Building a learning society among workers and laborers

Commenting on the draft documents of the 14th National Party Congress, Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Tam, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union, emphasized: It is necessary to concretize the policy of "Building a lifelong learning society" with practical solutions, suitable to the characteristics of workers in the manufacturing industry, especially the textile and garment sector, where there are more than 2.5 million workers, mainly with high school education or lower.

Learning becomes a spreading movement

In recent years, the movement of studying and training to improve qualifications among textile workers has had many positive changes. The Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union has coordinated with professionals and training institutions in the system to implement the full-term program "Training, fostering, improving qualifications and adaptability for cadres, union members and workers".

Photo caption — Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Tam, Chairwoman of Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union.

From 2023 to present, the industry has organized 50 training courses for 1,625 workers. At the grassroots level, more than 181,000 workers have been trained in culture, professional expertise, skills, foreign languages, information technology, etc. Emulation movements such as "Practice skills, become good workers", "Good workers train skills", "Each sewing line is a vocational training class", "Worker learning corner - Trade union bookcase" ... have been actively implemented, contributing to building a learning culture in enterprises.

Not only targeting workers, many programs also encourage workers' children to study and practice such as "Fly high dreams", "Accompanying children to school" scholarship, "Lullaby by the hammock" contest, "Reading stories to children"... Hundreds of scholarship funds and career guidance activities are organized every year, motivating workers' children to follow their parents' example and continue their studies.

Proposal to concretize the policy of "lifelong learning society"

From the practice of the textile industry, the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union proposed to supplement and clarify some contents in the Draft Documents of the 14th National Party Congress, in order to ensure that education and training are closely linked to the labor market and the development of the modern working class.

First of all, in the paragraph "Strengthening career orientation right from high school level...", it is necessary to emphasize: "Vocational training must be linked to the needs of businesses and the labor market; focusing on retraining and advanced training in the context of rapid technological development and increasingly high job requirements".

In the section "Promoting the building of a lifelong learning society, developing learning models and movements in a diverse direction, suitable for each subject and each locality", the Trade Union proposed adding the element "each profession and field", to ensure specificity and practicality for the industrial production sector.

In addition, in the content of "Innovation of financial mechanisms and policies for education and training", it is necessary to specify the mechanism to encourage businesses to invest in training, improve vocational skills and digital skills for workers, and enjoy tax incentives, credit, rewards, etc. This is an important step to link business responsibility with the national human resource development strategy.

The Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union also proposed adding quantitative indicators on the proportion of direct workers receiving training to improve their vocational and digital skills, demonstrating a specific commitment to building a learning society.

To put the lifelong learning policy into practice, the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union proposes 5 key groups of solutions:

Firstly, promote propaganda and raise awareness. Integrate the content of "lifelong learning" into emulation movements in enterprises. Build worker learning clubs, "digital learning corners", "digital bookcases" in factories and production workshops, arousing the spirit of self-study and self-training.

Second, innovate learning models and methods. Focus on flexible forms such as on-site training, mentoring, learning while working, online learning, suitable for the characteristics of production workers. Coordinate with training institutions to improve vocational skills and select future human resources, especially high-quality technical workers.

Third, promote the role of trade unions. Trade unions proactively include the clause “enterprises support learning and improving skills for workers” in the Collective Labor Agreement, and consider propaganda and launching a learning movement as an annual emulation and reward target. Trade unions at all levels need to commend advanced models, “innovative trees, skilled workers”, creating a ripple effect throughout the industry.

Fourth, apply digital technology in learning. Build a common e-learning platform for the Textile and Garment industry, integrating courses on vocational skills, production management, digital skills, foreign languages, and corporate culture. Develop an industry digital library with instructional videos and open documents to serve workers to learn anytime, anywhere.

Fifth, strengthen the “three-party” coordination: Enterprises – Schools – Trade Unions. Enterprises consider training as an investment for sustainable development; Schools survey actual needs, build appropriate training content; Trade Unions act as a bridge, promote, monitor and ensure the right to education of workers.

Promoting lifelong learning among workers not only helps workers adapt to the digital transformation process, but also contributes to improving productivity, product quality, and building a professional Vietnamese labor brand.

The Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union affirmed: “Lifelong learning is the key to keeping workers from falling behind in the flow of industrialization, modernization and international integration.”

That is also a concrete action to realize the goals of the 14th Party Congress, comprehensively developing Vietnamese people, building a learning society, a knowledge society, in which workers are both the main productive force and the center of sustainable development.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/xay-dung-xa-hoi-hoc-tap-trong-cong-nhan-lao-dong-20251113113241392.htm