Training the unskilled key to full employment
By Hu Shaowei (China Daily)Updated: 2007-06-07 13:34 First, full employment should enjoy top priority in the government's macroeconomic coordination policy.
Employment ought to be a very important indicator in gauging the performance of government officials and governments at various levels.
In terms of the relationship between economic growth and employment, economic growth should be an independent target instead of an auxiliary factor in the package of economic growth strategies.
Second, input in education needs to be expanded with major changes in education.
The crux of resolving the unemployment problem lies in tapping human resources. Economists have come to the unanimous conclusion that laborers with low skills will be in an increasingly disadvantaged position as knowledge plays an increasingly important part in the economy.
If we fail to raise the quality of the labor force via education and technical training, it will be hard for the labor force to upgrade itself to keep pace with the transformation of industry.
As a result, the narrowing low-end employment market will be packed with low-skill or unskilled job hunters. The employment problem will only worsen.
Statistics show that students from rural areas studying in Beijing universities and colleges made up 30 percent of the total number of students in the 1980s. The ratio dropped to 17 percent in the 1990s. Now it is as low as 15 percent. The decline is chiefly attributed to high tuition.
Taking this into account, basic education in the vast rural areas should be strengthened to facilitate the shift of rural surplus labor to townships and cities.
At the same time, strenuous efforts should be made to develop vocational education as the dominant education track, rather than higher education.
Third, the pace of tax reform needs to be quickened to dramatically reduce the tax burdens on small enterprises.
This will automatically lessen employment pressure.
If, instead, the taxation policy is targeted at financially draining these
businesses, the owners may close their businesses.
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