As part of a huge relocation plan to move tens of millions of
people to urban areas, China's central government will spend 600
million yuan (US$75 million) in 2006 on short-term vocational
training for 3.5 million rural residents.
The training program, which was initiated in 2004 by six
ministries, is known as the "Sunny Project" and it aims to equip
farmers with basic skills to help them find jobs in urban areas, an
official in charge of the project said Saturday.
"China faces huge pressure to transfer redundant labor in rural
areas to cities," said the official.
According to him there are 150 million laborers in rural China
and that number is increasing by 6 million each year.
The central government's contribution is expected to trigger
more than a billion more yuan from local governments for the "Sunny
Project", he said.
The training will mainly focus on skills needed in
manufacturing, construction and the service industries. Every
trainee will also receive at least eight hours of training on law,
work safety, epidemic prevention and other general information to
help their transition to life in a city. The training programs can
last from 15 days to three months
While 87 percent of workers in the countryside have received
primary or junior middle school education only 20 percent have ever
received skills training.
In the past two years, the central and provincial governments
have invested 1.65 billion yuan in the "Sunny Project", which
trained 5.3 million farmers and helped 4.6 million relocate to
urban areas.
(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2006)