“The experience of Hai Phong Polytechnic College in cooperative training is interesting and encouraging. The College has made an innovative step in improving the learning outcome”, said Assoc.Prof.Dr. Duong Duc Lan, General Director of the General Directorate of Vocational Training (GDVT) of MoLISA, at the final workshop on project results and lessons learnt organized in Hai Phong on October 29, 2015.

The project “Vietnamese-German Vocational Training Centre – Hai Phong Polytechnic College” was implemented in the frame of the GIZ “Programme Reform of TVET in Viet Nam” from 2012 to 2015. The project’s aim was to strengthen a private TVET provider, Haiphong Polytechnic College (HPC), by offering demand-oriented cooperative vocational training in the CNC metal cutting occupation. The development and establishment of a cooperative training programme, the modernization of training in CNC metal cutting, further training of TVET teachers, trainers and management staff and the overall cooperation with the business community were its main goals.

“The project’s achievements are highly appreciated by our college”, said Professor Vu Duc Lap, Rector of HPC. “The college team and the involved businesses are now fully aware of the importance of cooperation between a vocational training institution and the business community.” He furthermore stated that the HPC is committed to continuously apply this new approach in CNC metal cutting training and to extend the cooperative approach to training programmes in other occupations.

Participants of the workshop expressed great interest and appreciation for the pilot model which was developed and implemented at the Hai Phong Polytechnic College by a German consultancy consortium (Planco Consulting GmbH, Europäisches Bildungswerk für Beruf und Gesellschaft (EBG) and GFA Consulting Group) on behalf of GIZ and the Peoples’ Committee Hai Phong.

The 33 students who participated in the pilot training programme highly appreciate the opportunity to be trained in the real world of work, reported Mr. Pham Ngoc Tiep, Vice Rector of HPC. A very appreciative and reconfirming feedback about the cooperative training programme was also brought forward by Mr. Tien from EBA Mechanics Enterprise. “Despite room for improvement and even more intense cooperation, our enterprise is willing to continue this cooperative training together with the college”, he assured.

Prof. Lan recommended that the experience of cooperative training at HPC and other vocational training colleges should be exchanged and disseminated for the purpose of enhancing the cooperation between TVET institutes and the business sector in Viet Nam. Furthermore, the challenges that HPC, a private college, faced and the lessons learnt concerning the implementation of the cooperative training approach should be shared with other stakeholders in order to profit from them, added Ms. Britta Van Erckelens, GIZ representative at the workshop.

In order to benefit the utmost, the products of the project were handed over to HPC later in the day. These included training materials, documentations of the pilot experiences in cooperative training with industries, related training and monitoring tools and concept papers on the cooperative training model, the training of in-company teachers, teaching methodology and curriculum development.