HCM CITY — HCM City plans to earmark more than VNĐ38 billion (US$1.6 million) this year providing free vocational training for people living in rural areas.

As planned, as many as 10,500 people will benefit from the trainining programme in agriculture and other vocations.

Of them, 9,800, including people with disabilities, will get training for less than three months based on the real demands in the job market.

The rest will join two- or three-year training courses at vocational schools.

Authorities hope that 80 per cent of the trainees will get jobs upon completing training.

The city also plans to provide professional training in managing businesses, starting up, and consulting for vocational training and jobs for members of State organisations and unions, vocational teachers and managers at districts’ People’s Committees.

The plan will provide funds to buy equipment for four new public vocational schools in rural areas. 

According to relevant agencies, nearly 46,000 people in rural areas were trained in the last five years, with 90 per cent of them getting jobs afterwards.

Trần Anh Tuấn, deputy head of the HCM City’s Centre for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information, told the Vietnam News Agency that more than a million working age people live in the city’s rural areas.

But their academic qualifications and skills are low, Tuấn said, pointing out that nearly 40 per cent of household producers only finish primary school.

Nearly 70 per cent of the rural workforce lacks technical and management training while only 3 per cent has graduated from colleges and universities, he said.

The city has developed various occupations in its rural areas to dovetail with its agricultural restructure programme and the National Target Programme on new-style rural area building. —VNS