Speaking at a meeting held in Can Tho last Saturday by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to discuss HR planning for the region for the next decade, Nhan said it must ensure the full potential is developed to turn the Delta into a key economic hub.
The region has nearly 18 million people and 10 million are of working age.
But the proportion of trained workers is low compared to other regions, according to the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) – 34 per cent have not completed primary school while 0.9 per cent have college diplomas and 2.1 per cent have university degrees. The national average for university degrees is 10 per cent of the workforce.
Nhan pointed out that though the Delta was the country's rice granary and had a major seafood industry, the enrolment rate in the agriculture and forestry faculties at universities was very low.
In fact, only 10.4 per cent of students in the region's 12 universities studied agriculture or forestry.
To put it in perspective, the rate was 31.7 per cent for economy, finance, and banking, he said.
To encourage students to study agriculture, forestry and some other unpopular streams like culture, physical training, and sports, Nhan said the universities should soon expand these faculties or set up universities and colleges dedicated to them.
More training
The MoET has said it will set up more schools to meet the target of increasing the rate of trained workers from the current 23.5 per cent to 45 per cent in 2015 and 60 per cent in 2020.
Local administrations have promised to set up 10-12 new universities, 22-24 colleges, and 10 vocational schools to ratio of college and university students to 2 per cent in 2020 compared to the current 0.85 per cent.
At the meeting, delegates said the region needed more architecture, law, culture, and technology universities and polytechnics.
It was also necessary to upgrade some existing institutions like the Tra Vinh Province Medical College, the Mien Tay Construction College into universities, they said.
Nhan ordered MoET and MPI to work with authorities in the region to make zoning plans for building universities, colleges, and vocational schools.
He also urged the region to report their HR plans by December 15 to the MPI, which would in turn report them to the Government by January. — VNS
