Higher Vocational Training Quality Needed in Vietnam

The conference aimed to assess current vocational training status in Vietnam, upcoming trends, and roles and responsibilities of the Vietnamese business community to vocational training. The event also shared experience from current vocational training management and organisation models in Japan.

 

A report released by the Hanoi Women Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (HAWASME) at the conference showed vocational training in Vietnam now mainly focused on theory rather than practice. Novices difficultly take on their new jobs and employers have to train them again (This reality can be easily seen in engineering, garment, carpentry and accounting, etc.). At present, schools do not teach professions that many companies are carrying out like pottery, wool weaving, silk, hand-embroidery, food processing (wine, canned food, cold foodstuffs, etc.), footwear, packaging, cosmetics, fine-art handicraft, etc. Mr Dang Xuan Thuc, Director of the Vietnam Vocational Training Department, admitted that as training establishments have not formed close relations with companies, trainees difficultly take on trained professions in companies.

 

HAWASME suggested that training establishments should train what the market needs, not what they have. Besides, they should increase practice to 80 percent of training time and use only 20 percent of the time for theory. Besides, trainees should be provided soft skills like conducts, rights, obligations, awareness and disciplines.

 

To improve the quality of human resources, attending companies requested the Department of Vocational Training to provide financial support for them to train new recruits. In return, companies are committed to provide well-paid employment for trainees. This method assures both employers and employees of their input and output.