Can Tho (VNA) - The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho plans to providetraining in agriculture for at least 1,400 people in rural areas this year,focusing mostly on crop cultivation and animal husbandry.

Of the figure, 25 percent will be reserved for people covered by theGovernment’s preferential policies for contributions to the country’srevolution, those with disabilities, poor people, and women who lost theirjobs, according to the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

After completing the training, the trainees will have adequate knowledge andskills to do agricultural work effectively with at least 85 percent of themgetting jobs.

Speaking at a recent meeting, Nguyen Ngoc He, Director of the department, saidthe city is changing its agricultural vocational training strategy from basingit on the capacity of training schools to demand from workers and the market.

The department and the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will revamptraining to improve quality and effectiveness this year, he said.

They will create favourable conditions for rural workers to learn vocationalskills appropriate for their education level, economic situation andrequirement, he added.

This year they have instructed vocational schools to provide counselling onagricultural training to secondary and high school students and advocatethrough the media and social organisations to improve workers’ awareness. 

They have also urged them to diversify their training methods, includingproviding courses for workers based on agricultural companies’ needs andorganising training courses at companies and craft villages so that traineescan both learn and work at the same time.

Last year the city provided training in agriculture for more than 1,000 ruralpeople, 3 percent more than it had targeted.

Of them, more than 85 percent got jobs. Especially, around 30 percent of thetrainees joined hands to set up agricultural groups, teams and co-operatives toimprove their incomes and create jobs for more people.  - VNA