HCM CITY — HCM City needs to lead the country in human resource quality to be able to continue spearheading its economy, Nguyễn Thiện Nhân, secretary of its Party Committee, told a conference on Thursday.
“The city’s labour productivity is currently triple the country’s. This productivity will have to be sustained or increased to spearhead the economy. This will be not easy to do.”
The city’s economy accounts for 25 per cent of the country’s while its population accounts for less than 10 per cent, according to the party official. 
It has a 4.5 million-strong creative workforce, its most important resource.
The city would add one million people every five years, half of working age, he said.
“Human resources are more precious if the quality is good.”
The city should have a comprehensive development programme to ensure human resources meet international standards for global integration, he said. 
It should have financial policies for this, including loans to help students attend high-quality training programmes at universities and preferential credit for universities to develop such training programmes, he said.
He instructed the city to strengthen public-private partnerships in training teachers, students and quality accreditation.
He said it should set up a council with Vietnamese and foreign experts to develop training programmes.
“When Việt Nam has high-quality human resources, the fear of losing jobs caused by automation will not occur.”
Nguyễn Thành Phong, chairman of the city People’s Committee, said one of the requirements to prepare for the fourth industrial revolution is to improve human capital to meet knowledge and skill demands that are constantly evolving.
Amid the new wave of industrialisation, the education system must focus on developing the quality and capacity of learners and orienting them in their career paths to help develop their potential, he said.
This should be applied at all levels of education, he said.
“Especially for universities, success is not only about the number of people graduating, their ability to secure jobs or a place in international rankings.
“It is also about the sustainable and long-term development of their students, their willingness to accept risks and the innovative and creative ability of their students in an international environment.”
According to Dr Lê Hồng Sơn, director of the Department of Education and Training, the city is a significant centre of education and training.
It has 2,283 schools ranging from kindergartens to high schools and continuing education centres with more than 1.7 million students and 78,924 teachers.
There are 54 universities and other tertiary institutions with more than 100,000 students and 52 colleges and more than 500 vocational schools and centres.
Deputy Minister of Education and Training Lê Hải An said advanced training programmes and joint programmes with foreign universities in HCM City and Hà Nội had contributed to developing quality human resources of international standards for the country. — VNS