Workshop “Launching Provincial TVET Council model in Ninh Thuan”

Located in the south-central coastal region of Viet Nam, Ninh Thuan plays an important role as a gateway connecting the key southeast economic region with the southern central highlands and south-central provinces. As Ninh Thuan has great potential for development in the wind power, solar power, tourism and high-tech agriculture, a highly qualified workforce is a necessary prerequisite. Although technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in Ninh Thuan has been improved over the past few years to meet the local human resource needs, the linkages and cooperation between stakeholders, especially business sector, in developing and assessing the quality and effectiveness of TVET sector, are still limited.

Training standards and training curricula are not always according to industry’s needs and not yet updated on the requirements of the green and digital transformation, meaning new jobs will emerge or at least most jobs will be done in different ways. A demand driven TVET system is the key success factor for a highly skilled labour force, which is crucial for sustainable economic growth and inclusive social development and welfare. Engaging the social partners in training and education requires structured collaboration mechanisms and a framework to mandate involvement and investment of the business sector in skills development. To enhance a multi-stakeholder cooperation in TVET, the establishment of Skill Councils on different levels is recognized as one of the breakthroughs key solutions.

Based on the analysis of the international experiences and best practices, as well as lessons learnt from different piloted council mechanisms in the context of Viet Nam, the TVET Programme promotes and strongly supports the model of a Provincial TVET Council in Ninh Thuan which will act as a bridge between all TVET stakeholders. This coordination mechanism can provide policy advice and feedback, generate or interpret labour market intelligence and engage the social partners in training and education, contributing to the development of highly qualified workforce in the province.On 17 January 2023, Ninh Thuan Provincial People’s Committee (PPC) issued the Decision No. 67/QĐ-UBND on the establishment of Ninh Thuan Provincial Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council. With this decision, Ninh Thuan is the first and pioneer province in the country to pilot the model of Provincial TVET Council.

On 21st March 2023, the Programme “Reform of TVET in Viet Nam II” (TVET Programme) together with Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ho Chi Minh city branch (VCCI-HCMC) provided technical support to Ninh Thuan Provincial People Committee to organize successfully the Workshop “Launching Provincial TVET Council model in Ninh Thuan”.

The objective of the workshop is to 1) launch the Provincial TVET Council, 2) discuss cooperation mechanism among  state-enterprises-TVET institutes and its operational mechanism and 3) inform on the joint effort among Ninh Thuan Provincial People Committee, VCCI-HCM and the TVET programme in operating the Provincial TVET Council in Ninh Thuan Provinces. The workshop gathered approximately 70 participants from DVET, relevant departments in the province, professional associations and TVET institutes in Ninh Thuan and nearby provinces, some leading enterprises and industrial zone management boards, Dong Nai DoLISA and some international developing partners.

Within the framework of the workshop, Mr Nguyen Long Bien, Vice Chairman of Ninh Thuan PPC, Ms Afsana, Deputy Director of the TVET Programme and Mr Tran Ngoc Liem, Director of VCCI-HCM signed an MOU on cooperation in supporting the operation of the provincial TVET Council.

At the workshop, representative from Aus4Skills shared experiences from the Logistics Industry Reference Council, representatives from sub-committee in Renewable Energy and Tourism shared operation and contribution of the two sub-committees.

In the closing remark, Mr. Nguyen Long Bien, Vice Chairman of Ninh Thuan PPC acknowledged and highly appreciated the technical support of VCCI-HCM and the TVET Programme for the establishment and operation of the Provincial TVET Council in Ninh Thuan. According to Mr Bien, Ninh Thuan PPC will continue to have specific direction and solutions to promote TVET in the province, matching to the rapid development of quality human resources. He also requested Ninh Thuan DoLISA collaborate with different related units to urgently forming subcommittees for Renewable Energy and Tourism first to ensure the council operates effectively.