Lesson 2: "Thirst" for skilled labor
(Baonghean.vn) That is a worrying reality in many craft villages today, especially for professions that require high sophistication such as handicrafts, embroidery, or professions where the market always requires constant changes in designs such as bamboo and rattan weaving, crochet embroidery...
Mr. Phan Van Tuyen - Vice Chairman of Yen Thanh District People's Committee - one of the localities that is assessed to have made quite solid steps in developing craft villages in the province, shared: Every year, Yen Thanh allocates 70-100 million VND from the budget to support vocational training. However, there are still many difficulties, especially with newly imported occupations. The first reason is that people are not enthusiastic, when the income from the profession compared to working for hire, construction workers... is still low, the State has only invested in the first segment, meaning training to "know how to do the job", while with many occupations, especially bamboo and rattan weaving, crocheting, product designs change constantly. The source of funding for continuing additional training depends almost exclusively on establishments and enterprises in craft villages. However, the number of these enterprises is still very small and their potential is not strong enough.
Completing the ship frame at Trung Kien Shipbuilding Cooperative (Nghi Thiet Commune - Nghi Loc)
According to statistics, the number of trained workers participating in production in the district only accounts for about 30-40%, the number of skilled and talented workers is still small.
The report summarizing 10 years of implementing Resolution 06/NQ-TU on developing small-scale industries and building craft villages shows that the province's trained labor rate is over 30%, of which vocational training accounts for nearly 20-23%. This figure shows that although the province has made many efforts, it has not yet met the requirements, and the number of skilled workers in craft villages is still too lacking.
Vice President of the Cooperative Union - Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung said: There are currently no exact statistics on the number of artisans remaining in the area. However, it is clear that many craft villages are currently lacking skilled workers. In traditional craft villages such as brocade weaving, sedge mats, crocheting, etc., the number of elderly artisans is increasingly scarce, while the young generation tends to work in concentrated industrial zones or work as hired laborers, construction workers, and are not interested in the traditional professions of their ancestors. As for newly imported professions, with inadequate training support policies, people do not have the habit of spending money to learn a trade, while the business system with the role of "midwife" is still very weak and lacking as it is today, the problem of vocational training in craft villages is still very difficult, especially in training to improve skills, equipping workers with necessary skills.
It can be said that vocational training for craft villages, especially handicrafts for workers, is extremely urgent, not only for the income and life of the people, but also to preserve and develop traditional occupations, preserving the quintessence of national culture. With newly imported occupations, if vocational training is not organized at the right level to meet the requirements, many craft villages will be at risk of "dying young", first of all because the quality of products does not meet the requirements of customers. In fact, most of the vocational training in craft villages today is still in the form of hand-holding or organizing short-term classes for local children, very few craft villages organize formal training. Therefore, the training efficiency is not high and not sustainable.
According to experts, in order to build a quality workforce for craft villages, vocational training must take place at all three levels, including: vocational training for unskilled workers so that they can learn the trade; supplementing new knowledge and skills for those who already have the trade so that they can become skilled workers; and finally, fostering new scientific and technological knowledge for the team of artisans. |
After 10 years of implementing the Provincial Party Committee's resolution, the whole province has invested more than 38 billion VND in vocational training for the field of handicrafts and craft villages, with the number of people trained annually reaching 5-7 thousand people. However, for a province with a large number of craft villages like Nghe An, with a policy of strongly developing craft villages in the coming years, that number is not enough. There have even been many opinions that vocational training is still a movement, not close to the reality of craft villages, causing great waste, in which the biggest limitation is that the demand for vocational training has not been clearly investigated, so it has not attracted students to participate.
In order for vocational training to achieve the desired results and meet the development requirements of craft villages, it is necessary to pay attention to bringing vocational training to localities where there are no or very few occupations, in order to develop small-scale handicrafts and create conditions to increase income for local people. In particular, special attention should be paid to and included in the vocational training program for some traditional occupations that have the potential to develop and need to be preserved, such as bronze making, embroidery, silk weaving, brocade weaving, etc.
Phu Huong
