More than half a million rural workers in Nghe An receive vocational training

Comrade Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the conference, Comrade Doan Hong Vu - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs co-chaired. Attending the conference were representatives of departments, branches, sectors, the Provincial People's Council and localities, and vocational training establishments in the province.

Overview of the conference. Photo: Duc Anh

Comrade Doan Hong Vu opened the conference. Photo: Duc Anh

Has created jobs for nearly 400,000 people

Reporting at the conference, comrade Ho Thi Chau Loan - Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said: In the period 2011-2020, the whole province recruited 772,863 people for vocational training, of which 578,709 rural workers were trained according to the Project, reaching 110%, exceeding the target.

Vocational training for rural workers in mountainous areas is being focused on by all levels and sectors. Photo courtesy of PV

“The work of solving employment for graduates has been promoted and is more proactive by vocational training institutions, the connection with businesses has been carried out effectively; Some vocational training schools have done a good job in committing to solving employment for graduates, linked to finding the labor market” - Ms. Ho Thi Chau Loan said.

Over the past 10 years, out of a total of 521,115 graduates, 390,279 have stable jobs, of which 62,755 work in enterprises in the province; 130,318 work in enterprises outside the province; 55,529 work for a fixed term abroad and 141,277 create new jobs for themselves or continue their old jobs but with higher productivity and income.

Some localities have implemented effective vocational training models such as: Yen Thanh with mushroom growing and industrial sewing; Quynh Luu with rattan weaving and industrial sewing; Dien Chau with industrial sewing and clean fish sauce processing; Nghia Dan with beekeeping, chicken raising, fruit tree growing; Con Cuong with orange growing, tea growing, brocade weaving, etc. Typically, after learning a trade, some workers have established farms, cooperatives, and production facilities to provide services with incomes of up to hundreds of millions of VND/year.

Post-training effectiveness remains low

Besides the achievements, the effectiveness of vocational training still has many issues to discuss. That is, the structure of vocational training levels is not reasonable, mainly elementary training and training under 3 months, accounting for 80.9%; intermediate and college levels, accounting for 19.1% of the total training enrollment.

Sewing is a profession chosen by many rural workers. Photo courtesy of Thanh Phuc

“Vocational training in the districts has not yet connected businesses, apprentices and training facilities. After vocational training, apprentices mainly create jobs for themselves, so the job efficiency after training in some occupations is not high, leading to unstable jobs” - Representative of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development commented.

"There is a reality that currently, most of the working-age population wants to go abroad to work, while those who want to learn a trade are often over the age limit, and they have the mentality of wanting to go to school to enjoy policies, not to be equipped with a trade. That is also a reason why vocational training has not achieved the desired results" - Principal Bui Van Dung - Viet Duc College commented.

One reason why the effectiveness of vocational training for rural workers has not been as expected is that the training capacity of some vocational education institutions is still limited, especially district-level vocational education and training centers. The facilities and equipment serving training of vocational education institutions are still lacking, outdated, and cannot keep up with the development of science.

Besides, the reason why many workers after training are unemployed is that currently the number of enterprises investing in production, business and service activities in the province is not much, small scale, especially in rural areas; many enterprises employ a large number of workers but mainly unskilled workers.

Comrade Bui Dinh Long concluded at the conference. Photo: Duc Anh

Concluding the conference, Comrade Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee affirmed: To continue to innovate and improve the quality of vocational training for rural workers, Nghe An province will focus on directing the implementation of a number of key tasks and solutions such as: Strengthening the leadership and direction of the Party Committee, the government, and the synchronous coordination between sectors, agencies and units for vocational education in general and vocational training for rural workers in particular. Continuing to innovate and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of management of vocational education institutions.

"Localities and vocational training facilities must pay close attention to the staffing of vocational teachers so that teachers in this field can focus on improving their skills and make long-term contributions to vocational training facilities," said the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

"In addition, it is necessary to focus on creating jobs for workers after short-term training, which means surveying occupations and increasing communication so that local workers can choose the right profession that suits their skills and aspirations, and is suitable for the output."

On this occasion, the Provincial People's Committee awarded Certificates of Merit to individuals and groups with outstanding achievements in vocational training and job creation. Photo: Duc Anh

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested: "The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs needs to reassess the effective needs of vocational training; focus on creating job opportunities for learners right in the area. Educational institutions need to have a policy mechanism for vocational training for those who have lost their jobs due to the epidemic, and workers returning from epidemic areas who are now unemployed, contributing to reducing long-term unemployment for these subjects."

Thanh Nga - Duc Anh