Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen XuanPhuc has urged the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) toimprove the quality of vocational training, describing this as a key to escapethe middle-income trap.

Addressing a conference in Hanoi on December 17 toreview the ministry’s performance in 2017 and outlines tasks for 2018, the PMasked the ministry to create conditions for the private sector to invest invocational schools.

“Vocational training should be carried out based on orders,”he said, stressing the need to complete polices and programmes on vocationaltraining, especially for farmers, residents in disadvantaged areas, and social welfarebeneficiaries.

Regarding labour export, PM Phuc reminded the MoLISAto protect the image of Vietnamese people abroad and urged the ministry todevelop the labour market in high-tech countries.

He hailed the ministry’s efforts in sending a recordnumber of 130,000 workers abroad in 2017 under contracts between Vietnam andforeign countries, exceeding the set target by nearly 24 percent.

The Government leader, however, pointed to highunemployment rate among university graduates, slow changes in the quality ofvocational training and inadequate management of guest workers.

In the face of the fourth industrial revolution,efforts must be focused on developing human resources and reforming thevocational training system towards self-management with attention paid toinformation-technology (IT), he stressed.

Talking about poverty alleviation, PM Phuc noted theunsustainable reduction of poverty rate and the big rich-poor gap.

To achieve the target of sustainable development, itis necessary to renew poverty reduction policies, provide suitable assistanceto the poor, especially those in disadvantaged, remote and ethnicminority-inhabited areas, so that they can rise from poverty themselves, hesaid.

The PM also emphasized the need to expand socialinsurance coverage and maintain the social insurance fund sustainably.

Another task is to step up public services insupport of disadvantaged groups and those in difficult circumstances, he said.

The MoLISA should focus on completing mechanisms,policies and laws in the realms under its charge, while promptly drawing up projectson wage and social insurance reform to be submitted to the seventh plenarysession of the Party Central Committee, he said.

As the Tet (Lunar New Year) is approaching, the PMasked the sector to ensure a happy festival for people, particularly nationalcontributors, the poor, the homeless, ethnic minorities in difficulties,residents affected by natural disasters and labourers at industrial parks.

In 2017, the MoIT fulfilled and overfulfilled thethree targets regarding the rates of trained labourers, unemployment in urbanareas and poor households. 

The sector supported nearly 3 million needy peoplewith an estimated fund of nearly 15 trillion VND (660 million USD) andallocated hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rice to disaster-affectedlocalities and close to 3 trillion VND (132 million USD) to the poor and socialwelfare beneficiaries on the occasion of the upcoming Tet holiday.

2017 was the first year when the ministry took overthe state management of vocational training. By the end of this year, 1,974vocational centres nationwide had enrolled over 2 million students. -VNA