The Chinese government has earmarked 2 billion yuan (US$250
million) of state budget for a training program for migrant
peasants working in cities, according to the Ministry of Labor and
Social Security.
The ministry's program, which aims to train migrant workers for
city jobs, will use funding support from local governments to
improve the skills of?8 million migrant workers over the next
five years.
People's Daily yesterday reported that the training
allowances would average about 500 yuan (US$62.5) per worker.
Scores of Chinese farmers have been moving into cities since the
late 1980s in search of work. There are now about 140 million
migrant workers in China. However, according to ministry
statistics, most of them are only able to do simple manual work in
sectors such as construction or catering and at far lower salaries
than urban residents.
The government-backed courses aim to improve salaries and job
security for migrant workers. The monthly salary of a skilled
worker is about 200 yuan (US$25) more than an unskilled
worker's.
Shenzhen municipal government, in south China's Guangdong Province, said that 90 percent of
its 5 million migrant workers who have enrolled in its training
program will obtain skilled work qualification certificates, and 80
percent of them are expected to get at least one-year job
contracts.
Song Fengjing, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Bureau of
Labor and Social Security, said in addition to work skills, work
ethics, safety, fire protection and legal knowledge will be covered
in the training.
Song said that 66 percent of the 3.57 million migrants in the
capital are workers. The training courses will help them find jobs
in the service sector, which is expected to have a raft of job
opportunities in the run-up to and during the 2008 Olympics.
(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2006)