Since 2005 Binh Dinh Province Vocational Training and Job Introduction Centre under the Department of Labour-War Invalids and Social Affairs has made efforts to open vocational training classes for young people of ethnic minorities in mountainous districts, with the aim of helping them stabilise their life through apprenticeship.

Schoolgirls of ethnic minorities are apprenticed to seamstresses at Community Learning Centre in Van Canh District.

Vocational Training at hamlets, villages

Young people of ethnic minorities in the mountainous districts such as: An Lao, Van Canh, Vinh Thanh have currently taken the majority of the population.  The unemployment rate of young people of ethnic minorities is relatively high; meanwhile, the opportunities for highly skilled jobs are scarce. Vocational training and employment solution for them are, therefore, the concern of the local authorities and the Labour-War Invalids and Social Affairs Department. Also, The vocational training for them has been obstructed by many difficulties because of low education level, limited ability to acquire technical professions. For this reason, the vocational training requires specific training methods which are appropriate for the trainees’ ability.

Under the policy on opening the vocational training classes in the villages in order to attract young people of ethnic minorities to apprenticeship, the first vocational training classes for the industrial garment and civil electricity were opened in two districts of Van Canh and Vinh Thanh District in August 2005. The staff of Binh Dinh Vocational Training and Job Introduction Centre went across the long road to the villages, hamlets so as to encourage the young people to enrol at these classes.

“At first, mobilizing the young people to enrol at the vocational training classes was rather strenuous but after a short time, young people have realized benefits of apprenticeship, so the former learners tell the latter. Gradually, more and more young people of ethnic minorities come to register at these classes,” said a teacher of civil electricity, Mr. Do Thuc, who has worked for many years at the vocational training classes in Vinh Thanh district.

“The local vocational training brings us great convenience. Particularly, the vocational training classes are very near to our houses, so travelling doesn’t cost us. In addition, each learner receives an allowance of VND 150,000 per month; thus, everyone is very eager to learn,” said Dinh Van Tu, living at the village L7 of Vinh Hao commune (Vinh Thanh district) who is serving his apprenticeship as a civil electrician.

The centre will apply the specific curriculum for the learners who are of ethnic minorities aiming at helping them acquire quickly. Generally, the vocational training for the learners who are the young people of ethnic minorities requires more practice than theory, according to Bui Manh Tan, in charge of automobile - motorbike class (Vocational Training and Job Introduction Centre)

Initial Success

After each training course, the centre issues the application forms to the graduates and depending on the requirement as well as trained fields, the center will then seek jobs for them. However, the number of highly skilled young people of ethnic minorities having jobs is not many. Particularly, there have been only 20 people are sent to work in Malaysia and nearly 100 people employed in Binh Dinh Garment Company and several HCM City-based enterprises after 3 years. The others who hesitated to be far from home or couldn’t find suitable jobs decided to open shops for repairing bikes and motorbikes in their home town.