Dong Nai 25/2/2017

On 24 and 25 February 2017, a series of English teacher development activities have been conducted at Vocational College of Machinery and Irrigation (VCMI) under sponsorship of the US Embassy in Vietnam and technical support by the Programme Reform of TVET in Vietnam- GIZ.

The professional development activities include a coaching session on quality assurance for English courses, a workshop on effective assessment for learning in English teaching and an English classroom observation and feedback session. The activities aim at helping the English teachers of the college and to learn and apply hands-on teaching and classroom assessment techniques in their own teaching context. Three English teachers from LILAMA 2 International Technology College also participated in these activities under the invitation of VCMI.  Speaking about the activities, Mr. Nguyen Van Chuong- Director of VCMI said “English language competency is now one of our top development priorities. We are very much grateful for the support from our international partners in our efforts to improve our own English communication skills and the English teaching quality of the college.”

VCMI, with the support from the Programme Reform of TVET in Vietnam- GIZ, has successfully applied for the grant by the State Department of the USA to implement the English Access Micro Scholarship Programme in. Under this two-year program, 27 VCMI students of difficult circumstances will receive 360 hours of high-quality English instruction, enhancement activities and self-development activities. VCMI English teachers of this program also receive professional support from the US Embassy in the forms of teacher training workshops, coaching and online courses.

In the context of TVET reform, the Centres of Excellence (CoEs) will play a significant role. They will become the outriders of and role models for the new development focus of TVET in Viet Nam: the provision of employment-relevant and high quality training based on international standards. English language competency, in the context of internationalisation of CoEs, is one of the very important criteria that allow CoEs to offer high quality vocational training and function as a hub for national and international networks for TVET.

Since early 2015, VCMI has been supported by the Programme Reform of TVET in Vietnam- GIZ in their efforts to improve the quality of English language teaching and learning at the college. Specifically, an “English Language Competency Development Plan for Key Technical Teachers” was developed in 2016 and has been implemented since 2017 with the support of the Programme Reform of TVET in Vietnam- GIZ.