IECD and the colleges sign partnership agreements on cooperation and development (Source: VNA) HCM City (VNA) - The Seeds of Hope project,which promotes sustainable professional integration for young Vietnamese in thefields of residential and industrial electricity and automotive maintenance,was officially launched in HCM City on September 27.
The project operates in partnership with vocational training schools as well asa number of companies and agencies.
Seeds of Hope is being run on a trial basis under the European Institute forDevelopment Cooperation (IECD) in Vietnam at two sites: HCM City Technicaland Economic College (HOTEC) and Thu Duc College of Technology (TDC).
It not only helps create more opportunities for students in career developmentbut also enhances domestic and international integration.
Vietnam continues to have a high rate of unemployed young people, whilevocational training remains unattractive to many students, creating a mismatchwith the labour market despite strong demand, especially in the electricitysector.
Seeds of Hope targets people aged 15 to 25. The support includes either athree-year-long vocational training programme or short training modules onrenewable energies and energy efficiency.
It aims to improve career prospects for about 1,400 young people by 2019.
IECD experts will help develop standards and content for teaching and trainingprogrammes.
Students at the two schools will be exposed to a quality learning environmentthat will allow them to develop occupational skills and life skills forintegration into the labor market.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, Pham Ngoc Thanh, Deputy Chairman of the city’sDepartment of Education and Training, said the city, which has 77.5 percent oftrained workers, has set a target to have at least 85 percent of trainedworkers by 2020.
“Seeds of Hope will help meet the demand of the city’s plan on raising thequality of labourers,” he said.
He said the project would significantly improve the quality of vocationaltraining for Vietnamese students and help promote cooperation between schoolsand enterprises as well as contribute to reducing the unemployment rate ofyoung people in the city.
Nguyen Thi Ly from the TDC thanked the IECD, experts and companies for theircontribution to the project and said she hopes to receive more support from the IECD, companies and authorities in the near future.
At the ceremony, partnership agreements in cooperation and development betweenIECD and two of the colleges were signed.-VNA
VNA
