The northern mountainous province of Yen Bai has attached much importance to vocational training and job generation for the local rural labourers, as part of efforts to contribute to the on-going process of new-style rural development in Vietnam, radio The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) reported.

The Prime Minister has approved a project on vocational training for rural labourers from 2010 to 2020, which will provide training for approximately 1 million rural labourers and 100,000 officials and staff at the commune level.

The project, which is tied to the national new-style rural development campaign, has already seen some results, especially in remote mountain regions.

Over the past three years, Yen Bai province has provided vocational training for 18,500 labourers, 32.5 percent of them from poor households. Vocational training classes focus on occupations like farming, agricultural processing, animal husbandry, brocade weaving, and garment.

T he selection of training is based on practical needs, forecasts of labour demand, and labour market changes. Effective vocational training has improved living conditions, generated jobs, and boosted production, thus contributing to sustainable poverty reduction.

"We used to focus on farm work. After being trained in construction, my brothers and I have been able to earn up to 200,000 VND (10 USD) per day and this has significantly improved our living conditions," said Luong Van On, a resident in Nghia Loi commune.

In addition to having nearly 300 teachers working at 29 vocational training centres across the province, authorities have also recruited skilled workers and officials from local agencies and companies in teaching.

Apart from providing training in particular jobs, provincial authorities and vocational training centres have organised events to introduce and expand effective models of wet rice cultivation, sericulture, bamboo cultivation, tea processing, and mushroom cultivation.

Approximately 60 percent of labourers have been able to find jobs after their training, a significant number for a province as disadvantaged as Yen Bai.-VNA