National Women’s Congress talks improving vocational training

Hanoi (VNA) – The 12th National Women’s Congress discussed improving the efficiency of vocational training for women and protecting interests of female workers during its second session in Hanoi on March 8.

According to the General Statistics Office’s employment survey for the third quarter last year, there were 53.27 million paid workers nationwide, 25.8 million of them were women, accounting for 48.48 percent, said Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam.

He stressed that job generation for women is one of the priorities of the Government during recent years.

The National Fund for Job Assistance, which provides credit for job generation, helped create employment for around 105,000 workers in 2016, about 60 percent of them were women.

The fund also earmarked 62 billion VND (2.69 million USD) last year to offer job assistance to over 1,000 members of the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU).

Since 2011, Vietnam has sent 80,000-100,000 workers abroad for contracted jobs each year, 35-40 percent of them are women.

Deputy Minister Dam said renewing management on vocational education is one of the two breakthrough measures proposed by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, which will focus on issuing legal documents guiding the implementation of the Law on Vocational Education, technical standards on the operation and management of vocational education system and improving the capacity of State management agencies in the field.

Additionally, the ministry will improve the efficiency of vocation training in tandem with job creation by rallying public resources, including businesses, to offer training to workers, especially adult women in rural areas. At the same time, it will also diversify job transaction activities by regularly holding mobile job fairs in rural areas, thus increasing women’s access to job opportunities.

Trinh Thanh Hang from the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) said protecting the legitimate rights and interests of women is the responsibility of the confederation and the VWU.

The VGCL has adopted a Resolution on the mobilisation of female workers and an action programme on gender equality with specific goals, she said, adding that the VGCL and the VWU are active in reviewing and offering recommendations on amendments and supplements to legal documents regarding female officials, cadres and workers.

In the near future, both organisations will continue to well perform its role as advisors in terms of law building and enforcement involving female workers, gender equality, women’s advancement, population, reproductive health, family and children.

The VGCL will continue listening to female workers’ aspirations, holding dialogues with employers, and proposing relevant laws and policies.-VNA