xiao Liu said that most people's most intuitive idea when they learn about their major is "how girls learn this".
When her senior sister was on a blind date, when she told the blind date that she was a funeral worker, the other party "just left without drinking water."
Fear and taboo about death also hinder the overall development of funeral education.
"I don't want to do (funeral), and I don't want my children to do it." Sun Shuren said that the awareness of being secretive about death also affects the students' application for the exam, which makes the development of funeral education slower.
In fact, there have been many attempts to develop funeral education and cultivate high-level talents before.
In 2006, the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology and the Shanghai Institute of Funeral Culture jointly launched a postgraduate course for funeral and interment, but this course does not confer degrees, nor does it belong to the category of academic education.
In 2007, the China Funeral Association and Peking University jointly held a postgraduate course in funeral culture for Chinese philosophy majors, recruiting staff in the funeral industry across the country, hoping to cultivate thinking talents and provide constructive development for the funeral industry.
However, such postgraduate classes for funerals have not been carried out continuously.
In 2020, Shanghai Open University will add a life education module under the social work major, offering courses such as funeral sociology, life philosophy and life education, grief counseling and funeral etiquette, mainly for employees of the city's funeral system.
However, this is adult education and is the equivalent of a bachelor's degree.
"How should our funeral industry develop next?" Shen Hongge said, this is like the development of modern funerals, first cremation, then funeral services, "service standardization is a problem that can be solved at the specialist level, then from the The rise of funeral service to cultural quality requires leaders with undergraduate education to bring some concepts down to the operational level.”
The reporter was informed that some colleges and universities are currently planning to apply to the Ministry of Education for a pilot program of funeral and interment majors at the undergraduate level.
What should the modernization of the funeral industry look like?
The essence of burial is to affect the living through the ritual of death.
Funerals are not just technical or service in nature; funerals themselves are a cultural activity.
The so-called funeral, on the one hand, is the treatment of the remains, and on the other hand, the spiritual treatment.
What about the undergraduate-level funeral major?
The jury is still out.
Associate Professor Ren Junsheng of Chongqing Vocational College of Urban Management believes that before this, it is necessary to solve the problem of how to abandon traditional concepts and move towards modernization. This is a problem that must be solved in the preparation of undergraduate funeral majors.
Ren Junsheng taught the philosophy of life and death in school, and he gave students an example of "toilet": "In rural areas, dry toilets are usually behind the courtyard, far from the hall; now, whether in student dormitories or at home, water toilets are It could be right next to the bedroom. The reason for this change is that we were not able to deal with the negative impact of toilets before, but toilets are necessary for daily life, so it can only be isolated by space.”
"Dry toilets are equivalent to traditional funerals for dealing with corpses and dealing with death anxiety, and water toilets are equivalent to ideal modern funerals. People have the inevitability of death, and it is necessary to deal with corpses. So how should people face corpses and think about life and death? Funeral work In ancient society, most people lived a hard life, and through traditional funerals, the afterlife was shaped so that the living could continue to live.” Ren Junsheng believes that the current funeral ceremony has not yet Stepping out of the shadow of tradition, despite having specific psychological effects and social effects, such effects and effects often stay on the surface, allowing emotions to be vented and transferred temporarily.
"But in modern life, most people have more happiness than suffering. Whether it is to understand the 'toilet' as the physical space of the funeral home, or the psychological space of most people's life and death, we still need to build the 'toilet' in the Is it far from a place outside of us?" In his view, ritual does not play an ideal role as a healing for the trauma of death. People cannot be effectively released because of the emotional stress and anxiety carried by death. The fundamental problem of survival" "Where will death go" and its related questions of the meaning of life are still stuck in the bottom of the heart. People still face the trauma of death through repression and forgetting in their lives after the funeral ceremony.
So what should the modernization of funerals look like?
Ren Junsheng thought, "I think after a person dies normally, what impact should we have on the living by handling the remains?" And this is exactly what he tries to guide the students to think about.
Shen Hongge also agrees with this.
He told reporters that the current funeral industry is still in the stage of "processing the remains", but this is only the most superficial thing. The essence of funeral is to affect the living through the ritual of death.
He said burial is not just a technical or service nature, it is a cultural activity in itself.
The so-called funeral, on the one hand, is the treatment of the remains, and on the other hand, the spiritual treatment.
"Spiritual handling includes how to pass on some of the good spiritual qualities of the deceased to future generations. Spiritual inheritance is what we need to focus on now and do." Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter Chen Yifan intern Li Ying
Chengdu Business Daily