Reforming technical and vocational education and training in Viet Nam

PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION

Title: Programme Reform of TVET in Viet Nam II
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Viet Nam
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA)
Overall term: 2020 to 2023

CONTEXT

Viet Nam’s economy has developed rapidly in the past two decades. Annual growth rates of 7 per cent have made Viet Nam a lower middle-income country. This achievement is being put at risk by the increasing consumption of resources, environmental degradation and a significant shortage of skilled workers, who make up just 23 per cent of the national workforce.

The Vietnamese technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system and the skills of graduates do not yet fulfil the requirements of the changing world of work. This is caused by a lack of business sector involvement in TVET, outdated training programmes and insufficient competencies of teaching and training personnel. As a result, vocational training has a negative image and low enrolment. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have clearly demonstrated the need for a more open and flexible TVET system that benefits from the digital transformation and prepares students for Industry 4.0.

OBJECTIVE

Technical Vocational Education and Training in Viet Nam is better aligned to the changing increasingly green and digital world of work.

APPROACH

The programme’s main activities include:

• Policy advice on the normative and administrative reform of the TVET system to adapt it to the changing world of work.
• Supporting eleven high-quality TVET colleges to provide modern training programmes that meet German standards and Vietnamese regulations and requirements. The programme is also capacitating partners to take over additional functions in the TVET system, such as further training teachers and managers from other TVET institutes and workers and job seekers. It also offers further training for 4,500 trainees, including short-term training for persons who lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Promoting cooperation with the business sector to develop and update demand-oriented standards and training programmes and conduct cooperative training. The programme also aims to establish skills councils and industry advisory boards as mechanisms for sector actors’ interconnection.
• Fostering the digital transformation through policy advice, capacity development and technical support for TVET 4.0 and developing an open educational resource platform.
• Supporting quality assurance and sector monitoring of the partners
• Promoting green TVET institutes and green skills
• Enhancing the image of TVET and inclusion in the TVET system by organising Girls’, Boys’ and Inclusion Days at TVET institutes, scholarships for women and people with disabilities and supporting Viet Nam’s participation in WorldSkills championship of occupational skills.

PROGRESS OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Since 2021, 11 partner TVET colleges of GIZ have been supported in developing and operating e-learning studios to produce digital learning materials, 05 colleges have been supported with learning management systems (LMS), 04 colleges have been supported digital management systems (DMS), 02 colleges have been supported with 04 cloud server packages. The open vocational education training resources (OVETR) has been developed and piloted to promote shared digital learning materials within the community of 11 partner TVET colleges, 03 enterprises, Directorate of Vocational Education and Training, and TVET Programme. 

In 2022, GIZ supported key activities, including: The evaluation of process and results of DX activities at 11 partner TVET colleges, the research on developing the model of smart TVET colleges, the updating of Informatics subject (MH05) based on the orientation of digital literacy training module.

Besides, 41 trainings and conferences were organized in 2022 to enhance the competence of leaders, managements, as well as staff and teachers from DVET and 11 partner TVET colleges. In particular, regarding 12 workshops on raising awareness of DX, 19 training courses on improving the competence of exploiting digital platforms and 11 consultation meetings on DX strategies, TVET Programme approached 1.840 participants with 399 event hours in intensive trainings, workshops and discussions. 

Review and discussion on key priorities and action strategies for 2023 and further was conducted after 2 years of implementation through the Workshop “Discussion on results of DX activities in 2022 and key priorities for 2023”. The study reports thus far can be found here.