Plan International Cambodia will provide vocational training to 250 youths who have dropped out of school this year after training 200 people in Siem Reap and Ratanakkiri provinces last year.
The training will be conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training and other relevant institutions.
Yi Kim Than, Plan International deputy country director for programmes, told The Post on January 4 that in 2021, the organisation trained 200 people aged 15 to 24 who had previously dropped out of school with 100 of them coming from Siem Reap and the other 100 from Ratanakkiri.
He said the organisation is collaborating with the labour ministry through the Directorate-General of Technical Vocational Education and Training to develop and improve training standards in packages for five occupations: Hairdressing and styling, barbering, tailoring, baking and micro-machine repair along with the development of digital lesson packages for entrepreneurship and soft-skills as well.
“Nineteen trainees have so far attended the training course on tailoring and 74 attended the courses on hairdressing and styling,” Kim Than said.
He added that in 2022, the organisation will increase the number of young people attending the training courses to 250 people total, with around 65 per cent of them being women in both provinces.
“We will set up another new vocational training project in Stung Treng province and continue to collaborate with the [labour ministry] to establish a digital training service data management system,” he said.
On January 3, the Ratanakkiri provincial Department of Women’s Affairs held the closing ceremony for the vocational training course “Tailoring and Hairdressing 2021” with the support of the Cambodian government and the organisation, which took place at the Women’s Centre for Development in the province.
The organisation said that through vocational training and internships, the participants had gained knowledge and skills to increase their family’s incomes.
Kith Tri, deputy governor of Ratanakkiri province, said the organisation set a five-year objective for 2021-2026 to meet the essential needs of boys, girls, youths and vulnerable families in the target areas by making positive changes.
He added that the objectives had further been implemented through access to education services from kindergarten to high school, access to health and nutrition services and access to clean water and sanitation for vulnerable people and children. He said vocational skills were provided for young people who had dropped out of school so that they can get decent jobs.
Yong Sovathana, deputy governor of neighbouring Stung Treng province, thanked the organisation for collaborating with the provincial administration and its departments to improve the people’s living standards.
“Plan International Cambodia improves the living standards of our people, providing services that people need. [We] always helps address important issues in areas like flood response, sanitation, education and women’s and children’s health in remote areas,” he said.
