Training builds workforce skills

A professional construction group was established yesterday in Vientiane to meet a rising national demand for skilled labourers.

Twenty-five construction companies are forming the group, which will offer training courses that allow students to gain formal qualifications in building.

The first course will train 40 people, and more are planned in the future.

The group will receive support from the German agency GTZ and be supervised by the Ministry of Education through the Lao Association of Young Entrepreneurs, allowing for increased cooperation between government and private sectors.

Group President Bounleuth Luangpaseuth said many construction projects in Laos currently used foreign labourers due to a shortage of skilled Lao workers.

“We do have skilled labourers, but still not enough to supply the market need,” he said.

Mr Bounleuth said the new group wanted to promote public understanding about the advantages of learning and working in the construction sector. He said some skilled workers earned more than some government officials.

Deputy Minister of Education Ms Sengdeuane Lachanthaboun said Laos could make the most of its rapid economic growth and construction boom if it had a more highly skilled workforce.

Construction work is generally considered to be the domain of lower income groups, but labourers who earn low wages are those who are unskilled or do not have any formal qualifications in construction.

People in several Lao provinces sometimes cross the border to work in Thailand illegally in an effort to earn a higher income, but most of these workers are unskilled, which forces them to work for low wages and puts them at risk of human trafficking and abuse by their employers.

Officials believe skill development will help people obtain better, higher paying construction jobs that could remove them from poverty and also boost the growth of the country's economy.

Ms Sengdeuane says one of the reasons for the shortage of skilled labourers is that university degrees are perceived to be more desirable than vocational education, despite high unemployment among university graduates.

She said parents and students thought vocational work was undesirable and low-paying, but this was not the case.

“You can further your education after you finish at a vocational school,” she emphasised.

“If our labourers have enough skills, we can send them to compete or work in other countries.”

Laos is also facing an imbalance in workforce skills, meaning there is a plentiful supply of workers in administration, for example, but a shortage of electricians and construction workers.

Ms Sengdeuane said this issue would be most effectively addressed through government and private sector cooperation.

“If businesses in the private sector do their jobs without cooperation from the government sector, the nation will be slow to develop,” she said.

By Somsack Pongkhao
(Latest Update April 8, 2008)