As of the end of year 2002, there is one institution of higher learning, 23 vocational schools, 39 high schools, 563 primary schools and 64 private schools in Gongguan. Among the vocational schools, 6 are state-level key schools (including the Municipal School of Technicians) and 2 are province-level key schools. In 2002, these institutions hosted 58,900 person-times of training for the staff and workers of the whole city, ranking in the front in terms of training in Guangdong.

    At present, the more than 20,000 enterprises in Dongguan have recruited and trained more than 300,000 high caliber middle and high-level managerial and technical staff who have both received higher education and familiarized themselves with the advanced mode of management domestic and abroad. The city has been enhancing exchange and cooperation with foreign universities, research institutes and technical institutions. Long-term cooperative relationship has also been established with 28 famous universities in China, including Tsinghua University and Peking University. Such cooperation has brought about various research institutes and institutions of education and training for advanced human resources, such as an IT college, a research institute and branches of postgraduate education. The new campus of Dongguan University of Technology and the Dongguan Campus of Guangdong Medical College, both located in Songshan Lake Science and Technology Industrial Park, began to enroll students in September, 2003. Designs for such projects as the International School, the Songshan Lake Biotechnology College of Sun Yatsen University and the National Training Base for Life Science and Technology have also been completed.