The Office of the Vocational Education Commission (Ovec) is aiming to offer occupational training to about 100,000 people who have lost their jobs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The state-sponsored training will equip people with new skills which will help them find new jobs.
Those who participate in the programme will be paid for taking part. After completing the training, the participants will have a better chance of obtaining employment and earning money, said Narong Phaeophonsong, secretary-general of the Ovec, yesterday.
The short-term training programme will be offered in provinces nationwide and the sessions will be conducted in a safe environment to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
Initially, a nationwide survey will be carried out to gauge people's opinions as to what type of training the target population is looking for or is interested in. Once that is completed, specific training courses will be created, Mr Narong said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Em-ployment said the agency's soft loan programme for work-at-home individuals will provide 5.2 million baht worth of loans to informal workers who have registered with the department.
The loans, which will be offered at 3% interest per year, range from 50,000 baht to 300,000 baht per person and the repayment period spans five years, said department director-general Suchat Phonchaiwisetkun.
Meanwhile, Thotsaphon Kritwongwiman, secretary-general of the Social Security Office, said informal workers covered by the social security fund (SSF) under Sections 39 and 40 of the Social Security Act are entitled to a 5,000-baht cash handout.
Formal employees who recently subscribed to the SSF are not technically entitled to benefits but will also have access to the cash handouts.
These formal workers are those who only recently began paying monthly contributions to the SSF but they have yet to complete their first six months of contributions, the minimum requirement for receiving unemployment benefits, he said.