From March 5 to May 5, 2018, 19 trainees participated in the first two-months-long in-company training phase for the pilot class of Metal Cutting-CNC Technicians at Ishikawa Seiko in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). The trainees are enrolled in the three-year cooperative training programme that was developed in cooperation between the business sector and LILAMA 2-International Technology College (LILAMA 2) in Dong Nai province. Further in-company training phases, as part of the three-year cooperative training programme, are envisaged.

The developed cooperative training programme reflects the demands of the business sector. It aims at further deepening and consolidating the technical knowledge and skills acquired by the trainees through training at LILAMA 2. During the in-company training phase, the trainees applied their technical knowledge and skills under real working conditions using high standards applied in actual work processes.

Working at Ishikawa Seiko, the trainees further developed their occupational competence, mainly in manufacturing of components and sub-assemblies by conventional and CNC machine tools. Additionally, the trainees applied technical knowledge and skills in maintaining operating equipment and technical systems. The 19 trainees were guided and instructed by seven qualified in-company trainers of Ishikawa Seiko, with each in-company trainer responsible for one division the trainees ran through, and supervised by their responsible teacher of LILAMA 2.

Mr. Dinh Truong Viet, the training manager of Ishikawa Seiko gave a first positive feedback regarding the trainees, saying that he and his staff are positively surprised with the trainees’ high motivation and quick apprehension of complex technical contexts. He also stated his satisfaction with the trainees’ teamwork and their ability to fit into company processes: “The involvement of the companies right from the beginning of the training process will make sure that the training is demand-oriented and benefits both the companies and the trainees”.

The training course was held within the field of activity “Support of Centres of Excellence for TVET” as part of the Vietnamese-German Programme Reform of TVET in Viet Nam. The programme is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.