Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a letter applauding the 3rd Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Day on Monday, that such education and training had played a key role in developing human resource personnel with expert knowledge, skills and professional ethics.
He said the training programmes have also contributed to the stimulation of economic growth and created good jobs for citizens.
The TVET day was themed TVET Improves Life.
Hun Sen said he regarded human capital as an important factor for increasing work productivity, creating sound values, enhancing competitive abilities, attracting foreign investments and embracing new technologies.
He said: “In the context of a rapidly changing economic infrastructure and speedy technological progress, we need to foster new skills to create new jobs.
“Vocational skills play a vital role in providing possibilities to citizens who aspire to have job stability and can move to new jobs rapidly.”
The prime minister also said that over the past years, the government has prioritised the technical and vocational training system.
It has invested heavily in the sector to try to catch up with the country’s socio-economic development, the rapid changes in technologies and job markets, and the higher expectations of families for better living standards.
Over the last five years, he said, more than 200,000 people, including trainees, students and workers had undergone new skills training. They also found good job opportunities and created occupations themselves he said.
Currently, there are 23 public technical and vocational training establishments accredited by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).
The prime minister encouraged citizens to take advantage of the training.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) told The Post on Monday that efforts to strengthen TVET in Cambodia will help maintain economic resistance to crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
ADB added that since 2014, it had collaborated with the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training to carry out reforms and promote the TVET programmes by investing nearly $175 million in them.
Some of the work included honing competitive skills and abilities of workers, training the industrial workforce of Cambodia and developing human resources for four priority sectors – production, construction, electrical and electronics.
ADB said it had contributed study materials and provided quality teaching to nearly half a million high school students, 40 per cent of whom are women.
It also helped some 34,000 students (52.8 per cent women) to enrol in TVET programmes.
