Int’l Cooperation Puts $600M on Vocational Training in Vietnam in 15 Yrs: Official

International cooperation in vocational training in Vietnam spent $600 million on the sector over the past 15 years, said Ms. Vu Lan Huong, vice head of the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training (DVET) office, in a workshop on international cooperation in vocational training, held on in Hanoi November 15. The DVET has tied up with 20 partners, approved 30 memorandums of understanding (MoUs), secured 20 projects with official development assistance (ODA), and had 5,000 teachers and management staff trained for enhanced qualification through international cooperation as well, she added. Speaking at the conference, Director Chékou Oussouman of the Asia-Pacific Region, the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), expressed his wish to learn about public-private partnership in promoting vocational education, adding that OIF will continue to assist the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs (MoLISA) with cooperation projects in the time to come. Ms. Tran Thi Mai Yen, director of the Asia-Pacific Regional Center (CREFAP/OIF), expected to scale up a project on vocational training in line with the competency-based approach (APC) nationwide. Mr. Jurgen Hartwig, director of the GIZ-funded Technical and Vocational Education and Training Program in Vietnam, offered to assist Vietnam to strengthen innovation and capacity of the vocational training system. Vietnam’s vocational training system now has nearly 84,000 teachers, said Head of the DVET-run Department of Teacher Affairs Tran Minh Thinh. (Dan Tri, Bao Dan Sinh, TVET)