The
Ministry of
Agriculture is sowing the seeds of vocational training among
millions of Chinese farmers to help them harvest bumper profits in
urban areas.
For the first time since it was created, the ministry is working to
strengthen the position of rural migrant workers in cities by
training them to obtain jobs that are more lucrative.
"We've found that training farmers seeking fortunes in urban areas
is imperative, as most of them lack the technical skills that jobs
in cities are increasingly requiring," said Zhang Hongyu, deputy
director of the ministry's Policies and Regulations Department.
As
the country grapples with low rural incomes and a huge labor
surplus in the countryside, agricultural officials and experts have
agreed that helping farmers move and work in cities is a
solution.
The sheer size of China's rural migrant workforce can be gauged
from the fact that 94 million such workers, plus 20 million of
their families, migrated to cities last year -- a size equal to
entire population of Japan.
But only 12 per cent of them received senior high school education,
and still fewer of them have technical training, according to
ministry sources.
But in recent years China's economic boom towns in coastal areas,
as well as some eastern provinces, have shifted from
labor-intensive businesses to workplaces requiring technology and
skills, Zhang said.
"Farmers with little technical skills have found themselves in a
disadvantaged position when seeking to be employed in cities on a
decent salary,'' Zhang said.
Chinese farmers are increasingly reliant on salaries earned in
urban areas to increase their incomes.
Last year they earned a total income of 527.8 billion yuan (US$63.6
billion), which contributed to 42 per cent of their rise in
incomes, the latest statistics of the ministry revealed.
Zhang said his ministry is prioritizing ways that will enable them
to become employed and earn more money in cities.
The ministry has just concluded a trial scheme offering training
for farmers in six rural counties in areas that include Chongqing
Municipality of Southwest China and Jiangxi Province in East
China.
The project will continue this year, and it is expected to involve
more regions in the years ahead, said Minister of Agriculture Du
Qinglin.
As
well as providing much-needed skills training, the project
disseminates workplace safety and legal knowledge among farmers who
want to work in urban areas.
A
farmer in Ji'an County of Jiangxi won 15,000 yuan (US$1,807)
payment in arrears by using legal know-how he learned last year at
a training course, Zhang said, without giving the farmer's
name.
Wang Chunlan, a deputy to the National People's Congress, China's
top legislating body, said improved training to farmers means they
can provide better quality of service in cities.
But Du Xiaoshan, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences, said he anticipated competition will emerge in the long
run between rural migrant workers and urban professionals as the
former keeps improving their skills.
He
cited a landmark decree issued by the State Council in January that
all trades and work types should be open to laborers of urban and
rural origin without discrimination.
Zhang Xiulin, a researcher with the Center for Chinese Agricultural
Policy in Beijing, said training for farmers should be conducted by
multiple sources, including ministries of agriculture, education
and labor and social security.
(China Daily April 14, 2003)