Many supporting policies are unprecedented

Explaining the issues of concern to the delegates, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung emphasized that along with economic achievements, in recent times with the close direction of the Party and State leaders and the support of the National Assembly and the drastic direction of the Government, the Prime Minister and localities, the social security fields have been implemented timely, practically and effectively.

Preferential policies for people with meritorious services, social protection, the disadvantaged and the poor have all been taken care of through the State promulgating policies and institutions on this issue and having many outstanding supporting policies.

“We have had many policies and solutions to care for and support people, the elderly, women giving birth and children affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially orphans.

Many unprecedented supporting policies have been decided by the Party, the National Assembly and the Government," emphasized the Minister.

According to the Minister, from the experience of implementing Resolution 42/NQ-CP, we have learned from the experience of promulgating many new policies in the fastest way, the simplest application procedures and drastic implementation, bringing about high efficiency.

Given that these policies have made a very important contribution to economic recovery and development, resulting in today's achievements, the Minister said that the Ministry had supported 87 trillion VND for more than 56 million workers and people and over 730,000 employers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. "This is unprecedented, while in other countries these policies will be widely applied, for us, funding requires rapid implementation for various targeted groups".

According to Minister Dao Ngoc Dung, despite many difficulties, people's lives have been improved. The average income of employees increased, through a survey by the General Statistics Office, it reached 7.6 million VND, an increase of 1.6 million VND compared to the same period in 2021. The service sector alone reached over 8 million VND on average. VND, up 29.4%. 

In addition, according to the Minister, a number of accommodation issues and welfare policies for students with essential needs have also been paid more attention and practical attention by localities, levels and sectors.

As for the sustainable poverty reduction program, the Minister affirmed that "this is one of the three fastest, earliest and synchronous completed programs".

 Affirming not to break the labor supply chain

The minister recalled the worry a year ago when the pandemic hit industrial parks and export processing zones, and nearly 3 million people moved from Ho Chi Minh City to localities. “We are worried about the disruption of the supply chain, but so far we insist that we will not let the labor supply chain break. We have returned to normal faster than the forecast of international organizations and compared with us," said the Minister. The rate of labor participating in the labor market reached 68.7%, the unemployment rate in the third quarter was 2.28%. 

Regarding vocational education, according to the Minister, over the past, there have been more positive changes in both scope and quality. The percentage of apprentices has increased, the social awareness and families of learners have changed, and high-quality training has been given more attention.

The good thing is that the vocational skills of Vietnamese workers have been enhanced, the percentage of workers who have jobs suitable to their professions and training levels has been increased. Vietnamese workers involved in management work for FDI enterprises have increased rapidly. We have taken on many positions, the field of employment is very complicated, previously all of which were undertaken by foreign experts, especially in the fields of mechatronics, telecommunications, oil and gas.

The Minister added, "At the recent World Skills Competition, Vietnam won 2 silver medals - this is Vietnam's best achievement ever".

Despite many achievements, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung also acknowledged that the work of ensuring social security and social policies and sustainable poverty reduction still faces many challenges.

Regarding solutions, the Ministry will continue to advise the Politburo and the Secretariat to soon issue a Directive on strengthening the Party's leadership in vocational education and building a modern and sustainable labor market.

 Overview of the meeting on the morning of October 28 (Photo: Pham Thang)

The Government will issue a thematic resolution on developing a flexible, sustainable market, with the core being innovation, improving the quality of vocational education, linking labor supply and demand, contributing to transformation, improving labor productivity, investing in public investment programs, developing high-quality schools and centers, urgently completing, receiving and transferring the world's leading high-quality training programs, especially those from Germany, striving to be in the Top 4 of ASEAN and a number of international-standard schools, contributing to leading and spreading.

Along with that, mobilizing the participation of the State, businesses and learners by an appropriate mechanism. In particular, big businesses are encouraged to be practice schools; The percentage of workers with certificates and degrees is aimed to be increased. Thus, a strong change in the quality of vocational education, especially vocational skills will be generated. 

Removing difficulties in providing a general education program in vocational schools right after the meeting

Regarding the problems related to teaching general education in vocational schools, the Minister said that this issue has been raised many times by the National Assembly deputies, but so far it has not been resolved.

According to the Minister, all provinces have developed general education programs in vocational schools. There are about 400 thousand students attending at the same time vocational training and general education programs at 625 vocational schools. This fact is in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Vocational Education and Conclusion of the National Assembly. This has been applied and implemented by the Ministry of Education and Training for many years.

Reporting to the National Assembly, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung emphasized that according to international practice, especially in the countries which have developed vocational education such as Germany, Australia, Japan, and Singapore, most of the students of vocational institutions both attend vocational training and general education at the same time to soon enter the market.

“We have reported to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister asked three ministries of the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to focus on solving this problem," the Minister said.

The Minister affirmed that after this meeting he and his colleagues will solve the problem and believes that these commitments will be successful.