Students in a class at a vocational school in An Giang Province.

This rate, however, is still much lower than the national average of 25 percent, the ministry said, adding that in some provinces the rate of skilled workers has not even reached 15 percent.

The Mekong Delta’s potential has not been realized due to its low quality work force.

To help the situation, the Government has run a project to raise the number of skilled workers in the region but has failed to meet demand.

According to Nguyen Quoc Bao, deputy chairman of Ben Tre Province’s municipal committee, the facilities of most vocational centers are outdated and not good enough for training.

Many centers continue to teach skills that society no longer needs, as they have not bought new equipment and by proxy have no updated skills.

In addition, many people have not finished ninth grade, which is compounded by vocational schools requiring people to graduate junior high school.

The shortage of decent teachers has also prevented an increase of skilled workers.

The ministry held the meeting to make a preliminary conclusion of a project to develop education and vocational training in Mekong Delta by 2010.

It is working in association with the Ministry of Education and Training, and the Steering Committee of the Southwestern Region.

VietNamNet/SGGP