VietNamNet Bridge – After sponsoring vocational training for rural labourers in the north and central regions for four years, the Government has admitted the programme's employment rate and quality of training was ineffective.

An equipment repair class for farmers in Cam Lo District, Quang Tri Province. The vocational training programme for rural labourers in the north and central regions did not meet the Government's expectations in its employment rate and quality of training.

The programme set out to help farmers who had their land taken from them and were forced into unemployment.

Luong Van Huan, chairman of Phuc Thanh Commune People's Committee in Hai Duong Province, said after putting it into action, shortcomings came to light.

Most trainees were between 40 and 50 years old and it was hard for them to get jobs, even after completing vocational study.

Also, he said, training was often too short or did not give people the skills needed for their line of work.

Residents eventually stopped attending classes, Huan said, citing a recent survey. Two thirds of garment trainees still remain unemployed, and most weaving trainees had quit their jobs.

The Government programme started in 2010 and cost the State VND4.8 trillion (US$225 million). More than 1.6 million labourers have been given training and 1.2 million found some type of job.

Nguyen Thi Nhat, a middle-aged labourer in Phuc Thanh Commune, said a vocational class on traditional weaving helped her learn the trade, and a local women's union helped her sell her products.

But since the class ended after several months, Nhat hasn't been able to sell a thing.

Nhat and more than 30 women in her commune joined the class free of charge and earned VND15,000 ( US$0.7) for each day of study.

"Farmers who lost cultivated land like us only want a job that brings us a stable income," Nhat said. "Many have switched to other temporary jobs to get money."

Nguyen Chung, another trainee in northern Phu Tho Province's Thanh Ba District, said he joined a class for trainee mechanics and learned a lot of theory, but not enough about putting it into practice.

"I only studied some simple skills, such as mending a puncture," Chung said. "I had to go to Ha Noi for another three months of study in a vocational training centre, and then work for a motorbike repair shop to master basic skills."

Chung said he was the only one who worked as a mechanic in the vocational class.

Nguyen Thi Tham, another trainee in Ha Noi's Ung Hoa District, joined two classes on fruit-tree cultivation and cooking. But she found it hard to use the knowledge to earn money.

She didn't have enough money to start her own orchard, and simple dishes from the cooking class only helped her make family meals, she said.

Speaking at a National Assembly meeting on vocational training on Wednesday, Nguyen Thi Hong Ha, a NA deputy from Ha Noi, said vocational training had not met practical and social demands.

She said rural workers in a mountainous area studied motorbike repair would surely find it difficult to get job because their training only lasted four days.

Nguyen Thi Kha, NA deputy from Tra Vinh Province, said in the northwest and Central Highland regions, only two out of 30 trainees found jobs after joining vocational classes, and most were retrained by their employers.

Dao Trong Do, deputy head of the General Directorate of Vocational Training under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, admitted the shortcomings.

He said the ministry would make changes to assure the programme's effectiveness.

VNS/VNN