Migrant workers becoming skilled craftsmen with the help of the internet is worth exploring

Recently, economist and State Council counselor Tang Min, sharing his experience in the fields of rural and vocational education, said that it might be possible to create something like "Take You to Learn Electric Welding" or "Take You to Start a Business," using video and APP products to reach migrant workers who have learning needs. China now has 270 million migrant workers, and internet education is a good creative idea and also a good suggestion.

As an indispensable important force in China's industrialization, migrant workers, from the very first day they stepped into enterprises, have used their hard labor to help Made in China rapidly grow larger in the global industrial chain. When we take satisfaction in many industries and goods achieving global first place, we lack sufficient attention and support for the migrant workers who created this miracle. Apart from meager wages, they face various difficulties in urban household registration, their children's schooling, various types of social insurance, and housing. In particular, training to help migrant workers improve their vocational skills and literacy involves even less investment and more extraction. This contrast exposes the fact that when China was constructing its industrial system, the shaping of the skills and qualities of migrant workers, who played a decisive role, was often in a blind and disorderly state, and even government-organized vocational training could hardly form professional and systematic vocational skills training.

When China's industrialization was in its early stage, those migrant workers who had washed their feet and come ashore from the fields, relying on physical strength to perform simple labor on production lines, could still help Made in China cross a very low-end manufacturing level. But when Made in China gradually moves toward Smart Manufacturing in China, those migrant workers with low educational levels and poor vocational skills will find it hard to be competent, so remaking their vocational literacy is more urgent than ever. Because high-end manufacturing not only needs high-quality skilled workers, but also needs professional craftsmen capable of taking charge on their own. Building a contingent of craftsmen with high levels, comprehensive qualities, and excellent functions is not something that can be done overnight, but requires a fairly long period of accumulation before it can be achieved. The reason German enterprises can stand out uniquely in global manufacturing is that a creative craftsmen team has helped German manufacturing remain enduring. On this point, China's deficiency in shaping the professional skills of its craftsmen team has held back Made in China's advance toward Smart Manufacturing in China.

Using internet education to turn migrant workers into craftsmen is a feasible strategy for advancing the building of China's craftsmen team. It is also an important lever for helping Made in China rely on a craftsmen team to achieve "cornering overtaking," and even more a practical move to shorten the gap between China's vocational skilled worker team training and that of Western developed countries. It should receive a high degree of attention and concern.

Using the internet to train migrant workers to become craftsmen - for those migrant workers in cities who struggle by physical labor, they will hold a welcoming attitude, because they hope to improve their skill levels through various channels and increase their bargaining chips and leverage with foremen and bosses; this itself is something that gives them more confidence. However, the journey from migrant worker to craftsman is very long. It must be seen that at present, whether training is organized by the government, enterprises, or vocational technical schools, there are not many platforms that allow migrant workers to quickly master skills through mobile APPs or videos. Using the internet to train migrant workers is a very good idea. To make the internet truly play a role in the migrant worker training process still requires the subjective efforts of the migrant worker group, the long-term vision and layout of enterprises, and targeted assistance measures by the government

From the perspective of migrant workers, they now have the desire to use the internet to improve their skills, but they suffer because their cultural knowledge does not adapt, and they have the will but not the strength. Especially when training conflicts with economic returns, they are more likely to choose immediate interests and give up long-term plans. From the perspective of enterprises, enterprises want to upgrade product technology and improve efficiency through shifting gears, but for cultivating high-quality technical craftsmen, they mainly rely on recruiting technical talent with high salaries and retraining on-the-job employees; very few enterprises spend huge sums on migrant worker training. In fact, developing such APPs or videos, for some education or vocational training enterprises, if done well, is also a market opportunity, and seizing such market opportunities is also an important strategic layout for enterprise development. From the perspective of the government, facing a huge migrant worker group, how to invest in training migrant workers is also a headache. A government purchase of services approach can be adopted, organizing relevant universities, vocational skills training schools, or other education departments to develop migrant worker training APPs, creating more convenience for migrant workers to receive skills training.

Although there is currently no mature practice or experience that can be copied directly for this topic, this line of thinking and direction is undoubtedly worth exploring. Therefore, from the government to technical schools to enterprises, all should come up with practical and feasible operational methods to gradually resolve the difficulties, doubts, and bottlenecks currently existing in internet training for migrant workers, and find a way to break through them.