News and Events

Labour market-oriented training was a common trend in developed countries across the region and throughout the world that Vietnam needed to follow, said Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan at the Regional Technical and Vocational Education and Training Conference held in Hanoi yesterday.

The two-day conference, which drew the attendance of about 250 participants from 14 countries, was co-organised by the German Academy for International Co-operation (GIZ) and the Vietnam Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).

Nhan's statement mirrored the same opinion of Hans-Jurgen Beerfeltz, State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development, who shared that 60-70 per cent of Germans received training offered by companies while only 30-40 per cent studied at training schools.

Nhan said Vietnam's labour force must meet the professional standards of the regional and global labour markets to integrate into the world economy.

This was especially important as Vietnam must ensure a quality work force for the development of an industrial country as targeted by 2020.

Nhan also cited reforms in management and training as well as application of scientific and technological knowledge as solutions to creating breakthroughs in quality training.

Vietnam, therefore, needed to strengthen co-operations with ASEAN and developed nations, including Germany, to learn from their experiences and successes in vocation training, especially enterprise-linked training.

Horst Sommer, director of Vietnamese - German Reform Programme for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, said Germany would focus on helping Vietnam raise the practical skills of vocational trainers and promote training courses which engaged enterprises' involvement.

Hans-Jurgen Beerfeltz said Germany would provide financial aid to construct a vocational training centre of international standards in Vietnam. The project is expected to be completed by 2015.

Nguyen Tien Dung, director of MOLISA's General Department of Vocational Training, said Vietnam would follow the standards of Malaysia in the region and those of Germany in vocational training.

He said technical and vocational training of high quality following Malaysian standards would be piloted in eight vocational schools.

Nguyen Ngoc Phi, MOLISA's deputy minister, said enhancing international co-operation was very important in promoting quality training as it required high expense and many facilities.

The National Institute for Vocational Training's 2011 report revealed that as of July 2011, Vietnam had more than 51.3 million people aged 15 or above entering the labour force, accounting for more than 58 per cent of the entire population. Among whom, 71.5 per cent lived in rural areas.

Of the population aged 15 or above, the number of people who never graduated from primary school and were illiterate accounted for over 17 per cent.

According to MOLISA, vocationally trained workers accounted for 32 per cent of the total labour force in Vietnam.