CC BY
15ISSN 2500-0020 No. 2 (2018) 45-58_
Социальные исследования
Current situation of ethnic human resources in Vietnam
Nguyen Thi Giang Huong University of Labour and Social Affairs, Ha Noi City, Viet Nam
E-mail: info@isi-journal.vn
For citation:
Nguyen Thi Giang Huong. Current situation of ethnic human resources in Vietnam. Journal of Social Research. 2018. No. 2. P. 45-58.
Abstract
At present, high quality human resources are considered an important factor, determining the socio-economic development. Over the past years, Vietnam has made certain achievements in socio-economic development. However, the socio-economic development of Vietnam is still unstable and uneven among regions in the country. Based on the analysis of statistical data this article assesses the situation of human resources in ethnic minority (EM) areas in Vietnam, focusing on the size and structure of human resources (age, gender, profession), quality of ethnic minority human resources (education, technical expertise, physical health). On that basis, the article points out issues to be solved to overcome the limitations of human resources for socio-economic development of ethnic minority areas - areas with a large number of ethnic minorities living together stably into communities in the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Key word: ethnic minorities; EM; quality of human resources; ethnic minority areas
Received: 2019-03-15. Published online: 2019-03-21
© 2019 Author
Journal of Social Research
1. Research overview
Typical studies on education policies for ethnic minorities are such as:
In 2006 Marshall Miles with colleagues studied and analyzed the mobility of skilled personnel from remote areas to coastal areas and economic centers in Queesland state, Australia. On that basis, the authors set out the necessary solutions to build a national-level strategy for each region to overcome this situation [Miles at al,, 2006].
Another research direction focuses on the health sector, that is Research by Dan Huang et al on "Guangxi's rural health insurance scheme: evidence from an ethnic minority area in China". The study shows that these are important policy contents in the policy structure in the country with 56 ethnic groups [Dan Huang and et al, 2012].
In Vietnam, there have been various studies on ethnic minorities. For example, a provincial research project on "Socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas of Khmer, Cham in An Giang province in the period of 2011-2015 and 2020" by Vo Cong Nguyen. The author has studied, analyzed and evaluated the socio-economic development situation in the Khmer and Cham ethnic groups in An Giang province today, provided scientific basis and socio-economic development solutions; selected projects to prioritize socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas of Khmer and Cham in the period of 2011-2015 and to 2020 [Vo Cong Nguyen, 2011].
Le Quan designed state-level science and technology topic: "Researching needs and proposing solutions to develop human resources for leadership and management of public administration in the Northwest region from now to 2020 and vision to 2030". The author proposes solutions to develop human resources for leadership and management of the public administration sector in the Northwest according to the capacity framework approach, associated with local characteristics, in accordance with sustainable development and international integration [Le Quan, 2015].
Nguyen Cao Thinh with colleagues carried out a study: "Analysis and assessment of the situation of human resources in ethnic minority and mountainous areas" (UNDP). The authors studied a number of theoretical issues of human resource development and natural and socio-economic characteristics in ethnic minority and mountainous areas; evaluated the situation and the issues that need to be addressed to develop human resources in ethnic and mountainous areas. On that basis, the authors have proposed solutions to develop ethnic minority human resources [Nguyen Cao Thinh at al. 2010].
Tran Cao Nguyen in the book "Development of human resources in ethnic minority areas in the western districts of Nghe An in the period of accelerating industrialization and modernization" has evaluated the current situation of human resources in ethnic minority areas in western Nghe An districts, thereby proposing solutions to promote the development of human resources in ethnic minority areas so as to be most effective [Tran Cao Nguyen, 2014].
Bui Tat Thang (2013-2015) did research "The issue of education, training and human resource development for sustainable development in the Central Highlands". The paper has highlighted the role of education and human resources development as the most important basis for sustainable development in the Central Highlands today. Therefore, it is necessary to promote the development of education and training as well as human resources to create sustainable development for the Central Highlands [Bui Tat Thang, 2015].
Ngo Van Hai with colleague carried out a study "Development of Ethnic Minority human resources by 2020, orientation to 2030". The authors have analyzed the status of human resources and policies to develop human resources in ethnic minority, from which the authors have raised issues to be solved to develop human resources of Vietnamese ethnic minorities. On that basis, the authors have proposed a number of solutions to develop ethnic minority human resources by 2020 and orientations to 2030 [Ngo Van Hai at al., 2014].
In general, with the research on human resources in ethnic minority areas, the authors have provided us with a relatively complete view of the situation of human resources in these areas. On that basis, the authors initially mentioned specific solutions that are basically suitable to promote the development of human resources in ethnic minority areas in the coming time. The above-mentioned studies with policies described are quite specific for each specific field, but there is a lack of analysis in linking with other social and cultural contexts and fields. In addition, those policies have not been linked to the public policy system, so the mentioned solutions are not consistent with the actual situation and are still general. The above contents will be inherited and overcome by the author to indicate the shortcomings of the ethnic minority human resources in the current situation. On that basis, a suitable solution will be applied to shorten the socio-economic development gap of ethnic minority areas with other regions in the country. These solutions will help the Committee for Ethnic Minorities propose to the Government to issue specific, feasible and practical policies to overcome the limitations of ethnic minority human resources. such as policies to encourage and attract human resources to ethnic minority areas or to renew the recruitment policy and job placement for graduates in localities. On that basis, partly
contributing to the realization of the guidelines and policies of the Party and the State in order to promote socio-economic development of ethnic minority areas, overcome the disparity between ethnic minority areas and other regions in the near future in Vietnam.
2. Scale and structure of human resources in ethnic minority areas
According to the General Statistics Office, in 2015, there were a total of 13,386,330 ethnic minority people living in the whole country (63 provinces). In particular, the number of ethnic minority people living in ethnic minority areas is 11,959,384 people, accounting for 89.34% [Committee for Ethnic Minorities, 2016].
In terms of regions, the number of ethnic minority people living in the Northern Midlands and Mountain Areas accounts for the largest number (with 6,688,854, of which 6,389,445 people live in ethnic minority areas, accounting for 95.52 %).
Next is the Central Highlands (with 2,047,907 EM people, of which EM people live in ethnic minority areas is 1904862, accounting for 93%).
Thirdly, the number of EM people living in the North Central and Central Coast regions (1,986,666 EM people, of which EM people live in ethnic minority areas is 1,872,505, accounting for 94.25%).
Table 1
The number of ethnic minority people and the proportion of ethnic minority people living in ethnic minority areas
Region/province, city Total EM people Number of EM people living in EM areas Proportion of EM people living in EM areas (%)
Nationwide 13.386.330 11.959.384 89,34
Northern Midlands and Mountains 6688854 6389445 95,52
Red river delta 316095 226387 71,62
North Central and Central Coast 1986666 1872505 94,25
Central Highlands 2047907 1904862 93,02
South East 910306 466694 51,26
Mekong Delta 1411615 1111691 78,75
Source: Committee for Ethnic Minorities. Results of socio-economic survey of 53 ethnic minorities in 2015.
Next is the Mekong River Delta (with 1,411,615 EM people, of which 1,111,691 EM people live in ethnic minority areas, accounting for 78.75%).
The lowest is in the South East and the Red River Delta (the Southeast has 910,306 ethnic minority people, of which 466,694 EM people live in ethnic minority areas and the Red River Delta has 316,095 EM people, including 226387 EM people living in ethnic minority areas). To be more specific, see the table 1.
Thus, it can be seen that the number of EM human resources in ethnic minority areas accounts for a large proportion, distributed in a wide and uneven range among provinces and socio-economic regions in the country.
3. Structure of human resources by age
Like human resources structure of the country in general, EM human resources are also in the period of "golden population structure": with 31.03% of the population aged 15 and under, of which 25.38% of the population is between the ages of 12 and 15 (the age of attending junior high school). Of the 9,232,552 people over the age of 15, there are nearly 10% (1,283,749 people) at the age of attending high school (16-18 years).
For human resources in all ethnic minority areas, this structure is slightly different with 25.55% of the population aged 15 and under, of which 28.84% of the population is between the ages of 12 and 15 (the age of attending junior high school). Of the 55,473,779 people over 15 years old (74.45% of the total population), nearly 10% are at the age of attending high school (16-18 years) [Committee for Ethnic Minorities, 2016].
4. Human resource structure by gender
Ethnic minority human resources have a gender imbalance structure, with the proportion of men lower than the proportion of women (accounting for 42.8%, while the proportion of women is 57.2%). This result shows that the female-male structure in ethnic minority has a big difference (14.4%) compared to the general gap between women and men of the whole country (1.18%) and of ethnic minority provinces 0.7%), see table 2.
The gender gap in EMs is a factor affecting the quality of human resources of EMs. Women dominate in ethnic minority groups, but they face many social barriers (customs, practices, gender stereotypes) in access to education and training, health and other basic social services. This increases the population without professional or technical training.
Table 2 Ethnic minority population structure by gender
Population groups by gender Ethnic minority and mountainous areas Number of ethnic minorities throughout the country
Amount (People) Percent (%) Amount (People) Percent (%)
Total 74 511 455.44 100 13 386 330 100
Male 36 994 937.63 49.65 5 729 349.24 42.8
Female 37 516 517.81 50.35 7 656 980.76 57.2
Source: As for Table 1
5. Structure of human resources according to career
Ethnic minority human resources mainly focus on agriculture, especially the two regions with the highest number and percentage of ethnic minorities in the country are the Northern Midlands and Mountains and the Central Highlands with over 70% of agricultural workers, while this rate of the whole country is 51.9%, see table 3.
Table 3 Structure of ethnic minority human resources according to their career
Population group Northern midlands and mountainous regions Central Coast Central
Country highland
Sector
Agriculture 51,9 75,0 58,5 73,4
Industry 21,5 9,9 17,5 7,9
Service 26,5 15,1 24,0 18,6
Profession
Farming and simple jobs - 78,44 64,81 76,33
Industry with high and medium technical expertise 22,37 6,26 7,31 5,93
Manage 0,92 0,85 0,56 (Mekong River Delta) 0,76
For the staff (employees working in leadership and management) there is no difference in the percentage of ethnic minorities compared to other regions (0.92% compared to 0.92% nationwide). The reason is due to the prioritization of EM policies in cadre work. The majority of ethnic minority provinces in the Mekong River Delta have the lowest percentage of workers working in leadership and management (0.56%), followed by the Central Highlands provinces (rate of 0.76 %) and Northern Midlands and Mountains (0.85% rate).
6. About physical strength of human resources in ethnic minority areas
The strength of ethnic minority human resources is assessed based on some key indicators such as: rate of malnutrition, child mortality, disease status and life expectancy. In terms of malnutrition rate, when considering in 3 measures of undernutrition of weight/ age, malnutrition in height/age and malnutrition of weight/height, the rate of malnourished children in ethnic minority areas decreases every year but is still high compared to the national average (see Table 4 for details).
Table 4 Some indicators of physical strength of ethnic minority people (%)
Malnutrition rate of children under 5 years old Mortality rate of children under 1 year old Average life expectancy (age)
Population group
Nationwide 19,9 16 72,8 (male: 70,2, female: 75,6)
Northern midlands and mountains 25,9 24,5 70 (male: 67,2, female: 73)
Central highlands 27,4 27,3 69,1 (male: 66,3; female: 72,2)
Source: As for Table 1
Data in Table 4 shows that the malnutrition rate of children under 5 years old in ethnic minority areas is very high, much higher than the national average. Specifically, the Northern Midlands and Mountain Areas and the Central Highlands have the highest rates (25.9%, 27.3% respectively), the national average is only 19.9%.
The mortality rate of children under 1 year old is also high, in which some provinces in the two northern mountainous regions and the Central Highlands have double under-1 child mortality rates, even nearly three times the average in the whole country, such as Lai Chau (47.7%), Dien Bien (39.7%), Ha Giang (37.5%), Kon Tum (38.2%).
The life expectancy of ethnic minorities is also lower than the average life expectancy of the whole country. The difference between the life expectancy of men and women is also higher than the average level.
The average height of young people aged 20-24 in mountainous and ethnic minority areas is also lower than in some other regions. For example, according to height statistics in 2016, the average height of young people aged 20-24 in Vietnam is 164.4 cm (male) and 153.2 cm (female), while in the West North average height of young men is 161.8 cm and of young women in the Northeast is 151.7 cm.
7. Current situation of mentality of human resources in ethnic minority areas
About education. The proportion of illiterate population in ethnic minority areas remains high. Specifically, some typical regions such as the Northern Midlands and Mountains, with the highest proportion of ethnic minority population, are also the top regions in terms of illiterate population aged over 15 (12.7%). The Central Highlands and the Mekong River Delta ranks the third and fourth in the country in terms of the proportion of ethnic minority people, but these regions have the second and third highest rates of illiterate population, respectively 11.73% and 8.4%, see figure 1 for details.
Figure 1: Literacy rate of the population aged 15 and over in ethnic minority areas (%)
100 93,5 87,3 88,27 91,6
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Nationwide Northern Central Mekong river
mountainous region highlands delta
The proportion of children attending primary, junior high and upper high schools in some ethnic minority and mountainous areas, such as the Northern Midlands and Mountains, the Central Highlands and the Mekong River Delta, is lower average in the country. The difference between these three regions and the national average of the rate of children going to school increased gradually from primary school to funior high school and high school. The proportion of children attending primary school in these three regions is 92%, 93% and 93% respectively, compared to the national average of 94%. The difference compared to the national average rate for primary education ranges from 1-2% to 4% (in the Central Highlands) and nearly 14% (in the Mekong River Delta) for junior high school level 9% (in the Northern Midlands and Mountains), 12.4% (in the Central Highlands) and nearly 19% (in the Mekong Delta) for high school level. Table 5 shows that the difference between the highest rate of primary school attendance and the highest level of education is in the Mekong River Delta.
Low attendance rates in some ethnic minority areas have led to low rates of population aged 5 and over who have graduated from lower education levels. The percentage of students completing the school level in ethnic minority areas is lower than the national rate. In the academic year 2015-2016, in the Northwest, Central Highlands and Mekong River Delta regions, the secondary school completion rate is only about 58%, while the national average is 78%. For junior high and high school graduation rates, while the rate of junior high and high school graduation in the country is 28.9% and 12.1% respectively, this rate is in the three ethnic minority areas (the Northern Midlands and Mountains, the Central Highlands and the Mekong River Delta) respectively 28.7%; 27.6%; 17.4% and 9.5%; 8.4% and 6.4% [Ministry of Education and Training, 2015].
Regarding technical and professional qualifications of ethnic minority human resources. The qualification of the labor force in the working age in some EM areas is also worrying. The proportion of the population of working age who has not been trained in ethnic minority areas is much higher than the average level. The Mekong River Delta and the Central Highlands are the two regions with the highest rate of untrained labor (in the working age) in the country (over 90%), of which 17 provinces have the proportion of untrained workers up to over 90%, even over 94% like Tra Vinh and Soc Trang. Proportion of trained population of ethnic minority groups at the primary, intermediate, college and university levels, of which college and university graduates are very low.
Table 5 Proportion of ethnic minority population aged 15 and above by training level, 2015 (%)
Region Primary High Graduated Graduated
Untrained graduation graduation from college from university or higher
Nationwide 86,7 2,6 4,7 1,6 4,4
City 34,7 4,4 47,6 2,5 10,8
Countryside 91,9 1,8 3,5 1,2 1,6
Northern mountainous region 86,6 2,4 6,4 1,8 2,8
North Central region & Central region 84,4 2,1 4,8 1,7 3,6
Central highlands 90,6 1,9 3,8 1,3 2,8
South East 84,4 3,6 3,8 1,6 6,6
Mekong river delta 93,4 1,4 2,2 0,9 2,1
Source: As for Table 1
Considering the number of EM people who have trained jobs, only 6.2% of EM people have a job aged 15 years and over, in which this rate is 6.4% for men and 5.9% for women. Thus, there are 93.8% of EM people who have uneducated jobs. Specifically, see table 6.
Table 6 Proportion of EM people having jobs aged 15 and above trained by gender, on August 1, 2015
Proportion of employed people aged 15 and over trained (%)
Gender Untrained
Trained Elementary occupations Professional secondary schools College University or higher
General 93,8 6,2 0,5 2,7 1,3 1,7
Men 93,6 6,4 0,8 2,8 1,1 1,7
Women 94,1 5,9 0,2 2,5 1,4 1,7
There are noticeable points of difference for the levels of technical and professional training by gender in ethnic minority at low levels (primary and secondary vocational training), but there is no difference in course High professional level (college, university).
8. Problems from the reality of human resources for economic-social development of ethnic minority in Vietnam at present
Based on the status of human resources in ethnic minority areas, the author finds there are some issues that need to be solved from the same situation as follow:
Firstly, there are many shortcomings in the number, structure and distribution of ethnic minority human resources. Unequal distribution of population, EM labor, leading to the number of human resources does not meet the requirements of socio-economic development of the region; labor mainly focuses on agriculture. The proportion of workers with high and medium professional and technical qualifications is very low, mainly agricultural and simple labor. The number and structure of EM staff has not met the requirements: the quality of EM staff in general and of ethnic minority people in particular is still weak, especially at district, commune and village levels..
Secondly, the physical strength of ethnic minority human resources is weaker than that in the plain areas and the region with socio-economic development is reflected in the high rate of child malnutrition and child mortality rates under 1 year also high. The life expectancy of ethnic minority people is lower than the average life expectancy of the whole country. The difference between the life expectancy of men and women is higher than the average level. The average height of young people aged 20-24 in mountainous and ethnic minority areas is also lower than in some other regions.
Thirdly, the education level of human resources in ethnic minority areas is low and mostly untrained, leading to the industries that require high and average professional and technical qualifications, which are not available and lacking. While the current conditions and requirements require the need of human resources with professional and technical qualifications, the ethnic minority areas lack such human resources, seriously affecting the socio-economic development of the region.
Stemming from the reality of ethnic minority human resources and the above-mentioned issues, we can see the limitations of the quality of human resources in ethnic minority areas. With such a situation of human resources, many previous studies have mentioned, but no work has come to affirm human resources is an important factor that is most decisive to socio-economic development. Ethnic minority human resources cannot
meet the socio-economic development requirements; and it will be very difficult to utilize and exploit the potentials and strengths of ethnic minority areas for the common development objectives of the region. In such a context, to promote the socio-economic development of ethnic minority areas to keep up with other regions and regions in the country, overcome the disparities and the underdevelopment of ethnic minority areas, the author gives a the number of groundbreaking proposals that have not been studied in the past until now:
- It is necessary to have policies to encourage and attract human resources, especially high-quality human resources, human resources that ethnic minority areas are lacking and need (strategic human resources, entrepreneurs).
- There should be training policies for untrained workers (93.8%) to contribute to improving labor productivity, improving the lives of ethnic minority people. At the same time, to strengthen the training of college and university level, because the rate of this training is very low compared to the average level. This form of training is mainly through recruitment policy. In addition, vocational education for ethnic minority workers should also be strengthened.
- Review and formulate medium and long-term human resources master plans. The training must be associated with the demand for use; specialized training must be associated with the local socio-economic development orientation. Pay attention to address the need for training and use of key cadres and professional officials for extremely difficult communes and districts; especially for very few ethnic groups, ethnic groups who do not have, or have very few university, college and intermediate level staff to ensure proper recruitment and balance between sending and studying with public placement job.
- The State should have policies to invest in medical facilities and human resources in sufficient quantity and quality to meet the needs of health care and physical fitness of people in ethnic minority areas.
References
Miles, Robert L; Marshall, Carmel; Rolfe, John; Noonan, Sally. The attraction and retention of professional for regional areas. Australasian Journal of Regional Studies. 2006. Vol. 12, No. 2. P.129-152
Dan Huang and et al. Guangxi's rural health care insurance project: The proof from ethnic minority region in China. Guangxi, 2012.
Nguyen Thi Giang Huong. [is studying]. Studying policies to attract human resources for socioeconomic development of ethnic minority areas. Ha Noi. 2030.
Ngo Van Hai, Nguyen Manh Cuong. Project to support poverty reduction. In book: Development of Ethnic Minority Human Resources by 2020, orientation to 2030. Ha Noi. 2014.
Vo Cong Nguyen. Socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas of Khmer, Cham in An Giang province in the period of 2011-2015 and 2020. [provincial research topic]. An Giang, 2011.
Tran Cao Nguyen. Developing human resources in ethnic minority areas in western Nghe An districts in the period of accelerating industrialization and modernization. Political and Administrative Academy of Region I Publ. Ha Noi, 2014.
Nguyen Cao Thinh, Phan Van Hung, Tran Thi Hanh. Analyzing and evaluating the status of human resources in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. [Synthesis report]. Ha Noi, 2010.
Bui Tat Thang. The issue of education, training and human resources development for sustainable development in the Central Highlands. [State-level project]. Ha Noi, 2015.
Pham Minh Tuan.Development of human resources in the South in the period of promoting industrialization and modernization of the country. [State-level project]. Ha Noi, 2015.
Le Quan. Researching needs and proposing solutions to develop human resources for leadership and management of public administration in the Northwest region from now to 2020 and reach to 2030. [State-level project]. Ha Noi, 2015.
Committee for Ethnic Minorities. Results of socio-economic survey of 53 ethnic minorities in 2015. 2016. Available at: http://cema.gov.vn/ket-qua-dieu-tra-thuc-trang-kt-xh-53-dan-toc-thieu-so-nam-2015.htm (accessed 13.02.2019)
Текущее состояние этнических человеческих ресурсов во Вьетнаме
Нгуен Тхи Занг Хыонг Университет труда и социальных дел,
E-mail: info@isi-journal.vn
Аннотация
В настоящее время высококачественные человеческие ресурсы считаются важным фактором, определяющим социально-экономическое развитие. За последние годы Вьетнам добился определенных успехов в социально-экономическом развитии. Однако социально-экономическое развитие Вьетнама все еще нестабильно и неравномерно среди регионов страны. На основе анализа статистических данных в данной статье оценивается реальное положение человеческих ресурсов в районах проживания этнических меньшинств (ЭМ) во Вьетнаме, уделяется особое внимание размеру и структуре человеческих ресурсов (возраст, пол, профессия); качеству человеческих ресурсов этнических меньшинств (образование, техническая специализация, физическое здоровье). Исходя из этого, в статье указываются проблемы, которые
необходимо решить с целью преодоления ограничений человеческих ресурсов для социально-экономического развития районов этнических меньшинств - районов с большим количеством этнических меньшинств, стабильно проживающих в общинах, на территории Социалистической Республики Вьетнам.
Ключевые слова: этнические меньшинства; ЭМ; качество человеческих ресурсов; районы этнических меньшинств
Прохождение статьи: получена: 2019-03-15, опубликована онлайн: .2019-03-21
