Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan has stressed that vocational training in rural areas must go hand in hand with generating jobs and ensuring product marketing.

Chairing a national teleconference in Hanoi on July 17 to review how the vocational training project in rural areas until 2020 has worked out over the past three years, the Deputy PM said the project is important to the restructuring of agriculture and the provision of a contingent of workforce for non-agricultural production and industrial parks in the time ahead.

At the event, the Central Steering Board in charge of the project said over the past three years, pilot models to provide training in farming techniques, handicraft, fishing and several occupations at the request of local enterprises have been underway in 11 provinces nationwide.

The Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs has devised 55 pilot vocational training curricula to serve the programme.

More than 1 million rural workers have received vocational training, and more than 822,000 of them have found new jobs or earned higher income after graduation.

Particularly, the number of applicants for training has risen steadily over years, reflecting a shift in thinking among the rural population.

Participants, however, also pointed out drawbacks like the absence of a long-term orientation in line with overall socio-economic development master plans and development plans for agriculture, industry, handicraft, services and markets in rural areas.

In some areas, vocational training exposes poor quality and has yet to meet requirements of both trainees and employers. Consultation and career orientations have yet to satisfy social demands, while training facilities are still ill-equipped.-VNA