Vocational programs help poor find jobs

Wang Junguo, from a formerly poverty-stricken county in Dazhou, Sichuan province, has become a manager of a shipping company in Zhoushan, an island city in Zhejiang province, and is earning more than 7,000 yuan ($1,080) a month.

In 2018, when Wang was a student at a vocational school in Xuanhan county, he heard a news report that it had teamed up with Zhoushan Technician College to launch an employment program. He immediately applied for it.

After completing two years of study, students in the program can go to Zhoushan and study at a college there while working as interns at enterprises in the city. After graduating, they can choose to continue their studies or try to find employment with the companies.

"Now in Zhoushan, I have a stable job with good pay to support my family," Wang said, adding that he could gradually participate in new technology research and development at work and also had opportunities to connect with sailors from the Philippines, the United States and Germany, which broadened his horizons and strengthened his confidence in the industry.

Zhoushan is home to thriving electromechanical and marine industries and its demand for skilled workers is soaring. In contrast, Dazhou has nearly four times the population of Zhoushan, but most of its residents have difficulties finding work due to their lack of skills.

In 2018, in response to the central government's anti-poverty campaign, Dinghai and Putuo districts in Zhoushan started providing assistance to Xuanhan and Wanyuan counties in Dazhou.

Since then, the human resources and social security departments in the two counties have cooperated to alleviate labor shortages in Zhoushan by sending Dazhou workers to the city.

Zhang Bin, from Dazhou, said he never dreamed that he would become a sailor in his 40s and earn a good salary in Zhoushan, but he has, thanks to a sailor employment program launched by Zhoushan Marine School.

The school launched the sailor employment program in October 2018, providing professional training courses to people from Dazhou and helping them find jobs.

"The employment program provides sailor training courses without tuition and room and board fees, as well as guidance and support for students looking for internships and employment," said Zhang, 43, who finished his four-month course in September. He now works at a Zhoushan-based maritime transportation company and earns about 10,000 yuan a month.

"The sailing class is a win for everyone," said Huang Dongnan, chairman of the Zhoushan Shipowners Association, adding that it has not only helped trainees escape poverty, but also provided a labor source for Zhoushan's shipping companies, which are in dire need of sailors.

By the end of February, the sailor employment program had run three sessions and had produced 77 qualified sailors. Some of those trainees, like Zhang, have been hired by maritime companies in Zhoushan on monthly salaries of up to 10,000 yuan, according to the city's human resources and social security department.

Zhoushan allocated 219 million yuan to help lift Dazhou out of poverty over the past three years, media reported.

By the end of 2019, Xuanhan and Wanyuan were removed from the national list of poverty-stricken counties.

Zhoushan focused its poverty alleviation efforts on developing industries in the two counties, with 1,780 hectares set aside for the growing of tea leaves, plums and vegetables, benefiting 55,000 poor people.

Cai Jingwen contributed to this story.