(VNF) - On June 12^th, in Hanoi, Plan International Vietnam together with Hanoi Industrial Vocational College (HIVC) and College of Urban Works Construction (CUWC) organised the closing ceremony of the “Disadvantaged Youth Vocational Training in Hanoi” project during 2015-2018.

At the closing ceremony of “Disadvantaged Youth Vocational Training in Hanoi” project.

Whether or not youth are enrolled in school, receiving training or working, has important implications for future economic growth, development and stability. If overlooked, youth unemployment has a potential to have significant and serious social repercussions. Youth unemployment can lead to social exclusion and unrest. Investing in decent job creation however, as well as in education and training opportunities for the youth, will help them find their place and contribute to more prosperous and stable societies.

Moreover, while well-educated workers are able to access expanding opportunities in the private sector, for less educated workers, and particularly those from rural areas, it is much more challenging due to their lack of education, skills and business connections. This leaves them with fewer options and makes them more vulnerable to exploitation.

Beginning from 2015 with funding from Hyundai E&C, Hyundai Motor Company, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) with a total budget of over 38.5 billion VND (USD 1.7 million), until date the project has supported 1,559 youth – in which 467 are disadvantaged youth – to receive vocational training, to be ready to work upon graduation, and to improve their employment opportunities by joining in the job network of nearly 100 businesses in partnerships with the project.

With this project, young people, especially disadvantaged ones, have the opportunity to access to modern technology and equipment so that they can become skilled labors in the competitive working environment.

The project also granted scholarships to hundreds of students every year and helps them find jobs after graduation. Students were trained in courses lasting from 6 to 18 months in fields of automobile technology, pipe processing technology and welding.

Together with professional knowledge, students were equipped with soft skills and life skills, which help them accommodate with the working environment after finishing the courses.

Domestic and international experts also joined the project to enhance capacity for the lectures of the courses.

The project also invested in improving the infrastructure of four training workshops at HIVC and CUWC, and providing modern equipment to in-demand courses like plumbing, welding, automobile, body painting and body repair, and construction safety.

Delegates and graduates pose for a group photo.

Sharon Maree Kane, Country Director of Plan International Vietnam, said that youth empowerment is an important program of Plan International Vietnam.

“With the youth vocation training project, disadvantaged youth have access to vocational training courses that meet the market needs, with the expectation that they will contribute to their family income and to the overall economic development of Vietnam after graduation,” she said.

HNIVC Rector Pham Duc Vinh noted that the project provided the college with modern equipment to ensure that vocational training programmes meet the needs of the labour market. Even poor students who have finished junior high school can have opportunities to access modern machines and technologies to increase skills.

As part of the project, teachers at the college were given training courses by domestic and international experts to help improve their teaching capacity, he added.

“I will improve myself in the profession I have been taught by my teachers. I believe that my future are changing,” said Nguyen Thanh Hung, a graduate student of the project.

The training curricula, which the project developed, will continue to be implemented in the schools’ education program, benefiting future generations of youth to strive for decent work and better life.

According to survey results, 62 per cent of graduates after 4 months of work have stable income with salary of over VND 5 million/ month. With this income level, 56.3 per cent of the youth could contribute income to their families./.

Chau Anh