Vietnam’s national youth policy forum has called for efficient solutions to raise the quality of the labor force and productivity to accelerate economic growth and raise national competitiveness.

Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man made the statement at the Youth Forum 2022, which has been underway in Hanoi this week to promote vocational training for young people.

The forum, jointly held by the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture, Education, Adolescents and Youth and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), looked into vocational training for young people in rural areas or those who are workers, disabled, ethnic minorities.

“The National Assembly’s Committee on Culture, Education, Adolescents will cooperate closely with relevant agencies to ensure vocational training for the youth by advising on solutions to address difficulties in line with the national socio-economic recovery and development program,” Man said.

He said that young people with vocational skills accounted for only 19% of the Vietnamese youth, while the national rate of trained workers was 24.1%. 

Vocational education should be always innovated to improve the skills of workers. Photo: My Quyen

“The number of young people who have not received vocational training is still high, especially those in rural areas who lack access to information on vocational training, and opportunities to find jobs besides the scarcity of job training courses,” Man noted.

For his part, Truong Anh Dung, head of the General Directorate of Vocational Training under MoLISA, said the Vietnamese Government has sketched out a planning scheme for high-quality vocational schools, which sets the target for Vietnam to have 70 schools by 2025 with 130 careers.

Currently, 25 vocational training schools in Vietnam have satisfied Australia's standards, and 45 others meet Germany’s standards, Dung said, while briefing the participants on policies to promote vocational training in high-tech sectors and improve manpower quality to keep up with the fourth Industrial Revolution.

Due to the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, many young people lost their jobs or had to change careers. The number of unemployed people of working age in 2021 is more than 1.4 million, accounting for 3.22% of working age people, an increase of 0.54% point compared to 2020.

In his remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said apart from soft skills, young people should be equipped with others like teamwork and presentation skills. This not only helps youth but also gives positive energy to the community.

“Vietnam is a country with a young population. Of which, the number of people of working age accounts for nearly 60%, mainly the youth. The Youth Union and the General Department of Vocational Education and Training need to cooperate to provide them vocational training, so that young workers should not return to informal employment,” Dam said.

The deputy prime minister asked vocational schools to integrate vocational training into general education in order to raise its quality.

“It’s time to solve issues to ensure workforce supply for socio-economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic and create a long-term strategy on human resources, a driving force for the country's development in the coming years,” Dam stressed.