A greater level of autonomy regarding organisational structure, personnel and finance, is a prerequisite for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutes to efficiently meet the demands of the business sector for a skilled workforce. Focusing on this topic, a study trip to Germany was organised in November 2018 within the frame of the Vietnamese-German Programme “Reform of TVET in Viet Nam”. The activity aimed at providing key Vietnamese stakeholders and policy makers an overall understanding about the German TVET system and the efficient operation of TVET institutes in order to develop a socially acceptable legal framework enhancing effectiveness and efficiency of TVET institutes. Participants of the study trip included leaders and experts from the Directorate of Vocational Educational and Training (DVET), the Ministry of Labour Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), Government Office, the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) , Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and TVET institutes in Vietnam including those piloting the “autonomy mechanism”.

During the study trip, delegates obtained a wide range of professional and diverse information as well as opportunities to exchange experiences with German experts, trainers and policy makers of the German vocational training system. Visiting the Federal Vocational Training Institute (BIBB) in Bonn, the Magdeburg Technical School,  the in-company training centre of Potsdam, a training center in Wolfsburg, and various enterprises providing TVET, the delegates were introduced to key success factors of the German dual training system, one of which is a close involvement of the business sector in the training process. The delegates also got an overview of the key principles of financial and human resource management in public and private TVET institutes.

“These are useful impulses and new inputs that we can apply in the process of enhancing autonomy of TVET institutes to improve the effectiveness of the TVET system in Viet Nam in the upcoming time,” said Ms Khuong Thi Nhan, Director of the Programme Management Unit of  National Target Programmes on TVET, DVET.

The activitiy was held within the field of activity “Policy Advice and System Reform” 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).