Improving HR Quality to Meet Business Needs

Ca Mau province is always determined that improving the quality of human resources (HR) is an important requirement for investment attraction and sustainable socioeconomic development. The province has focused on enhancing the quality of the vocational education system to better meet labor market needs. At the same time, it has coordinated with enterprises in training students.

Ca Mau Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs promptly addresses difficulties faced by workers in the province

Focus on reforming TVET schools

While the country is integrating more and more deeply into the world, the quality of human resources needs to match labor market requirements. Being aware of this matter, in the past years, Ca Mau province has implemented innovative solutions to reform and develop technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in general and vocational training in particular; improve the quality of human resources to have the high-quality human resources that the labor market needs, thus enhancing the province's competitiveness.

Up to now, Ca Mau province has completed consolidating TVET schools following the dissolution of nine TVET centers and assigned them to Vietnam-Korea Vocational College which then established three vocational training clusters: Cluster 1 (Tran Van Thoi, Thoi Binh and U Minh districts), Cluster 2 (Cai Nuoc, Dam Doi and Phu Tan districts) and Cluster 3 (Nam Can and Ngoc Hien districts).

The province has gradually accepted self-financing operation models for TVET schools; encouraged the establishment of new private TVET schools owned by enterprises, especially FDI firms.

As of July 2022, TVET facilities in Ca Mau province had trained 13,916 students, accounting for 49.7% of the full-year plan.

Market-based vocational training, engaged by the government, schools and enterprises, is a key solution for Ca Mau province

Strengthening cooperation with businesses

Vocational training linked to job creation engaged by the government, schools and enterprises is the key solution for Ca Mau province to improve the performance of TVET schools, create jobs and raise the quality of local human resources. Notably, local TVET schools have cooperated with enterprises to train and retrain workers.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Thanh, Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said, in 2022, the department asked the Provincial People's Committee for approval of the Vocational Education Development Plan for 2022, targeting to train and retrain 28,000 workers. It also advised on policies enabling enterprises, organizations and individuals to set up TVET facilities and encouraging enterprises to take part in vocational training and contribute training funds when receiving trained workers.

On the other hand, the province also took advantage of resources from programs and projects to invest in public TVET schools; and called for and attracted foreign investment funds into high-quality vocational colleges. At the same time, the agency effectively used training programs transferred by foreign partners (for Vietnam-Korea Vocational College of Ca Mau); formulated and promulgated training programs and textbooks on the basis of national occupational skills standards and labor market requirements.

Many companies send their experts to compile training programs; directly train students; and participate in assessing the professional capacity, skills, behaviors and attitudes of students. At the same time, TVET schools also focused on training and fostering teachers and administrators; effectively applied teacher policies; mobilized scientists, technical experts and artisans to teach trainees. 

At the same time, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs actively constructed a labor market information system, forecast local and national human resources to work out and carry out market-based vocational training plans; established a business relations division at TVET schools to grasp enterprises' needs and introduce jobs to graduated students.

According to Director Thanh, in the coming time, the department will continue to foster the family-school-business link in enrollment, training, internship and employment. It will also advocate cooperation between authorities, schools, enterprises, employers, and organizations in different TVET training on the basis of harmonized interests and social responsibility. 

The department will link TVET schools with enterprises, cooperatives, manufacturers, merchant companies and the labor market for localized labor demand, with a focus placed on workers in special fields, rural workers, unemployed workers, or workers exposed to unemployment risks.

The department will organize many exchanges between TVET schools and enterprises to enhance their understanding of the latter's needs and effectively launch suitable training programs. As a result, the quality of trainees' skills is raised, enabling them to find jobs more easily and helping TVET schools strengthen their ties with other stakeholders in vocational training.

“Besides, the department will strengthen the linkage of TVET schools with the Ca Mau Employment Service Center and job exchange platforms to support graduates in finding jobs; improve training efficiency and send workers abroad under employment contracts," he added.

In parallel with the above solutions, given the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Ca Mau province promptly solved difficulties in labor resources. The department directed the Ca Mau Employment Service Center to organize online and offline job sessions inside and outside the province (including two online job sessions for the Mekong Delta region); hosted 21 career counseling sessions in communes and townships in the province; and facilitated businesses to register and join recruitment and job matching sessions. As a result, up to now, most businesses have been recovering and workers have returned to work since the new normal was adopted.

Thanh Nhan (Vietnam Business Forum)