On November 21, 2019, in Trang Bom, Dong Nai, Mr. Dennis Thoms – representative of Chamber of Skilled Crafts (HWK) Aachen – has handed over the “Acknowledgement letter ” for the equivalence of the two training programmes which are developed according to German standards to Dr. Nguyen Van Chuong, Rector of Vocational College of Machinery and Irrigation. The official letter recognises the equivalence of the German Standard for two training programmes of Electronics Technician for Energy and Building Technology and Mechanics Technician for Heating and Climate Technology.

These two training programmes have been developed based on the needs of Vietnamese businesses. German standards are applied as international standards and have been modified to meet the requirements of Vietnam’s labour market. A key factor to the success of the training programmes development process is the active participation of Professional Associations and representatives of leading business corporations in Viet Nam with the advice of German experts.

The 3-year cooperative training programme of each occupation was co-compiled by the stakeholders, introduced and discussed within the same Consultation Workshop.

In the form of cooperative training, the practical part will be trained mainly at assembly, manufacturing workshops and constructions of the enterprises according to the method of training at the workplace. The basic theoretical part is trained at VCMI, and, with “dual function”, VCMI also implements a part of vocational practice skills training at the school workshops with the most advanced technology machines and equipment.

VCMI teachers are regularly trained by German experts to improve their professional knowledge and practice-oriented teaching methods. This is the process of transferring capacity to the school teachers to effectively use the machines and equipment in the practical training process.

This activity is held within the component “Support for Centres of Excellence for TVET” as part of the Vietnamese-German “Programme Reform of TVET in Viet Nam”. The programme is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) together with the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA).