“This training workshop and the following self-evaluation and assessment process is an important milestone in developing sound and sustainable criteria for High Level TVET Institutes and Centres of Excellence in TVET. Only by ensuring that demand-oriented training programmes are offered by qualified TVET institutes in close cooperation with the business sector, Viet Nam will be able to reach the ojectives of the TVET Development Strategy 2011-2020,” Dr. Pham Vu Quoc Binh, Director of Viet Nam Vocational Training  Accreditation Agency (VVTAA)/GDVT stated in the “Training course on self-evaluation for piloting the draft criteria and assessment process of High Quality TVET Institutes and Centres of Excellence (CoE)” in Hanoi on Friday, 25 November 2016.

VVTAA, the Programme Reform of TVET in Viet Nam and KOICA Viet Nam host the training course for 18 participants from five partner TVET institutes from different regions in Viet Nam, who are trained to implement the self-evaluation according to the draft criteria catalogue and act as focal points in the subsequent external assessment process. The workshop was organized in frame of the tri-lateral cooperation among GDVT/VVTAA, GIZ and KOICA Viet Nam. This cooperation mainly focuses on the integration of monitoring and evaluation instruments into the Vietnamese TVET system, but also includes support for VVTAA in the revision of Decision 761 concerning the criteria for High Quality TVET Institutes as well as the assessement and recognition process.

In 2010, a first concept on Centres of Excellence in Viet Nam was developed by GDVT and the Programme Reform of TVET in Vietnam. The concept was introduced to and widely discussed by policy makers, representatives from the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the scientific community at a workshop in Phu Yen in March 2011. At a milestone workshop in November 2013 in Dalat, which was attended by representatives of MOLISA, GDVT, provincial governments and the management of all 45 selected future High Quality TVET Institutes, Dr. Horst Sommer, Director of the Programme Reform of TVET in Viet Nam emphasised the two core functions of CoE in Viet Nam: Providing high-quality and employment-relevant initial and further training following international standards and fulfilling additional tasks for the Vietnamese TVET system.

Due to the agreement of all relevant stakeholders on the functions and criteria of a CoE, these criteria have been not only the basis for the engagement of the Programme Reform of TVET in Viet Nam at two supported TVET institutes (LILAMA 2 and HVCT), but they have also been agreed upon as reference for the revision process of Decision 761. This revision process included a sound analysis based on a survey conducted by VVTAA in 2015, the workshop “Scientific Discussion on Criteria for High Quality TVET Institutes/CoEs” with the objective to further assess how the six criteria for the High Quality TVET Institutes stated in Decision 761 can be adjusted to better meet the reality and contribute to the fulfilment of the TVET development strategy until 2020. Further discussions focused on how the revised criteria can better reflect the direction of the new government concerning cooperation with the business sector and autonomy of TVET institutes. During several rounds of consultations with TVET stakeholders such as TVET state management agencies, line ministries, professional associations, enterprises and TVET institutes the draft  set of criteria was agreed upon.

During the Training course  participants were introduced to the revised criteria and coached on the method and process of self-evaluation of TVET institutes. The self-evaluation phase of the partner TVET institues will start on 28 Novermber 2016. Following the self-evaluation, the external evaluation will be conducted until the end of 2016. Experiences and findings will be discussed at a final review workshop in February. The results of this workshop will be a valuable reference for MoLISA in the finalisation of the proposal for the amendment of the current six criteria for High Quality TVET Institutes stipulated in the Prime Minister Decision 761.

“We are very grateful for the trust of VVTAA in the cooperation with GIZ and KOICA”, Ms. Britta van Erckelens, Deputy Director of the Programme Reform of TVET in Viet Nam, reinforced at the closing of the training course. The revision of the criteria gives GDVT the chance to institutionalise many of the joint efforts within the frame of the Programme Reform of TVET in Viet Nam towards demand-driven TVET in Viet Nam. The cooperation between all relevant stakeholders and especially the cooperation with the business sector in TVET will not only lead to high quality TVET according to the objectives of the TVET Strategy 2011-2020, but contribute to the provision of a skilled labour force which meets the demands of the business sector in Viet Nam and in the ASEAN market.”