To improve the knowledge of the lecturers and the usage of the KfW financed KNX training equipment at the Ninh Thuan Vocational College (NTVC), a KNX basic course for five teachers and one student was conducted at the NTVC from 17.02.20 to 21.02.20 by the GIZ TVET Programme “Reform of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Viet Nam”. The trainers were Mr. Markus Schroers (GIZ Development Advisor) and Mrs. Tran Thi Hong, (teacher of the Electrics and Electronics Faculty at NTVC). KNX is a bus standard, which can be used to operate and manage automated switching operations, measure and control devices, remote access and further more in electrical installations of residential homes, commercial buildings or industrial facilities.

Within the first two days, basic topics about the KNX standard were introduced to the participants, including the history and development of KNX, bus devices, physical addresses, KNX topologies, applicable functions of KNX in buildings and basics of the ETS5 planning software. The following days were used for the practical parts where teachers started identifying, downloading and importing required KNX application software and familiarizing themselves with ETS 5 before implementing their first KNX practical exercise. As a result, practitioners successfully created, parameterized and tested at least 3 KNX projects. During the practical sessions additional theoretical content was drawn out, including how a KNX project is to be installed and which obstacles can occur during parameterizing projects with ETS 5.

While introducing the KNX standard, the trainer integrated the 4-step method in the lessons when it was applicable, to facilitate the participants to understand how to implement their projects in a structured manner. Furthermore, the training focused on electrical safety aspects. At the beginning of every training day, teachers were asked to discuss a workplace safety related topic of their choice. The topic was commented and concluded by the trainers. The participants showed a growing interest in the topic and on the last day, there were no less than 3 volunteers to contribute a topic.

Talking about the training, Mr. Dang Ngoc Vong, Dean of Electrics Electronics Faculty at NTVC, positively stated, “The KNX standard is quite new and interesting to me. Thanks to the training, I have gained a lot of knowledge and valuable lessons on KNX systems and its applications in the reality. In coming time, I hope that the training on KNX will be implemented for other teachers who weren’t able to attend this course. In addition, the idea is, that we will apply the KNX system in one of our workshops, based on what we have learned from this course.”

Ninh Thuan Vocational College is supported by the Vietnamese – German “Programme Reform of TVET in Viet Nam” to develop into a high quality TVET institute for renewable energy. The programme is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) together with the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA).