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 This is caused by a lack of business sector involvement in TVET, outdated training programmes and insufficient competencies of teaching and training personnel.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.

Results

• About 150 experts and managers from the Vietnamese Directorate of Vocational Education and Training (DVET) and the Ministry of Labour have received further training.
• The digital transformation of TVET has been initiated by strategic advice, capacity development, a virtual conference, e-learning rooms for DVET and TVET institutes .
• A training programme for in-company trainers was developed and officially endorsed by DVET; 14 industry advisory boards were established.
• Seven training programmes equivalent to German standard have been piloted.
• More than 1,700 trainees per year benefit directly from the supported training offers and more than 40,000 benefit indirectly through improved management, additional equipment and increased teacher competencies.
• More than 800 people who lost their job because of the COVID-19 pandemic were re-trained.
• More than 2.2 million newly enrolled TVET trainees each year benefit from the improved legal framework of TVET.

Last update: März 2021