Strengthening vocational skills training for youth to take advantage of the "golden population" opportunity

Scene of the launching ceremony of World Youth Skills Day 2024. (Photo: TRUNG HUNG)

Youth need to be interested in vocational skills training.

On the morning of July 15, in Hanoi, the General Department of Vocational Education (Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs) coordinated with the Vietnam Elevator Association to organize the launching program of World Youth Skills Day 2024 with the theme "Youth skills for peace and development".

According to United Nations statistics, young workers (15 to 24 years old) account for about 16% of the global workforce. The active participation of this workforce helps society develop, ensuring inclusiveness, stability and sustainability, reducing difficulties and challenges from the impacts of climate change, unemployment, poverty, gender inequality, conflict, migration, etc.

Therefore, at the plenary session on December 18, 2014, the United Nations decided to choose July 15 every year as World Youth Skills Day (WYSD). This is considered an important event marking global attention to skills development for youth.

Upskilling in the digital age

WYSD focuses on the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employability, decent work and entrepreneurship, aiming to raise awareness of the importance of investing in young people's skills as a means of promoting employability and sustainable development by reducing barriers to access to the world of work, ensuring skills are recognised, certified and providing skills development opportunities.

In 2024, the theme of WYSD is “Youth Skills for Peace and Development”, emphasizing the important role of youth in peacebuilding and conflict resolution efforts.

As a member of the United Nations, Vietnam has also actively participated in activities to implement the goals of WYSD. Responding to this year's theme, the program to launch youth skills for peace and development took place on the morning of July 15, along with a discussion chaired by the General Department of Vocational Education and attended by representatives of associations, training institutions, businesses and workers.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Viet Huong, Deputy Director General of the General Department of Vocational Education, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, speaking. (Photo: TRUNG HUNG)

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Ms. Nguyen Thi Viet Huong, Deputy Director General of the General Department of Vocational Education, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs emphasized that promoting vocational skills development for young people is a key focus that needs to be implemented.

In which, it will be based on 4 "houses": Business house with the role of "orderer"; State with the role of manager; School as the source of human resources, with the role of driving force for human resources development; and Journalist with the role of spreading and communicating messages and meanings.

The Deputy Director General of the General Department of Vocational Education affirmed that there would be no developed vocational education system without the active participation of businesses.

“Why is Vietnam’s labor productivity not highly appreciated despite having a smart, dynamic, hard-working, and diligent workforce?”, Ms. Huong asked, emphasizing the need to focus on improving labor skills, especially among the core youth workforce.

Dr. Le Van Chuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Vocational Skills, General Department of Vocational Education, speaking. (Photo: TRUNG HUNG)

Dr. Le Van Chuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Vocational Skills, General Department of Vocational Education, also said that young people need to be concerned about vocational skills training, especially when this force is the majority in the labor force structure.

According to Mr. Le Van Chuong, our country's current workforce is about 52.4 million people, accounting for 52% of the country's population, ranking in the top 15 in the world and top 3 in ASEAN. Of which, young workers account for the vast majority, so young workers need attention in vocational skills training.

Especially when our country is in the "golden population" period - an important period for Vietnam's human resources, if we cannot take advantage of it, we will have difficulty breaking through and moving forward, Dr. Le Van Chuong emphasized.

Improving national labor productivity through vocational skills

Within the framework of the program, the General Department of Vocational Education also chaired a discussion with the participation of representatives of associations, training institutions, businesses and workers to discuss the issue of improving labor productivity and enhancing vocational skills.

The seminar discussed practical issues, practical experiences and responsibilities of relevant units on activities that can be done to enhance the meaning and importance of World Youth Skills Day.

Mr. Nguyen Hai Duc, Chairman of Vietnam Elevator Association, speaking. (Photo: TRUNG HUNG)

Speaking at the seminar, Mr. Nguyen Hai Duc, Chairman of the Vietnam Elevator Association, borrowed a law from the semiconductor industry, an industry that changes the national and global industry, saying that the semiconductor industry has a famous law called Moore's Law: "The number of transistors per square inch will double every 24 months."

But up to now, the growth rate of transistors has increased dramatically, it only takes 6 months to double like that. Compared to improving vocational skills, it can be seen that increasing labor productivity to achieve outstanding speed can only be based on vocational skills, Mr. Nguyen Hai Duc emphasized.

Mr. Pham Van Son, senior expert of the Department of Science, Education and Culture, Government Office, said that high-quality human resources are not only university-level education, but also direct labor and production forces.

“Each worker is a nucleus of development. A worker increases his/her professional skills, increases his/her income, brings money home to improve the quality of his/her family's life, and each developed family is a developed society,” said Mr. Pham Van Son.

Also agreeing with the above viewpoint, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tho, Director of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Hygiene Science (Vietnam General Confederation of Labor) said that the capacity of high-quality labor does not mean that the labor has high education, high qualifications, or simply takes the number of professors, doctors, and engineers to evaluate the quality of labor.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Tho, Director of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Science, speaks. (Photo: TRUNG HUNG)

Referring to the number of deaths worldwide each year related to work-related accidents, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tho said that this number is even more terrible than the number of deaths caused by conflicts in the world today.

“So to see the meaning of the word ‘peace’, to understand vocational skills must be based on safety skills. That means not doing things quickly, but doing things correctly, doing things safely, that is the most important skill,” said Mr. Tho.

Therefore, for young people, in addition to the two important factors of health and knowledge through education and training, the most important factor is a pure mind. It is necessary to attach importance to the importance of cultivating moral qualities and a professional mindset, the Director of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Hygiene emphasized.

As the Ambassador of Vietnamese vocational skills and also a representative of young people in the young workforce, Mr. Hoang Duc Long, Deputy Head of the Faculty of Electronics, Hanoi High-Tech Vocational College, said that vocational skills are an important issue, requiring workers to always improve to have appropriate skill orientation.

Therefore, it is necessary to spread the importance of vocational skills, thereby helping workers, especially young people, have a basis to strive for better careers.

Mr. Mac Van Tien, Vice President and General Secretary of the Association for Vocational Education and Social Work (Vavet&Sow) said that skills are formed during the process of training workers and also cultivated during the process of direct labor and production.

Therefore, there needs to be a connection between schools and businesses to join in training workers, thereby adapting to changes in businesses and the rapid development of technology, Mr. Tien emphasized.

Also within the framework of the program, with the spirit of promoting vocational skills development, the Vietnam Elevator Association launched Vietnam Elevator Day to honor the values, people, and beauty of elevator workers.

Accordingly, the Vietnam Elevator Association has chosen July 16 every year as the official anniversary of the elevator industry.

According to Chairman of the Vietnam Elevator Association Nguyen Hai Duc, Vietnam Elevator Day will be an opportunity to spread the message about the meaning, role, value of the elevator engineering profession, its influence and ability to contribute to society.

At the same time, this is also an opportunity for those in the profession to realize the importance of ethics and professional skills to serve society. From there, build pride and passion for the elevator profession for young people, students and workers.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/tang-cuong-dao-tao-ky-nang-nghe-cho-thanh-nien-de-tan-dung-co-hoi-dan-so-vang-post819162.html