Khmer people at a prayer inside a Khmer pagoda (Photo: VNA) Can Tho (VNA) – A200-billion-VND project on vocational and Khmer script training targeting Khmerethnic people in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho is set to begin in March.
Coordinated by the municipal Department ofLabour, Invalids and Social Affairs and Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs,the project will be carried out in the districts of O Mon, Co Do, and Thoi Lai,which are home to large Khmer communities. Authorities in the three districts willuse local budgets to cover nearly 100 billion VND (4.4 million USD) of theproject’s total cost.
Chau Hong Thai, deputy head of the Can ThoDepartment of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the project aims atopening 60 vocational training courses in 50 different occupations in 2018.
The classes will train about 700working-age Khmer people and offer them job consultancy at the end of theircourses, Thai added.
The department said it will work with district-leveladministrative units to open training courses catering to the needs ofcompanies and investors operating in the localities. These businesses willengage in the training on a voluntary basis and recruiting Khmer trainees, withemployment contracts lasting at least one year after the candidates finishingtheir courses. As of February 2018, Taekwang footwear company and Vinatex CanTho plant have agreed to take part.
Initiatives facilitating ethnic women’shandicraft production, which have been proved effective in the three districts,will be expanded and aided to better connect with buyers.
As part of the project, the city will helpKhmer startups in agriculture to access loans, efficient farming techniques,and high-quality sources of animal and plant varieties.
Concerning Khmer script education, LuongVan Tru, head of the Can Tho Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs, said thecity prioritises teaching the language among the community rather than just asubject in secondary education.
The communal-based training will involve monksfrom Khmer pagodas as teachers, with classes taking place at Khmer pagodas orresidents’ houses and their costs covered by the municipal association for educationpromotion.
The committee has called for furtherdonations, which can be in the forms of learning materials, teaching equipment,and scholarships, among others, to assist the education of Khmer language.-VNA
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