An Analysis of the Present Situation of Migrant Workers’ Education and Training——Taking Zhejiang as an Example

Training College,Zhejiang Radio and Television University,Hangzhou 310012,China

Abstract The education and training of migrant workers is an important way to improve the human capital and quality of migrant workers,is necessary for industrial transformation and upgrading,and is the key to solving issues concerning agriculture,countryside and farmers.Taking the developed coastal province of Zhejiang Province as an example,this paper analyzes the situation of migrant workers’ education and training on employment transfer,the characteristics of migrant workers’ education and training,and the problems existing in migrant workers’ education and training,and puts forward some recommendations.On this basis,some conclusions are drawn.

Key words Migrant workers,Education and training,Present situation

1 Introduction

Education and training of migrant workers is an important part of adult continuing education in China,and it is also an important way to improve the human capital and quality of migrant workers[1].According to the 2016MonitoringSurveyReportonMigrantWorkers,the proportion of migrant workers receiving education and training was not high.32.9% of them had received training in agricultural and non-agricultural vocational skills.Of these,8.7% had received agricultural skills training,30.7% had received non-agricultural vocational skills training,and 6.5% had participated in both.Among them,the local migrant workers receiving agricultural and non-agricultural vocational skills training accounted for 30.4%,and outgoing migrant workers receiving agricultural and non-agricultural vocational skills training accounted for 35.6%.The adjustment of industrial structure and the transformation of economic growth mode,as well as the rise of some new industries,put forward higher requirements for the quality of labor force.Some migrant workers who lack employment skills will face difficulties in the process of employment transfer,and the field of employment will become narrower and narrower,which will become an important obstacle to the adjustment of industrial structure and the promotion of urbanization construction.Most of the employment transfer of migrant workers goes to the developed coastal areas.Zhejiang Province is an open and developed coastal area and an important province in the Yangtze River Delta.It has superior location advantages,convenient transportation advantages and good economic base advantages.It has been a large province to absorb the migrant workers to work there,where the migration and development of migrant workers have always been in the forefront of the country.It has become an important force in the economic and social development of Zhejiang.Therefore,the significance of strengthening the training of migrant workers on employment transfer is very prominent.

2 The education and training of migrant workers on employment transfer in Zhejiang Province

Migrant workers are an important force in the economic and social development of Zhejiang Province,and directly affect the social and economic development of Zhejiang Province.Therefore,it is of great practical significance to accurately grasp the present situation of education and training of migrant workers on labor and employment transfer in Zhejiang Province,to coordinate the development of urban and rural areas,to establish and improve the relevant policies and systems of migrant workers and to build a new socialist countryside.

2.1BasicconditionsofmigrantworkersAccording to the statistics of the Provincial Statistics Bureau in 2012,the number of migrant workers from this province reached 12.6 million,accounting for 71%,while the migrant workers from other provinces reached 5.23 million,accounting for about 29%,and the total number of migrant workers from Zhejiang Province reached 17.83 million,becoming an important force in the economic and social development of Zhejiang.According to data released by the Zhejiang Survey Unit of the National Bureau of Statistics,the total number of migrant workers in Zhejiang Province increased from 13.23 million in 2014 to 13.29 million in 2015.In the survey statistics,60% of migrant workers in Zhejiang Province worked in local areas in 2015,including 6.12 million local non-agricultural workers,accounting for 46% of the total number of migrant workers.In the choice of employment region,Zhejiang migrant workers are mainly local migrant workers,while migrant workers to work outside the province are mainly concentrated in the eastern coastal areas.From the point of view of the area type for migrant workers,the employment rate in municipalities is relatively low (4.3%),it is 16.2% in prefecture-level cities,and it is 48.8% in counties and cities.In the basic situation of migrant workers,the majority of them are male and young migrant workers.The educational level of migrant workers is generally not high as in the past,mainly in junior high school education.Due to the restrictions of educational level and employment skills,most of the migrant workers are engaged in low-skilled manual labor.From the choice of employment industry,Zhejiang migrant workers are mainly engaged in the secondary industry,the number of people engaged in the secondary industry in 2015 was 57.1%,2% higher than in 2014.From the choice of employment sectors,they are mainly engaged in six industries: manufacturing,wholesale and retail trade,construction,resident services and other services,transport and storage and postal services,accommodation and catering industry.The proportion of employees was 44.8%,13.3%,10.9%,9%,5.7% and 3.5%,respectively.It is the largest in manufacturing,because the entry barrier of these industries is low,technical content is not high,and there is a huge for workers.These industries generally have the characteristics of low technical requirements,relatively low threshold,large worker demand and convenient employment and great mobility,and become the employment attraction machine.These six industries together have absorbed nearly 87.2% of the migrant workers.In terms of monthly income,the monthly income of migrant workers is mainly concentrated in the range of 1 000 to 4 000 yuan,with an average monthly income of 3 605 yuan.

2.2Statusofmigrantworkers’educationAccording to the statistics of the fifth national census in 2000 and the statistics of the sixth census of Zhejiang Province in 2010,the permanent residents of Zhejiang Province obviously increased,from 46.769 8 million to 55.426 9 million.There has been a significant increase in the number of people with junior high school qualifications and above,and the number of people with primary school qualifications and illiterate persons has been decreasing.Compared with the fifth national census in 2000,the number of persons with a secondary school education or higher per 100 000 population has increased at a faster rate.In particular,the growth of number and extent is greatest for persons with university degrees and above,while the number of persons with primary education is declining.The number of illiterate population has been also decreasing,and the illiteracy rate has dropped by 1.44% compared with the fifth national census.A large proportion of these permanent residents are migrant workers.According to the 2015MonitoringSurveyReportonMigrantWorkersinZhejiangProvince,there were 8.2 million migrant workers in Zhejiang Province and 5.09 million migrant workers in other areas.The total number of migrant workers was 13.29 million.Migrant workers generally have a low level of education,migrant workers with secondary and primary education are in the majority,accounting for about 79.8%,while migrant workers with university education or higher have been gradually increasing.

On the whole,the situation of migrant workers’ education is constantly improving.

2.3StatusofvocationaleducationAs a developed coastal province,Zhejiang pays more and more attention to the development of vocational education in the process of economic transformation and upgrading.In 1993,in the name of the government,it took the lead in encouraging the development of private education in Zhejiang,guiding social forces to participate in senior high school education and above,with special emphasis on encouraging social forces to hold secondary and higher vocational education.

By the encouragement and support of the government,private vocational education developed by leaps and bounds.In 2016,there were 388 vocational colleges and universities in the province,48 of which were independently set up,including 6 national model colleges,5 national backbone colleges,and 22 provincial model colleges with 340 000 enrolled students.There were 340 secondary vocational schools of all types,including 193 vocational high schools,78 technical schools,23 technical secondary schools for adults,46 general technical secondary schools,42 national model schools,80 provincial reform and development model schools and 142 provincial secondary vocational schools.There were 660 000 students in school.The specialties of vocational colleges in Zhejiang Province basically cover the corresponding industries of modern manufacturing,service and agriculture.In the past five years,more than 2 million graduates from secondary vocational and higher vocational schools have taken up their jobs.The degree of social recognition of graduates is constantly improving,and they have become an important new force in promoting industrial transformation,upgrading,and modernization in Zhejiang Province.After years of development,vocational education in Zhejiang has enjoyed a high reputation in the country,having a style of its own.

Although the development of vocational education in Zhejiang Province is rapid,in private vocational education,the guidance and supervision of the government is indispensable.Some private vocational education institutions have many innate advantages,but the capital is profit-driven and needs to maximize the benefits.If the government offers unreasonable guidance and supervision,some private vocational schools will set up majors in the pursuit of low cost,less investment and quick effect,and do not want to invest in those majors with great risk and large return cycle,leading to unreasonable setting of majors.In addition,the government should not only give the policy encouragement,but also give the certain government funds to intervene.Although the government education funds are relatively limited,good private vocational education should be rewarded appropriately.On the one hand,it is beneficial to the development of vocational school teaching business,and on the other hand,it can also play the role of "defeating the strong with little effort",and actively guide private capital investment in education.In the vocational education of migrant workers,there are still large deficiencies,such as occupational safety education.Migrant workers lack special protection,most of them are engaged in "heavy,dirty,bitter,dangerous" work.If they are not given necessary occupational safety education and are not equipped with the necessary safety protection,the probability of occupational diseases and work-related injuries will increase.According to the survey statistics,in some job training such as job safety training,only 63.1% of migrant workers have participated in the training organized by the employer.As to the appliances for labor protection,only 52.5% of migrant workers received them on time.About 68.2% of the female migrant workers did not receive the special protection due at some particular time.Therefore,there is still a lot of room for the vocational education of migrant workers.

2.4StatusofadulteducationZhejiang Province has strengthened vocational training focusing on the transfer of workers and farmers to other jobs.In 2016,there were 9 independent adult colleges and universities in Zhejiang Province,and 73 ordinary colleges and universities held adult education.The number of students enrolled in adult specialties reached 100 700,down by 15 700,or 13.5%,over the previous year.The number of enrolled students was 241 100,down 33 700 or 12.3% from the previous year.There were 124 000 graduates,an increase of 5 600,or 4.7%,over the previous year.In adult academic education,it was mainly based on correspondence education and amateur learning,and the number of these students accounted for 93.4% of the total number of students.In the network enrollment of colleges and universities,the number reached 13 700,1 200 less than in the previous year,and there were 41 200 students,4 400 less than in the previous year.A total of 93 700 illiterate young and middle-aged people were educated in the province in 2016.There were 3 958 adult technical training schools,with 3.204 4 million students enrolled and 3.397 8 million students graduated.

3 Characteristics of education and training of migrant workers in Zhejiang Province

3.1StrongfinancialsupportfromthegovernmentIn 2006,theImplementationOpinionsofZhejiangProvincialPeople’sGovernmentonSolvingtheProblemofMigrantWorkersmade it clear that attention should be paid to the vocational skills training of migrant workers,and local governments at all levels should support the education and training of migrant workers and increase financial input,encourage employment enterprises to increase investment in the training of migrant workers,and make full use of the funds and policies related to the training of migrant workers.It vigorously developed vocational education in rural areas,implemented the "Action Plan for Helping Students in Need" and expanded the scale of financial aid for students in difficulty in rural areas through the establishment of grants and scholarships.The documentOpinionsofZhejiangProvincialPeople’sGovernmentonStrengtheningVocationalTrainingandPromotingEmploymentin2011 also proposed that we should perfect the subsidy policy for migrant workers’ education and training,and scientifically and rationally determine the basic standards for training subsidies,such as setting different standards for different occupations (types of work) and the degree of difficulty,the period and cost of migrant workers’ participation in training,and the employment status of migrant workers after training; establish the way of directly subsidizing vocational training for individuals or enterprises,etc.; intensify the integration of subsidy funds for vocational training and use the special funds for employment as a whole.In 2014,the Department of Finance of Zhejiang Province and the Department of Human Resources and Social Security of Zhejiang Province issued and implemented theRegulationsontheUseofProvincialEmploymentandRe-employmentTrainingFundsinZhejiangProvince,which states that the employment and re-employment funds shall be included in the provincial special funds for employment and re-employment.The subsidized person shall,upon his or her own valid certification,go to a designated training unit for training.After passing the examination of skill appraisal institutions,the training unit shall fill in the roster of persons receiving training funds according to the qualifications.According to the allowance standard,the trainees can receive the subsidy funds only after they sign their names.This has provided the positive fiscal policy support for activating the training market.

3.2ActivetrainingmarketAt present,there are three forms of education and training market for migrant workers: government training,enterprise training and market training.Government training mainly refers to the form of training in which the government pays the bill or undertakes a considerable part of the subsidies and organizes the training.The training provided by the government is divided into two parts: skills training and on-the-job training.In Zhejiang Province,from the first half of 2004,the Zhejiang Provincial Government launched a province-wide "Quality Training Project for Tens of Millions of Rural Laborers".It requires that by 2010,the number of rural laborers trained in the province will reach 10 million,of whom 5 million will be trained as migrant workers and 4 million transferred to other industries will be trained (The 11th Five-Year Plan for Social Development of Zhejiang Province).In order to achieve this goal,the provincial government adopts the modes of commission training,fixed training,order training,joint training and so on,and adopts the way of plan decomposition and gradual implementation to increase the number of trainees year by year,so that the scale of education and training covers the whole province.Enterprise training refers to the education and training activities that the enterprise provides for the employees in order to realize the purpose of production and management of the enterprise and replace the functions of the government.In the enterprise training,it focuses on pre-job training,safety knowledge education and general service skills training.In larger enterprises,such as Wanxiang,Hengdian,Aokang,Hongqingting,they set up a number of training departments and training bases to provide appropriate vocational skills training for the internal staff of the enterprise.Market training is a kind of education and training mode,which is directly paid by the consumers and the training content is chosen by the consumers themselves.In Zhejiang Province,the education and training market for migrant workers is mainly composed of two parts.One is the government-appointed training institutions.Education and training institutions undertake part of the government orders and business orders and provide the corresponding education and training programs for migrant workers.However,they mainly provide educational services for the market,which are suitable for the characteristics of the school.Second,the market training institutions provide a variety of education and training services for individuals.From the point of view of practicality and attraction,the training content provided by market training institutions is close to the market,with strong pertinence and short time,emphasizing the skill and practicability of the post.If the results are qualified,they will issue relevant certificates of qualifications,and immediately after completion of the course,they recommend trainees to work,which has greater appeal to migrant workers[2].

3.3RichtrainingcontentandwidecoverageofparticipantsIn the education and training market for migrant workers,the training content is rich and diverse.There is specific training for a specific skill,as well as comprehensive skills training.There are training courses related to basic theory and culture,social ethics,law and professional ethics construction,as well as specific practical courses.Training content is also provided from a variety of sources,from government departments at all levels,from enterprises,or from the training market itself.On the whole,these training contents can be divided into three categories: post adaptability training,post standardization training and post improvement training.Migrant workers participating in education and training are widely involved,in some training programs paid by the government,there are not only local migrant workers,but also migrant workers from other provinces.

4 Problems

4.1TrainingbudgetThe lack of educational funds has always been the shortcoming restricting the development of China’s educational undertakings.Government subsidies for education and training costs of migrant workers,can only account for a small proportion in other types of education.Therefore,the government is not willing to invest too much in the continuing education and training of migrant workers,no matter where they are.On the one hand,in the central and western regions that produce migrant workers,the economic conditions are relatively poor,and government finance is limited.Investment in the education and training of migrant workers is relatively small,and often the spirit is willing,but the flesh is weak.On the other hand,Zhejiang is one of the major labor-absorbing provinces.The overall finance is better,but taking into account the mobile or temporary characteristics of migrant workers,coupled with the long return cycle of trained migrant workers,they are not willing to invest too much money into the education and training of migrant workers.Enterprise’s investment in education and training for migrant workers is mainly short-term and targeted,usually with "training content only for what you do" as the guiding ideology,lacking long-term training planning.Some small private enterprises are even more reluctant to educate and train migrant workers,believing that they are doing something good for others,and that these migrant workers may one day move to rival enterprises.Moreover,migrant workers themselves invest less in education and training,the willingness to pay is also relatively low.First of all,it is due to their low income,and necessary support for their families.The consumption in Zhejiang is relatively high,and the expenses for training are even less.Secondly,the cultural basis of migrant workers is generally low,education and training is very difficult to learn,affecting their enthusiasm for learning,and the willingness to invest funds is low.Thirdly,it is due to the lack of time and energy,migrant workers are mostly engaged in strong physical labor,working long hours,often working overtime,and taking care of the family,so the study time is difficult to ensure,and the funding for education and training is also affected.

4.2ConflictbetweentrainingcontentandneedsThe education and training of migrant workers is a popular project in line with the policy of the central government,but it often has the phenomenon of "Best Game No One Played".In some free training programs provided by the government,migrant workers receive a daily allowance for missed work,but sometimes they are not as spontaneous and enthusiastic as expected.On the surface,migrant workers are lacking in consciousness and enthusiasm in receiving education and training,but sometimes the free training provided by the government should be "marketable" and face up to the demand of the market.Under the market economy condition,the migrant workers who participate in the training also can calculate whether is cost-effective in spending the time and the energy to participate in the training.If it does not conform with their anticipation,the willingness to participate in the training will be reduced greatly,especially under the market economy condition,the labor force flow obeys the economical law,the migrant worker training is no exception.In addition,for some migrant workers’ education and training projects,the training content is divorced from reality,there is too much theoretical teaching,but less practical operation.Emphasis on theoretical examination,neglect of skills assessment,will result in the right man in the wrong place.Even if migrant workers participate in the training,it is difficult to quickly adapt to the needs of the work[3].

4.3ImperfecteducationandtrainingmechanismsIn rural areas,there used to be agricultural training and cultural training institutions such as agricultural radio schools,agricultural technology schools and farmers’ evening schools,but with the deepening of the economic reform of migrant workers,these institutions have become nominal or merged with other institutions.This has a great impact on the establishment of a reasonable training system for migrant workers.In addition,although the government has invested a lot of special funds in the education and training of migrant workers,it is still the main way for migrant workers to pay their own fees to participate in employment training.However,some government training funds are not used reasonably,the transparency is not very high,there is a lack of a complete education and training supervision mechanism.It has not formed a set of effective education and training management methods.Some private education and training institutions are jumbled together,and there are some false,deceptive behaviors.But the public welfare and the nonprofit training institutions are rare.Some training institutions lack teachers and facilities,full-time teachers are not professional,part-time teachers are difficult to teach,and sites are not fixed.Most training institutions are not specifically designed to improve the vocational skills of migrant workers,but rather to generate income.

4.4LackofemploymentservicesaftereducationandtrainingThere is a positive relationship between education and training or employment.Training is the way to employment,and employment is the purpose of training.Good education and training service is the catalyst to promoting the participation of migrant workers in education and training.But at present,many employment services for migrant workers’ education and training are not in place,suitable jobs are not recommended after training.Or,the jobs recommended or offered are simply not suitable,leading to a disconnection between education and training and the required positions in the job market.Of course,this is closely related to the present employment pressure,a large number of trainers,limited training resources and other objective reasons,but the lack of training and employment service mechanism is the main reason.At the same time,there is a lack of organization and management institutions on employment services for migrant workers,and it fails to regulate the transfer of employment of migrant workers from the overall planning.On the other hand,the follow-up service work of migrant workers after employment is not well done,and it lacks employment tracking service system.The problems encountered in the employment of migrant workers have not been solved and fed back in a timely manner,affecting the effective linking between education and training and actual work demand[4].

5 Recommendations

5.1IncreasinginvestmentineducationandtrainingformigrantworkersFor the investment in education and training of migrant workers,it is necessary to reform the public financial system,and gradually establish a common sharing mechanism of the government,enterprises,training institutions and migrant workers.The government should consider the funding needs of education and training of migrant workers from the perspective of equalization of basic public services to ensure that they can enjoy basic public services equally.The government should also open a "green channel" for the education and training of migrant workers,offering preferential policies for their employment and training.The government should stipulate that enterprises must invest a certain amount of money each year to carry out employee training and upgrade their skills.Training institutions can consider from the market-based aspects,and implement the ways of "free of charge & charge" to improve the attractiveness of training programs.Migrant workers themselves can pay for certain training programs according to the actual situation.Only by raising funds through various channels can we provide financial support for the education and training of migrant workers.

5.2Increasingthesupply-sidereformofmigrantworkers’trainingIn order to improve the effectiveness of education and training for migrant workers,we should proceed from the demand.In view of the different needs of education and training of migrant workers,combined with social needs,market changes and industrial structure adjustment,we should focus on the skills,practicality,continuously innovate and optimize training content,and enhance targeted education and training of migrant workers.such as pre-employment guidance training on instructions for migrant workers,knowledge of labor laws and regulations,norms of behavior of urban residents; vocational skills training based on practical production and operational skills; job training based on job requirements in the industry.In other words,from the perspective of supply-side reform,based on the industrial structure,the market and the needs of migrant workers,we should effectively provide the content of education and training of migrant workers,so that migrant workers can learn to use,and learn something,thereby improving their vocational skills and employability.

5.3StrengtheningthemarketmechanismofeducationandtrainingformigrantworkersWe should strengthen the management of the education and training market for migrant workers,optimize and integrate existing resources,introduce a competitive mechanism in the training market,and create some qualified,and effective education and training institutions for migrant workers and training bases for rural labor transfer.It is necessary to break the boundary,guide and encourage all kinds of education and training institutions at all levels to jointly run schools according to training programs,improve the quality and efficiency of training,and build a multi-mode,multi-level,and diversified training system.At the same time,it is necessary to strengthen the management of various education and training institutions and improve the quality of education and training.In the construction of training teachers,we should establish a diversified mechanism of teachers,optimize the structure of teachers,strengthen the sharing of regional teachers,and improve the overall quality of training teachers[5-6].

5.4Doingagoodjobinthefollow-upserviceofeducationandtrainingformigrantworkersIn order to improve the employment efficiency of education and training,we should establish information files of government departments,employment units,training institutions and migrant workers,so that the four can effectively achieve training,employment linking.Government departments should establish migrant workers’ ID card as the basic information database,issue migrant workers’ information cards,and track the employment situation of migrant workers.Training institutions can be based on the job needs of employers and migrant workers,to strengthen one-stop training and employment services,and to actively cooperate with employers in doing a good job of employment recommendation work[7].Through various efforts,it is necessary to build a "four-in-one" employment service security system of employment information,vocational training,skills identification and job introduction,to improve the employment efficiency of education and training.

6 Conclusions

The employment transfer of migrant workers in Zhejiang Province has been in the forefront of the country,but the education level of migrant workers is still low.The education and training market is relatively active,but at the same time,restricted by the government,enterprises,training institutions and migrant workers themselves and other factors,there are still many problems in the development.Therefore,it is necessary to go beyond the surface of the phenomenon,go deep into the present situation of the whole,and put forward some suggestions and measures to improve the efficiency of the education and training of migrant workers in essence.