學者對於職業教育的功能有長久的討論，本文嘗試以職業教育的內在功能為重心，探討兩鎮職業教育的教師質素以及參與者的價值觀，以回應有關職業教育的爭論。對於兩鎮而言，現階段的所謂職業教育，應包括穩固的文化基礎知識、對工作世界的初步了解、工作態度的培養、專門的職業技術知識，尤其需要強調對於學生適應轉變能力的培養。兩鎮的職業中學教育由於師資不足，教師士氣不高，質素欠缺保證，社會地位偏低，為家長及學生輕視，內在功能未能充分發揮，所以其促進本地經濟發展的能力應受質疑。國家政策計劃在短期內對於職業教育再作大規模的擴展，有待進一步的檢討。

This paper attempts to address a long-standing debate on the functions of vocational education. The scope of interest of the paper is the internal efficiency of vocational education, and its discussion is focused upon the quality of teachers and the value orientation of participants in vocational education. As far as the two rural towns are concerned, vocational education should afford students a strong literary and numerary knowledge base, a basic understanding of the world, a healthy attitude toward work, and relevant vocational knowledge and skills. In the context of the rapidly changing rural towns, vocational education should also nurture students who are highly adaptable to the varying demands of the changing workplace. However, such expectations are not met in programs offered in the two vocational secondary schools of the rural towns. The internal efficiency of vocational education is not high because of shortage of appropriately trained teachers, low staff morale, absence of quality assurance, and low socio-economic status of teachers. In the context of the rural towns, the efficacy of vocational education in developing the local economy is therefore questioned. The national policy to broadly expand vocational education (at the expense of general education) should be further deliberated and reviewed.