Last year, the training of skilled workers needed for the operation of the newly-built regional-industry factories was pushed forward in different parts of the country.

Under the unified guidance of the regional development 20×10 non-permanent central promotion committee, ministries concerned including the Ministry of Regional Industry and the Ministry of Labour, national agencies and all provinces set realistic phased goals for training technicians and skilled workers according to well thought-out plans and worked hard to attain them one by one so that the modern regional-industry factories, which have sprung up in the flames of the great ten-year development programme unveiled by the Workers’ Party of Korea, can prove effective as soon as they start operation.

The Ministry of Regional Industry vigorously stepped up the training of skilled workers of city and county foodstuff factories by mobilizing the scientific and technical personnel of the Academy of Food and Consumer Goods Industries.

In April, a passing-on-technique session was successfully run for the training of skilled workers in the field of basic foodstuff production including soy sauce, bean paste and oil at the Samjiyon Soy and Bean Paste Factory and the Kimhwa County Foodstuff Factory with selected workers from foodstuff factories in 20 cities and counties in attendance. It was followed by a similar session in the field of foodstuff production of various kinds including condiments, confectionery, bread and drinks at the Songdowon General Foodstuff Factory and other modern foodstuff production bases and several condiments factories in each province from mid-May.

The training of skilled workers at city and county daily necessities factories was also conducted actively.

Several rounds of training courses were successfully offered for the training of skilled workers in the field of plastic goods production at the Rangnang Disabled Soldiers' Essential Plastic Goods Factory with the help of the scientific and technical force of the Daily Necessities Institute of the Academy of Light Industry under the Ministry of Light Industry.

Provinces also forged ahead with the training of skilled workers.

North Hwanghae Province directed primary attention to the education of vocational technical schools which play an important role in training skilled workers.

As subjects of study and training indices of vocational technical schools in cities and counties have increased, the province selected excellent teachers who are capable of giving both theoretical and practical education and assigned them to the schools as teachers in charge of subjects before anything else. It also paid close attention to the provision of their working and living conditions so that they could engross themselves in teaching.

South Phyongan Province concentrated efforts on improving the educational conditions and environment for training skilled workers and North Phyongan and other provinces put efforts into raising the modernization and IT level of education at vocational technical schools in a far-sighted way to train a large number of competent skilled workers in different jobs.

North Hamgyong Province sent selected members from cities and counties to excellent units across the country to acquire higher technical skills. At the same time it encouraged officials and workers to actively enrol in the online education system of Kim Chaek University of Technology, Pyongyang Han Tok Su University of Light Industry, Chongjin College of Agriculture and others as part of its plan to train them to be persons with practical ability so as to properly solve the problems arising in the management and operation of factories.

The regional development 20×10 non-permanent central promotion committee plans and guides the training of skilled workers more intensively and carefully in keeping with the highly charged atmosphere in various ministries and national agencies, all provinces, scientific research units and universities to contribute to implementing the WPK's policy on the development of regional industry.