Illustrative image (Source: VNA)HCM City (VNA) – Vietnam ranks third in ASEAN in the labour force participation rate – an important factor for competition, but the quality of Vietnamese workers remains low, heard a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on December 24.
According to a study of the World Bank, Vietnam lacks skilled workers. Its labour quality is marked 3.79 out of 10, ranking 11th among the 12 Asian nations participating in WB rankings. Meanwhile, Thailand and Malaysia – other ASEAN countries – get 4.94 points and 5.59 points, respectively.
Moreover, Vietnamese labourers are not well prepared, in terms of knowledge, skills and psychology, for their movement to other ASEAN countries.
Under an agreement of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which will be formed on December 31, workers can enjoy free movement in the eight sectors of odontology, nursing, engineering, construction, accounting, architecture, surveying, and tourism. However, the agreement requires workers to be skilled and proficient in foreign languages, especially English.
In fact, Vietnamese employees’ level of English remains low, and a few learn the languages of ASEAN nations like Thai, Lao and Cambodian.
These weaknesses are challenging Vietnam, requiring the country to seek measures to better vocational education to serve its deeper integration into the ASEAN Community.
As such, the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs is preparing for the implementation of a project on international integration on education and vocational training until 2020.
According to Director of the National Institute for Vocational Training Vu Xuan Hung, the project will focus on bettering mechanisms and policies on vocational education to meet integration requirements, implementing the application of a national standard framework, which refers to the ASEAN framework, and training the eight sectors mentioned in the AEC agreement.-VNA
