Assisting skilled Lao labourers to get the same wages as foreign workers will be the purpose of a skill testing centre planned for Vientiane. The Ministry of Labour a nd Social Welfare is proposing the centre, which would issue accredit ation to Lao workers to help them prove their skill level to employers. The ministry's Skill Development and Employment Department Deputy Director General Mr Thongdeng Singthilath said it was hoped this proof o f skill could be used to negotiate higher wages. “I asked the employers why they paid Lao workers less wages than foreigners,” he said. “They said they do it because when they hire Lao workers they don't know if they have good skills or not.” Mr Thongdeng said the centre would employ evaluators to test workers and assess their ability to complete tasks such as driving trucks, using computers and cooking. He said the centre would issue certificates to demonstrate the skill level of the worker, but it would not force employers to pay wages in accordance with the certificates. This w ill be up to the employer, but the ministry will encourage them to pay workers based on their abilities. According to the Lao Trade Union, many Lao workers who work in major mining industries and foreign funded development projects in Laos are paid less than foreigners, even though they may have the same job descriptions. The union says it is not fair for Lao people to receive lower wages for the same work.
Mr Thongdeng said the department was drafting a prime ministerial decree to back the establishment of the centre in Vientiane . “Once the decree is signed, we will be able to establish the centre and development will start in 2009,” he said. He said the idea was not unique, because many developing countries had similar skill testing centres.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) was happy to support the establishment of the centre in Vientiane, he said. The government is currently seeking financial assistance from the Republic of Korea to fund the centre.
According to a report from the Skill Development and Employment Department, there are more than 8,000 registered foreigners working in Laos in major industries including mining and the construction of hydropower plants. Most of the workers are Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese and westerners. By Vientiane Times (Latest Update May 16, 2008)
To get a job in Japan, you need to take the written exam, plus many rounds of interview. The questions of the exam cover all fields of study from secondary school up to the university level (Mathemetic, physic, chemistry, english, history, politics, environment, etc..). There is a company that in charge of making the questions for the examination. The evaluation is base on how much the candidate know about the general knowledge and how to solve problems and to give some suggestions.
In short, Laos should have the organization like this to evaluate and give certificate to the one who want to work in a higher positions. It is true that even someone get a degree from university, but that's can not help evaluate the ability of people.
I agreed with the idea of having your skills being tested when applying for a job. However, u have to admit the fact that many organizations (even some government sector) do not practice this method. They would just recruit somebody with a certificate but without skills.
For example from my own experience, one month after graduation I was surprise to see one of my former-classmate who was bad at studying and have no skills (in English, computer, accounting, etc) but get a good-paid job as a secretary. This is really akward...
I do agree with the idea that people should be paid accordingly to their knowledge regardless of their races. It's not fair indeed that Lao people are paid less than foreigners are paid when their job description is the same.
Last time I also heard from someone that according to Lao law, there is a salary ceiling for Lao specialists. I don't know exactly whether now the law is still available in Laos. This law also makes problem with equal wages, no doubt.
Yes, some Lao workers have no certificates because they did not graduate from any educational institutions, they have learnt from their long experiences. Giving them certificates is really a plus for them.
However, I don't understand why they still need to establish a new center for this purpose? In Laos there are lots of educational institutions namely vocational colleges, polytechniques and universities, where lots of Lao specialists graduated every year with certificates.
I don't know why our authorities still have less knowledge to create the new center? Just to give the certificates to the Lao workers, the Lao vocational colleges can organize an examination to evaluate their knowledge without any doubt.
I don't know either if our authorities have ever graduated from any educational institution or not. Why they do not know what for we have Ministry of education?
-- Edited by TSP at 04:46, 2008-05-17
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