The Phát Hậu plastic basket weaving facility in Long An Province provides vocational training and creates jobs for hundreds of rural workers. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Hưng

HCM CITY — Cities and provinces in the south have achieved positive results in increasing the rate of trained workers in rural areas and creating jobs for them, after nearly 10 years of implementing the government's vocational training project for rural workers.

Nguyễn Đại Tánh, deputy director of Long An Province’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that local vocational training facilities provide vocational training in key occupations such as industrial electricity, mechanical equipment installation, mechatronics, welding, and air-conditioning engineers.

"All are needed to serve the province's socio-economic development and cope with rapid changes from the 4.0 revolution,” he said.

Over the last 10 years, the province has developed handicraft products that are favoured in domestic and foreign markets such as carpets and cushions made from dried water hyacinth, hand embroidery, woven plastic baskets, and compostable bags.

They have helped create stable jobs and steady incomes for many rural workers, contributed to new-style rural areas, and reduced poverty, Tánh said.

He said vocational training in the agricultural, forestry and fisheries sectors will be given more attention in the near future. 

New training cources will be opened in tourism, beauty services, restaurants and hotels, high-tech agriculture, digital and information technology, automation and engineering, and control and automation.

Võ Văn Hiền, head of vocational training and the education sub-department under Kiên Giang Province’s Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that vocational training for rural labourers is designed to match the socio-economic characteristics of each region.

For example, the province’s Long Xuyên Quadrangle region is offering vocational training in aquaculture production and seafood processing, fishing boat repair, and offshore fishing.

Vocational training in the western part of the Hậu River meets recruitment demand in industrial zones, while the U Minh Thượng sub-region provides training skills for fishing ports, fishery logistics, and advanced techniques for rice cultivation combined with aquaculture production.

The province gives priority to training occupations for labourers in raw material areas, the people who implement the programme, cooperative members, and those who want to work abroad.

It expects to train 27,000 rural workers and raise the rate of trained workers to 67 per cent in the next five years. Of the number, at least 80 per cent of them are expected to find a job after training.

Meanwhile, about 16,400 people in rural areas in Bình Dương Province received vocational training in the last 10 years, according to the provincial Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Of the number, 7,900 people took part in vocational training for agricultural jobs.

Võ Đông Duy, head of the department’s vocational education and training division, said that about 70 vocational traning classes opened with a total of 1,700 students in the first nine months of the year.

The province focuses on training courses in the shaping and caring of ornamental plants and flowers, growing pomelos according to VietGAP standards, cultivating mushrooms and mangosteen, and producing "safe" vegetables.

“These products are high-value goods in the domestic market and have high export potential,” Duy said.

Huỳnh Thị Mỹ Hà, deputy director of Vĩnh Long Province’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the province gives priority to training for jobs in high demand such as civil construction, welding and mechanics, metal cutting, industrial sewing, tourism, restaurants and hotels, and health care and child care services.

“We only provide vocational training that meets labour market needs and ensures an income for rural workers after training,” she said.

The province will also offer vocational training to provide essential skills for those who want to work abroad under contracts.

Job creation

Vocational training associated with job creation for rural workers has gained success in many localities. 

Lê Phát Hậu, owner of a woven plastic basket facility in Long An Province’s Cần Đước District, said his facility produces an average of 25,000 plastic baskets of all kinds each month.

It creates jobs for more than 500 rural workers, each earning VNĐ80,000-100,000 (US$3.5-4.3) per day.

Hậu has collaborated with local vocational training facilities to teach weaving of plastic baskets to 100 rural workers each year since 2010. He also offers jobs for trained workers at his own facility or introduces them to work at other facilities.

His products are sold in the domestic market and foreign markets such as Laos and Cambodia.

Võ Văn Hiền of Kiên Giang Province’s Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said that many vocational trainng models have helped local farmers improve their skills, as well as increase crop quality and yields, labor productivity, and incomes.

“Through training cources, the farmers have learned about economic integration, food safety and hygiene standards, and entrepreneurship," he said.

Breeding marine fish in more than 800 floating cages has offered high profits for farmers in Kiên Hải and Kiên Lương districts. The average revenue of each cage is about VNĐ23-25 million ($950-108) per crop.

In addition, the models for farming tiger shrimp and growing pepper, high-quality rice, mushrooms and sprouts in Kiên Lương District provide locals a steady income of VNĐ3-5 million ($130-215) per month. — VNS