Berufsschulen in Vietnam modernisieren ihre Lehrpläne und bieten neue Ausbildungsgänge an, um verringerten Einschreibungszahlen entgegen zu wirken.
New curricula for vocational training schools
Vocational training schools are revamping their curricula and offering new
training majors in an attempt to stem the decline in the number of students
applying to the schools.
As of last year, there were 1,467 private and
public vocational training schools and more than 1,000 other establishments with
vocational training courses, a 3.5-fold increase compared to 2010.
Speaking at a recent workshop on staff for industrial parks and export
processing zones, Nguyễn Thị Hằng, rector of HCM City Vocational College of
Technology, said the school had launched a new training major in water supply,
sewage and waste water treatment to meet demand of enterprises for qualified
personnel.
In 2013, the college invited German experts and HCM City
water supply and sewage companies to set up the training major.
Occupational criteria for skills in sewage and waste water treatment were
established last year.
Twenty students signed up for the major last
year.
To ensure jobs for the students, the college has signed agreements
with five water supply and sewage companies in southern provinces, including
Bình Dương and Đồng Nai, as well as HCM City.
Lê Anh Đức, rector of Đồng Nai College of High Technology, said the college had plans to offer training in
industrial waste water treatment.
"We will train students for future
jobs. Unnecessary lessons which focus too much on theory will be eliminated," he
said.
The college has asked enterprises to assess the quality of the
vocational school graduates who are hired.
Staff hired with training at
vocational schools will be paid higher salaries than those without
training.
This will be an incentive for staff and prospective students
to attend vocational school.
"Having more enterprises work with us is the
best way to advertise the school’s brand name," Đức added.
About 129
local and foreign enterprises are taking part in the college's training
programmes.
Enterprises provide counselling on what the college should
change, and explain their work culture and industrial hygiene
requirements.
For electronics, electricity, mechanics and other training
majors, companies offer practical courses at company workshops.
The
enterprises are members of the college's eight advisory boards for vocational
quality, which are in charge of training assessment.
In 2014, the
college was selected to attend a human resource programme for Japanese
enterprises at a supporting industry complex in Đồng Nai Province.
The
province's Technical Human Resource Training Centre, managed by the Export
Processing and Industrial Zones Authority, chose the college for the programme,
in co-operation with the Kansai Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry.
The college sent its lecturers to Japan for additional
training.
"Students are trained in Japanese enterprises' work culture,
Japanese language, and labour safety," Đức said.
The Pacific Resource
Exchange Centre in Osaka has helped the college set up flexible training
programmes for majors that meet enterprises' demands.
"The college's
stable enrollment is the result of this collaboration, while other vocational
schools and even universities still find it difficult to do," he said, adding
that the college enrolled 700 to 1,000 students each year.
Offering
tuition assistance has also helped attract students.
In 2013, for
example, the Việt Nam National Coal/Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Ltd
increased tuition aid to untrained workers to attend the Việt Nam Vocational
College of Coal and Minerals.
However, even though their housing and
tuition was paid by the corporation, the college still found it difficult to
attract enough students because of the fear of accidents and a hazardous working
environment.
Nguyễn Văn Vụ, deputy head of the Đồng Nai College of High
Technology's Training Department, said that the college and province had
preferential policies on providing tuition for secondary school graduates who
have a provincial residential book.
Students with financial difficulties
can receive scholarships or tuition exemption.
Đức of Đồng Nai College of
Technology said that high school teachers could help students decide on pursuing
vocational school or university.
Occupational counselling should be
carried out at secondary schools in addition to high schools, he said.
A
study conducted by Lê Thị Ngọc Thương of HCM City University of Education found
that counselling was offered to 12th graders only.
Agreeing with Thương,
many students who were surveyed said that counselling should be expanded to
other grades.
However, a major in occupational counseling is not offered
at any university in Việt Nam.