Vocational education reform to meet international integration

Hanoi (VNA) – Experts, researchers and policy makers in the field of vocational training jointly discussed and raised ideas on developing the vocational training system in the time to come.

Vocational training is requiring reforms so as to match the international integration trend. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Vocational training is facing various challenges in the context that the labour and job market is seeing rapid and unpredictable changes. It is noteworthy that under the influence of the science and technology revolution, the vocational training reform is an important factor that ensures the quality of the human resources in the context of international integration.

The above information was released at the Education Conference in 2019 under the theme of “Developing vocational training in the context of the shift of the growth model and international integration” held by the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture, Education and Youth, in coordination with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in Hanoi on September 20.

Restructuring vocational training system

The selection of the theme of the conference means the policy making is taken as an important prerequisite for the completion of the high-quality human resources training, thus gradually meeting the requirement of socio-economic development.

Speaking at the event, NA Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu affirmed that the Party and the State always take education and training development as the frontline national policy, and investment in education as development investment. The official further said  that over the past 30 years of renewal, Vietnam’s education and training have reaped important achievements that help successfully implemented the national reform. Vocational training has made important contributions to the training of the human resources that provide direct services to the national socio-economic development.

Luu went on to say that in the current context, Vietnam’s vocational training need to continue vigorously reforming to perform the task of training the human resources that provide direct services to production and business, and to meet the requirement of competition and international integration.

The NA Standing Committee hopes that through the conference, participants will obtain a comprehensive and clear viewpoint on the status quo of vocational training, analyze the causes of successes and shortcomings, and propose solutions suitable, feasible, practical and effective to the national vocational training development in the next stage. The NA Vice Chairman stressed that the outcomes of the function will create a theoretical and practical ground for the NA in realizing its supervising and policy-making functions in the vocational training development.

Statistics of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs show that as of June 2019, there were 1,917 vocational training establishments in the whole country, 37 less than the number of 2018. The figure by the end of 2019 will be 1,904.

Vice Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha said her ministry is building a project on the restructuring and reorganizing of the system of the vocational training facilities toward 2030 in the direction of classifying of those facilities.

Taking advantage of chances for development

Many participants held that Vietnam has been taking part in the regional and international integration. Mutual recognition agreements among the ASEAN countries and the influence of the Industry 4.0 will create many chances and quite a few difficulties and challenges to Vietnam’s economy in general and vocational training in particular.

Vocational training system will be rearranged to raise training quality. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 

In order to help develop vocational training in the next stages, experts held that State management authorities need to continue studying, reviewing, amending, supplementing and perfecting the system of laws and policies on vocational training. They should also propose policies and projects on the network of the vocation training establishment at tan early date in an open direction, ensuring a suitable scale and structure.

Phan Thanh Binh from the NA committee said there are three key issues in the vocational training, namely the mechanism and policy system; the quality and conditions ensuring training quality; and the relations between enterprises and vocational training establishments.

Participants also raised the idea that the State management authorities should build effective mechanism and solutions to create a rational balance between supply and need in the training, and to promulgate decrees on the autonomy in vocational training at an early date.

In 2017 and 2018, 2.2 million people were enrolled into the vocational training system each year, including 540,000 to the college level and 1.6 million to short-term courses./.