MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION TRAN THI VANH KHUYEN IMPLEMENTATION OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING POLICIES FOR RURAL WORKERS IN THE MEKONG RIVER DELTA Specialty: Public Management Code: 34 04 03 SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS IN PUBLIC MANAGEMENT HANOI, 2019 The project has been completed at NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Scientific instructors: Assoc.Prof.Dr Le Chi Mai Dr Ha Quang Thanh Reviewer 1: Reviewer 2: Reviewer 3: The thesis is defended at the Academy-level thesis evaluation council Location: Doctoral thesis defense hall – Hall at Building , National Academy of Public Administration No: 77 – Nguyen Chi Thanh Street – Dong Da District – Hanoi Time: At: Date: / /2019 The thesis can be found out at National Library of Vietnam or the library of National Academy of Public Administration LIST OF THE AUTHOR’S STUDY PROJECTS Participation of THE people in the implementation of the national target program on new rural construction, International Proceedings "Grassroots democracy initiatives and people's participation in the public policy making process in the Central Region ”, 2017 Participation of people in implementation of vocational training policies for rural workers in the Mekong River Delta Region, State Management Magazine No 258, 2017 Vocational training for rural workers in the Mekong River Delta , Special Education Journal in the third issue dated 3/8/2017 Factors affecting the implementation of vocational training policies for rural workers in the Mekong River Delta region, Magazine of research and development, No 21, 2017 Vocational training for rural workers in the Southwestern provinces - Real situation and solutions, Youth Magazine, No 25, 2018 INTRODUCTION Rationale of the topic Vietnam is still a developing country with a largely agricultural-based economy However, the quality of labor in general and rural labor in particular is very low In order to meet the demand of human resources of an industrialized country in the modernization direction, it is necessary to improve the labor quality and strongly shift the labor structure in rural areas Therefore, vocational training is a great mission Recognizing this, our Party and State have long paid deep attention to not only human resource development but also vocational training for rural workers In the Mekong River Delta region, which is considered a "depression region" of human resources quality compared to the whole country, the vocational training policies for rural workers is more necessary than anywhere else Many positive results have been recently achieved during the process of policies implementation in the localities in the Region However, there have been many limitations and obstacles arise in the process of policies implementation due to many different reasons, which makes the policy implementation still not as successful as expected Therefore, the thesis "Implementation of vocational training policies for rural workers in the Mekong River Delta " is implemented to clarify theoretical and practical issues about the implementation of such policies in the provinces in the Mekong River Delta and then propose solutions to improve the results and efficiency of policy implementation in the coming time Purposes and tasks of the Study 2.1 Purposes of the Study To propose scientific solutions to improve the implementation of vocational training policies for rural laborers in the Mekong River Delta (MRD), contributing to improving the quality of rural laborers to meet public requirements of agricultural and rural industrialization and modernization in Vietnam today 2.2 Tasks of the Study Firstly, to give an overview of the study situation of domestic and foreign authors on issues related to the thesis; Secondly, to study the scientific basis for implementation of vocational training policies for rural laborers; Thirdly, to analyze the real situation of policies implementation organization in the Mekong River Delta and then to evaluate the advantages and limitations and identify the causes of limitations; Fourthly, to develop scientific solutions to improve the results and efficiency of implementation of vocational training policies for rural laborers in the Mekong River Delta in the coming time Objects and scope of the Study 3.1 Objects of the Study The study objects of the thesis is the implementation of the vocational training policy for rural laborers in the Mekong River Delta localities 3.2 Scope of the Study Space scope: 13 provinces and cities in the Mekong River Delta Time scope: From 2009 up to now (Decision No.:1956/QDTTg with validity of enforcement) Content scope: The thesis focuses on studying the policies implementation process based on the following basic steps: Developing documents and plans for policies implementation; Popularizing and propagating policies; Organizing the apparatus and assigning, coordinating for the policies implementation; Mobilizing and using resources for policies implementation; Inspecting, supervising and making preliminary sum-up , summary of policies implementation Methodology and study methods 4.1 Methodology 4.2 Research Methods Methods of analysis of secondary documents Method of investigation by questionnaires The writer conducted surveys for two groups of officials, civil servants and rural workers in provinces: Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Soc Trang and Ca Mau Total number of issued questionnaire forms: Forms for civil servants: 400; Forms for rural workers: 760 Total forms: Civil servants: 374; Rural workers: 714 Sampling method: random sampling Survey results are processed by SPSS data processing software Other methods In the thesis, some other methods such as comparison and modelling methods are used Study questions and hypotheses 5.1 Questions Why hasn't the expected targets achieved in the implementation of the vocational training policies for rural workers in the Mekong River Delta ? What should be done to improve the results and efficiency of implementation of vocational training policies for rural workers in the Mekong River Delta in the coming time? 5.2 Hypotheses Hypothesis 1: The implementation of the vocational training policies for rural workers in the Mekong River Delta has not achieved the expected results Hypothesis 2: Good implementation of steps in the implementation of vocational training polices for rural workers will contribute to improving the results and efficiency of the policies in the Mekong River Delta New contributions of the thesis Firstly, the thesis clarifies the rationale for policies implementation, including the focus on the process of implementation of vocational training policies for rural workers in the localities where there are many jobs and many different activities Secondly, the thesis developed criteria for assessment of inputs, implementation process and outputs of implementation of vocational training policies for rural workers Thirdly, the thesis identifies the factors affecting the implementation of vocational training policies for rural workers Fourthly, on the basis of understanding international experiences and localities where the vocational training policies for rural laborers have been successfully implemented, some lessons are given to be applied for the Mekong River Delta provinces in this thesis Fifthly, the thesis shows the limitations of the implementation of vocational training policies for rural rivers in the Mekong River Delta localities and identifies the causes of such restrictions Sixthly, based on the rationale, the reality of policies implementation as well as the Party's views and orientations for the policy implementation process, the thesis proposes scientific solutions to improve this task Scientific and practical meanings of the topic 7.1 Scientific meaning The study contributes to summarizing and developing the theory of implementing the vocational training policies for rural workers 7.2 Practical meaning The thesis evaluates the real situation of organizing the implementation of vocational training policies for rural workers in a objective and comprehensive way; analyzes the advantages and limitations based on scientific bases and then propose solutions to strengthen policy implementation in line with the characteristics of the Mekong River Delta region The study results of the thesis may become one of the reference sources for teachers, researcher on public policy, decision makers, management agencies, and civil servants The thesis can also be applied in practice to implement the vocational training policy for rural workers not only in the Mekong River Delta but also other localities across the country Structure of the thesis In addition to the introduction, conclusion, list of references, appendices, the thesis is structured into chapters CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: STUDY OVERVIEW 1.1 The study projects related to implementation of public policy 1.1.1 International projects 1.1.2 Domestic projects 1.2 The projects related to the implementation of vocational training policies for rural workers 1.2.1 International projects 1.2.2 Domestic projects 1.3 Comments 1.3.1 Findings The study projects on public policy implementation have been approached in many different aspects, however, generally, it has formed a fundamental reasoning system to create favorable conditions for the writer to develop a theoretical framework for the implementation of vocational training policies for rural workers In the domestic study projects, the issue of vocational training for rural workers is presented by the authors in a relatively adequate way, including basic concepts, orientations and solutions The overseas study projects have provided the important scientific premises as a basis for developing solutions for vocational training Vietnamese rural workers 1.3.2 Unclarified contents 3.1.2 Overview of rural labor force in the Mekong River Delta The Mekong River Delta region has a high population, an abundant labor force, which has created advantages in labor resources and great pressures on labor and employment for the locality 3.2 Organizing the implementation of vocational training policies for rural workers 3.3.1 Development of documents and implementation plans The Provincial People's Committees have issued many documents to guide localities to implement vocational training activities The authorities at all levels plan to organize the implementation of vocational training for rural workers every year in the area 3.3.2 Organizing the apparatus and assigning, coordinating Organization of policy implementation apparatus Organization of the apparatus for policies implementation is performed based on the relatively unified organizational structure from central to local levels under the control of steering committees at all levels Assignment and coordination for policy implementation The provinces in the Region follow regulations on the responsibilities of local agencies in implementation of vocational training policies for rural workers The reality shows that there has been coordination among State agencies in implementation of policies 3.3.3 Dissemination and propagation of the policies The information, propaganda and consultancy on vocational training for people are also regularly paid attention Localities have actively built and implemented the plans of propaganda, vocational training advice, employment and directed the development of programs, specialized pages, column on radio, television, local media 3.3.4 Mobilization and usage of resources Management of funding sources: Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (LISA) manages the non-agricultural funds; Department of Agriculture and Rural Development manages the source of agricultural vocational training funds Such funding sources are directly allocated to the vocational training institutions to organize vocational training for rural workers in localities based on the decision for approving the annual implementation plan of the provincial People's Committee The allocation and use of funds Central budget: In years (2011-2015), the central budget for investment support for vocational training in the Mekong River Delta is VND 1,175,367 billion, accounting for 17% of the total funding of projects allocated to localities all over the country Local budgets: In the past years, the provinces have allocated 307 billion dong from local budgets to invest in building facilities, vocational training equipment, training vocational teachers and supporting rural workers during vocational learning process In 2016, the vocational training budget for rural workers is arranged in the National Program for New Rural Construction Currently, the provinces in the Region have allocated VND 92,735 million to support the vocational training for 75,522 rural workers, equal to 69.7% of the funds for vocational training for rural workers in 2015 Many other policies, programs, projects and projects in which the State budget are used for vocational training for rural workers are directly managed and steered by ministries, sectors, therefore, there is a dispersion of resources, overlap in beneficiaries and difficulties in monitoring, making statistics and summarizing results Mobilization of resources The policy of socialization of vocational training activities of localities has initially been effective, mobilizing resources from investment organizations and individuals to establish the vocational training institutions The ODA projects over the last years have supported investments for vocational training institutions in the Mekong River Delta at 3,470,000 EURO and 13,153,144 USD However, the proportion of investment capital to establish vocational institutions of non-public sector is still low compared to the potential and requirements Socialization of vocational training is mainly concentrated in urban areas, while this rate is only 7% in Soc Trang and Bac Lieu provinces 3.3.5 Inspection, supervision and evaluation of performance The localities have actively developed plans to inspect and supervise the implementation of policies in the province The inspection and supervision of the Steering Committee is regularly implemented In addition, the localities held a annual preliminary meeting to implement and extend the plan for the next year; Preliminary meeting of years and years on the implementation of Decision 1956/QD-TTg 3.3 Results of implementation of component policies 3.3.1 Results of policy implementation for rural workers participating in vocational training The vocational training policy for rural workers has been implemented for nearly 10 years and has achieved many positive results Vocational training in the region has developed, contributing to a positive change in economic structure, labor structure, job creation and poverty reduction in the region The number of participants in vocational training has significantly increased over the years In particular, the quantity of rural workers who has new jobs or continue to the old jobs but with higher quality productivity after vocational training accounts for about 80% The results and efficiency of vocational training for rural workers are uneven among localities in the Region 3.3.2 Results of policies implementation for vocational education institutions The network of vocational training institutions is quite diverse, however, this quantity is quite limited in comparison with the population and total administrative units of the Region Most vocational training institutions are supported to invest in facilities and vocational training equipment to participate in vocational training for rural workers However, the facilities are invested from the first year of implementation of the project, it is difficult to avoid confusion and spreading in investment in facilities and procurement of equipment for vocational training 3.3.3 Results of policy implementation for teachers and professional education managers The quality of vocational teachers for rural workers has been gradually improved in terms of professional qualifications and pedagogical capacity, better meeting the training requirements However, these teachers have not yet met new tasks The number of full-time teachers, especially teachers of agricultural techniques is not much, so vocational training institutions are very passive when opening classes 3.4 Evaluation 3.4.1 Achieved results In the Mekong Delta provinces, the committees, authorities, officials and party members have made positive changes in awareness of the importance of vocational training policies for rural workers with the local socio-economic development The apparatus for implementing vocational training policies for rural workers has been increasingly consolidated and completed in the direction of lightness and few clues The clearly assigned functions and tasks have created favorable conditions for coordination among agencies in implementing policies The contingent of cadres and civil servants in general, cadres and civil servants implementing vocational training policies in particular are increasingly enhanced in quantity and improved in quality The dissemination and propagation of policies has been carried out relatively synchronously, social and political organizations have had quite good entry Although 2016 is the first year that the funds for vocational training support for rural workers is arranged in the National Target Program for new rural construction, however many localities in the region have actively developed plans, allocated funds from the central support and local funds to support vocational training for workers The inspection and monitoring of the policy implementation process is conducted regularly with the participation of many agencies, in which the role of the Steering Committee is clearly reflected 3.4.2 Shortcomings, restrictions The work of planning is only strictly implemented at the central and provincial levels, the closer to the base, the work has not been done well In fact, there is very little participation between state agencies and socio-political organizations For a long time, the focal point of management of vocational training facilities is scattered, specialized vocational training institutions are managed by the General Department of Vocational Education and the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, meanwhile, the system of facilities participating in vocational training is scattered according to the organizations of the state management system The organizational structure is still incomplete, and there are many scattered clues Up to now, the whole region still has 34/131 districts which have not been able to arrange full-time staff for vocational training at the District Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs The policy of merging and adding functions to public centers in the area into the Center for Vocational Education - Continuing Education is only implemented in some localities, other localities are slow to implement and wait for the guidance of their superiors Propaganda and advocacy activities in the area still exist many problems: Form of propaganda in many localities is still simple and tedious, so many people, and even cadres and civil servants are not fully aware of vocational training policies; The quality of propaganda is not high; The propagandists have not convinced people when propagating and campaigning; Method of propaganda in some places are not suitable, so the propaganda effect is not high The budget supported by the Central Government for vocational training in years 2010 - 2014 is lower than the demand for vocational training registration of the people as well as the approved Scheme (equal to 29.3% of the demand) Financial resources have not met, have been fragmented, scattered and not focused priority for training advantage and key occupations Checking and supervising the implementation of vocational training tasks for rural workers has not been conducted regularly, mainly combined with annual vocational training inspection The monitoring and evaluation of the program have been concerned with quantity, not yet concerned with the results or policy’s impacts 3.4.3 Causes Firstly, the vocational training policy for rural workers is not complete In fact, the vocational training policy for rural workers is still inadequate, causing difficulties for localities in implementing policies, resulting in low efficiency Secondly, the awareness of society, officials and civil servants is still not comprehensive The perception of vocational training by the majority of local officials is still in a narrow sense (developing skills to create jobs) not in a broad sense (vocational training is part of a sustainable livelihood development strategy) Thirdly, the capacity of policy implementation team is limited In the early days of implementing the policy, the personnel managing vocational training at the district level have not been assigned as a full-time job but assigned one officer of the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs to work multiple jobs, therefore, this work is sometimes loose Qualifications and professional skills of cadres and civil servants in the main implementation are still limited, reducing the effectiveness of policy implementation Most officials in charge of vocational training have not passed professional training courses Fourth, the coordination is not tight There is no coordination in planning, checking, monitoring and evaluating the performance of the tasks and even there is overlapping in the management of training classes The coordination between the agency in charge of the Program and the agency in charge of component content at all levels is still inadequate Fifth, financial resources are not guaranteed Local resources for vocational training are very limited The funds for vocational training approved for vocational training institutions is still low compared to market fluctuations, so it is not guaranteed to carry out training tasks Sixth, people have not yet actively participated Participation of the people has not been proactive People are still not fully aware of their rights and benefits when participating in the process of implementing vocational training policies The participation of enterprises in vocational training is still very limited Many skilled craftsman are not really enthusiastic about the vocational training CHAPTER 4: SOLUTIONS TO STRENGTHENING THE VOCATIONAL TRAINING POLICY FOR RURAL WORKERS IN THE MEKONG DELTA REGION 4.1 Orientation of vocational training for rural workers 4.1.1 The Party's view on vocational training for rural workers Firstly, improving the quality of vocational training, developing the scale corresponding to the quality assurance conditions; building an open and flexible vocational training system to create favorable conditions for all learners Secondly, renovating vocational training in the close direction associating with the labor and social markets, shifting strongly training associated with employment and sustainable job creation, labor export and social security Thirdly, innovation must be synchronized, inheriting previous experiences and standardization, achievements; modernization, ensuring the socialization, principle of democratization, international integration and having a suitable roadmap in each period Fourth, creating conditions to attract all social resources to innovate and improve the quality of vocational training, in which the State plays a key role; strengthening autonomy of public vocational education institutions 4.1.2 Requirements for policy implementation Firstly, ensure the objectives of the policy Secondly, associate with local and regional characteristics Thirdly, need the determination of the whole political system Fourth, ensure the participation of people and society Fifth, ensure efficiency Sixth, ensure transparency and accountability 4.2 Solutions 4.2.1 Completing vocational training policies for rural workers In the short term, it is necessary to amend the irrational, irrelevant points of the policy to support rural workers, policy for vocational training institutions and policy for vocational teachers In the long term, the state needs to reconsider its role in policy intervention 4.2.2 Renovating the plan of policy implementation Provinces must focus on developing plans or action programs on vocational training to 2020, in which vocational training must be associated with socio-economic development programs and plans and new rural construction planning, meeting the task of economic restructuring and sustainable poverty reduction This work is not only carried out "internally" but also required mechanisms for other training subject to participate Localities should not underestimate the investigation and survey of workers' needs 4.2.3 Improving the effectiveness of policy propaganda To build radio and television broadcasting sections in ethnic languages so that ethnic minority people (Khmer people) can better understand the policies In addition to mass media, it is necessary to combine with the use of propaganda teams of social-political organizations The mass organizations in association with the Patriotic United Buddhist Association, mobilize the monks in the temple to alternate the traditional community activities in the temple with the propaganda and mobilization of people 4.2.4 Arranging and consolidating vocational training institutions To complete the merger of district-level public centers; transfer and dissolve public institutions operating inefficiently; No establish more public institutions; Only consider and propose to establish newly or upgrade from intermediate level to vocational colleges for institutions committing to autonomy in regular expenditures and investment expenditures when newly established or upgraded 4.2.5 Improving the quality of staff implementing the policies To arrange sufficient personnel to manage vocational training at the provincial and district levels in the direction of specialization in work and professional qualifications Build and consolidate grassroots cadres, especially the commune-level specialized cadres First of all, they must be trainned, fostered, improved cultural and professional qualifications Besides, it is necessary to pay attention to good regimes and policies so that the officials can be assured of their work 4.2.6 Strengthening coordination among policy implementation agencies Firstly, it is necessary to strengthen the coordination mechanism between the executive committees, authorities, sociopolitical organizations and people in planning implementation, propaganda, mobilization, resource mobilization, inspection, monitoring and evaluation Secondly, it is necessary to institutionalize the roles of relevant departments and agencies in implementing policies Thirdly, improving and strengthening the state management apparatus on vocational education 4.2.7 Ensuring the funds and physical resources Firstly, the mechanism of mobilizing and integrating capital sources: It is necessary to mobilize additional funding sources and, at the same time, reduce the costs for investment in vocational training activities for rural workers Actively allocate funds from the local budget, integrate the mobilization of resources from programs and projects to together with funding sources supported from the central budget for vocational training Secondly, the fund management mechanism: Assigning an agency that is the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs to lead the policy advisory and managing the funds of vocational training for rural workers Other agencies, departments and branches should only be coordinating units in charge of fund management Thirdly, renovating the mechanism of capital allocation: Changing the structure of budget allocation for vocational training, reducing the investment in infrastructure for public vocational training centers, increasing the budget (at least 10%) for activities of propaganda and vocational training consultancy for people, developing teachers and vocational trainers, supervising and evaluating vocational training effectiveness Renovating the mechanism of state budget allocations for vocational training in the direction of ordering or bidding vocational training criteria as required by the State, encouraging vocational training institutions of all economic sectors to participate in bidding Fourthly, it is necessary to strengthen the publicity and transparency for people on management, use and distribution of capital Fifthly, simplifying procedures for payment and settlement of the funds to ensure the funds for localities, especially vocational training institutions have conditions to organize vocational training as planned 4.2.8 Enhancing the participation of people Firstly, improving people's intellectual standards Vocational training is not simply to give the workers a job but also to supplement and improve their educational level In parallel with improving intellectual standards, the commune government also promotes the dissemination of knowledge about the law, guidelines and policies of the state Secondly, taking care of the socio-economic life for the people Effectively implement solutions to implement social security policies, reduce poverty, take care to improve people's lives Thirdly, encouraging the participation of enterprises in vocational training Study the model of combining enterprises into industrial zones with local authorities for initial recruitment 4.2.9 Strengthening the inspection and supervision of the policy implementation process Continue to evaluate according to the issued criteria Develop a set of criteria and procedures for evaluating the effectiveness of financial investment for vocational education institutions In addition, this activity should also be conducted regularly At the same time, the competent authorities must be fierce and close in dealing with the conclusions of supervision, inspection and transparency of this treatment 4.3 Recommendations 4.3.1 For the Central Adjust and amend some policies related to vocational training policies; Ensure funding; Promote decentralization in vocational training management 4.3.2 For vocational training institutions CONCLUSION The thesis "Implemention of vocational training policies for rural workers in the Mekong River Delta", has focused on studying theoretical and practical issues in implementing policies from which to propose solutions in order to improve the results and effectiveness of implementing this policy in the coming time Firstly, systematizing and analyzing theoretical issues about implementing vocational training policies for rural workers, with a focus on building and analyzing the theoretical framework of the main process of organizing the implementation vocational training books for rural workers Secondly, through the study of vocational training experience for rural workers of some countries in the world to draw reference value for the Mekong Delta provinces Third, the thesis has proved that the process of implementing this policy in the locality has loosened a number of stages in the policy implementation process, making the results and effectiveness of the policy not as expected Fourthly, the thesis has stated that the implementation of vocational training policies for rural workers in the Mekong Delta in the coming time needs: 1) to complete vocational training policies for rural workers; (2) renovate the planning of policy implementation; (3) improve the effectiveness of policy propaganda; (4) arrange and consolidate vocational training institutions; (5) improve the quality of policy implementation staffs; (6) strengthen coordination between policy implementation agencies; (7) ensure funding and efficient use of the funds; (8) strengthen the participation of people; (9) strengthen inspection and supervision of implementation process The research results of the thesis have explained and proved the research hypothesis set out in the introduction of the thesis In the framework of the thesis, the research objectives set out from the beginning have been achieved However, this is a personal research, and the research content is also quite large, so it is not possible to solve all the problems The author look forward to receiving comments from scientists for the thesis to be more complete ... there is very little participation between state agencies and socio-political organizations For a long time, the focal point of management of vocational training facilities is scattered, specialized... Therefore, vocational training is a great mission Recognizing this, our Party and State have long paid deep attention to not only human resource development but also vocational training for rural workers... vocational training is scattered according to the organizations of the state management system The organizational structure is still incomplete, and there are many scattered clues Up to now, the