On Nov 5 and Nov 6, 2020, the trips to exchange experience in demand oriented, high-quality and in accordance with international standards training were held for the management boards of the four Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutes: Ninh Thuan Vocational College, Long An College, An Giang Vocational College and Bac Ninh College of Industry. Together with the delegation, there were the officers and development advisors from the Programme Reform of TVET in Vietnam – GIZ. The purpose of this activity was to offer the TVET institutes the chance to discuss and learn from experience in the development and management oriented on a high-quality college, also the implementation of the German standard oriented Cooperative Training Programme at the Vocational College of Machinery and Irrigation (VCMI) and the LILAMA 2 International Technology College (LILAMA 2).

Having visited and experienced the concept of High-quality Institute for Green TVET at VCMI, the delegation was highly impressed with the development process of the College in the past years, especially the application of workshops, the recruitment of students and the pilot of the two new occupations which followed the concept of German standard oriented Cooperative Training, with the support from the Programme Reform of TVET in Vietnam: “Electronics for Energy and Building Technology” and “Mechanics for Sanitary, Heating and Climate Technology”. In a friendly and open atmosphere, Dr Nguyen Van Chuong, the Rector of VCMI, shared with the delegation the achievements and experience in implementing the technical cooperation components supported by GIZ “Building High-quality Institute for Green TVET at VCMI”. VCMI also made some recommendations for the partner colleges to approach the concept of high-quality TVET Institutes in the future. To end the discussion, Mr Nguyen Phan Anh Quoc, the Rector of Ninh Thuan Vocational College, on behalf of the delegation, showed his high appreciation to the effort and experience in implementation at VCMI. He wished to continue learning the VCMI’s college management methods to plan and implement Ninh Thuan Vocational College to become a high-quality TVET Institute in the coming years.

At LILAMA 2, Mr Nguyen Khanh Cuong, the Rector of the college, shared the experience in the successful pilot implementation of the German standard oriented Cooperative Training Programme at LILAMA 2 and its partner companies for the following occupations: Mechatronics, Industrial Electronics, Construction Mechanics and Metal Cutting. During the discussion, a number of questions asked by the delegates were answered in details by the Management Board of LILAMA 2, for example: which were the biggest challenges and how to get the companies to involve in all 3 stages of the cooperative training concept: preparation (including the development of the training programmes), training implementation (at the college and in companies) and final examination of the students’ competence. With rich experience, along with the lessons learnt, the management board of LILAMA 2 also shared their difficulties and challenges which might incur during the implementation process and gave possible solutions and recommendations for the partner colleges to use for reference in their future application. At LILAMA 2, the delegation had the opportunity to experience the workplace oriented, 3-layer workshop concept. The delegation was amazed at the product and business demand oriented training approach. Mr Le Quoc Hung – the Rector of Long An College – confirmed: “This is a meaningful and practical visit and discussion, and we have learnt a lot from LILAMA 2. With the experience acquired from this trip, we will develop a plan to build Long An College to become a high-quality TVET Institute in the future”.

Based on the experience acquired after the visit and discussions at VCMI and LILAMA 2, the leaders of TVET institutes took part in a consolidating and future joint-activities planning workshop with the support of the Programme Reform of TVET in Vietnam.

This activity was held within the component “Supporting High-Quality TVET Institutes” as part of the Vietnamese – German “Programme Reform of TVET in Viet Nam”. 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).