Two financing agreements for a total amount of €25 million to support five vocational training colleges and school in Vietnam were signed on October 26 in Hanoi by Mr. Michel Sapin, French Minister of Labour, Employment, Vocational Training and Social Dialogue, together with Mr. Truong Chi Trung, Vice-Minister of Finance of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and Mr. Jean-Marc Gravellini, Country Director of the French Agency for Development (AFD) in Hanoi.
The program amounts €29 million, with €25 million coming from AFD commitments and €4 million funded by the Vietnamese Government.AFD funding is divided into two components: a €0.5 million grant, to provide long term technical assistance, and a €24.5 million concessional loan to finance equipments and short-term expertise.
The project aims at supporting five Vocational Training Schools, among which two centres are going to turn into centres of excellence, compliant with international standards: Lilama Technical and Technology Vocational College 2(in Dong Nai Province), with courses in welding and telecommunications (two different courses in this area), and where an e-building will be constructed; the Vocational College of Agriculture Mechanics (in Vinh Phuc),invested in automotive technology, welding, metal cutting and industrial electricity. Three other schools of Viet Xo Electromechanical Construction Vocational Trainingin Tam Diep, Dung Quat Vocational College of Engineering and Technology, and Nghi Son Vocational Training Secondary School will be involved in the project, through professor trainings, development of pedagogical curriculum and equipments for welding (Viet Xo college) and automotive technology (Viet Xo and Dung Quat College).
Six courses will be developed, and the programme will provide trainings to more than 3000 people every year.
In Vietnam, around 1200 vocational training schools and centres, state-owned bodies as well as entities linked to private companies, have been operating. Vietnamese authorities are aware of the key role played by vocational training in their growth model. Therefore, they have been committed to restructure the system for the last 10 years, including by improving the facilities to increase the number of students (more than 1.9 million in 2011 compared to 1 million in 2001), by working on the adequacy between training skills and employment needs (approach through the competencies, improvement of the information system,…), while some private actors have been emerging due to a favourable environment.
The Vietnamese Government has the objective to train 45% of the active population by 2015 (60.8 million Vietnamese people would be on the labour market, when the total population would reach 94 million people) and 55% by 2020.
Nam Pham
Vietnamese
