Vocational training is really essential for farmers to expand production on condition that actual labor market demands are taken into account...
Vocational training is really essential for farmers to expand production on condition that actual labor market demands are taken into account.
After a 3-month veterinary course, 26 farmers in Cam Phuoc Dong Commune, Cam Ranh City have been certified by the Vocational Training & Support Center for Farmers under Khanh Hoa Provincial Farmers’ Association. Thanks to the knowledge from the course, Nguyen Thi Lien (Cam Phuoc Dong Commune) has invested in egg hatching machines and applied advanced technology in her farming expansion.
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| Vocational training should be in accordance with labor market demands. |
Nguyen Van Hieu has attended a course on safe vegetable cultivation. His family has over 3 poles of land, near Nha Trang City center, which is surely a large consumption market for safe vegetables, so growing safe vegetables is his suitable livelihood. “There are many skills needed for farmers, but I think, it is important to choose the course that best suits their actual conditions and market demand. It will be a waste of time and labor if we cannot apply what we have learnt in his work,” he confirms.
In addition, many farmers’ groups have been founded to provide mutual support in knowledge, consumption, etc. Over the past 5 years, 12 farmers’ groups have been established after vocational courses. They have been given support through loans worth VND100-400 million from the Farmers’ Fund under Khanh Hoa Farmers’ Association; opportunities to take part in scientific and technical courses and access to stable sales channels.
Khanh Hoa Farmers’ Association has organized 70 vocational courses, attracting over 2,000 farmers. Nearly 81% of the graduates have found jobs and applied what they had learnt in production. This has shown satisfactory results of vocational training for farmers.
However, there remain some difficulties in vocational training for farmers. Some courses are not closed linked with market demand, so the number of job-finders is not high. Many people attended cooking courses held in Nha Trang City and Ninh Hoa Town in 2010 and 2011, but few have been employed. Therefore, no more cooking courses have been held in recent years.
Le Quoc Toan, Director of the Vocational Training & Support Center for Farmers admits, “Some training programs, especially those on non-agricultural skills, are not connected with job creation. Some meet consumer problems and lack facilities. More consulting on choosing suitable jobs and supervision over vocational training are needed.”
Khanh Hoa Farmers’ Association has suggested some solutions to increase vocational training quality, focusing on training linked with forming production groups; effective use of loans provided by Farmers’ Fund; production contracts with supermarkets and other potential consumers to create favorable opportunities for farmers to develop their production.
N.T
