To help TVET institutes establish a continuous improvement process for their workshop management, from 20 to 24 August, 2018, the Training and Consultation Seminar on Workshop Management took place in Nha Trang Technical and Technology College, with the participation of teachers and managers from 10 different colleges supported by the Vietnamese-German Programme “Reform of TVET in Vietnam”. The participants did not only learn about various concepts, such as the 5S concept and the 3 layers workshop methodology, they also leant how to practically apply these concepts at their colleges . The training was conducted by Mr. Ralf Hill and Mr. Bach Hung Truong together with 3 multipliers from the Vocational College of Machinery and Irrigation (VCMI) and LILAMA2 International College of Technology. The development advisors Mr. Claus Bader, Mr. Michael Stark and Mr. Peter Pirschle supported the participants in the development of detailed action plans which will help them to implement concrete improvement activities at their colleges.

“5S” stands for Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardise and Sustain. This is a simple but effective tool to organise a workplace in a scientific way to improve the work environment and productivity. To better understand this theory, participants visited the workshops for electronics and mechanics of Nha Trang College where they developed solutions to improve the workshops following the five components.

On the third day of the training, participants were introduced to the 3 layers workshop model. This model recommends how to organise training workshops according to 3 learning levels: from obtaining general skills and specific occupational competencies to applying acquired skills in the real world of work. Mr Ralf Hill emphasises: “Setting up workshops according to the 3 layers model is not expensive. We just need to reorganise existing tools and machines for the trainees to practice according to an increasing complexity at each learning level”.

At the end of the training, the participants formed groups to work on a concrete action plan to improve workshop quality at their respective TVET institutes.  The plans were presented to the management of each TVET institute at the Consultation Seminar to ensure that the planned improvements are accepted and supported by the management of each college. Dr Nguyen Thi Hang, Rector of Ho Chi Minh Vocational College of Technology II, on behalf of participating TVET institutes, expressed their appreciation for the training: “We will implement the planned steps to further improve our workshop management and we will stay closely connected to the nine other colleges in order to support each other in this continuous process”. A follow-up workshop will take place at the end of the year to evaluate the changes and define further actions to create and maintain well organized, clean and tidy, safe and effective workshops.

This activity takes part within the component “Support of 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 fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).