“I highly appreciate the experience and working style of the two German experts. Within three working days, the two experts gave immediate feedback on the strengths and detailed potential improvements of our college. This valuable feedback will help us to improve the quality in the short term as well as in the long term. ” shared Mr Tran Xuan Ngoc, Vice Rector of Ha Noi Vocational College of High Technology at the final workshop on the evaluation results of three colleges’ quality based on a German quality evaluation framework. The final workshop took place on 2 November 2018, in Hanoi. It is one of activities under the cooperation framework between the Vocational Education and Training Accreditation Agency (VETA), the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training (DVET) and the Vietnamese-German Programme “Reform of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Viet Nam” about quality evaluation of colleges based on German quality evaluation framework in 2018.

In August 2018, 16 representatives from the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training (DVET), Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutes, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and TVET auditors went on a study trip to Germany to get to know different quality management and evaluation frameworks in Germany. After returning to Viet Nam, the participants chose one German quality evaluation framework as basis for evaluation of three high quality TVET institutes in Viet Nam. The selected colleges for evaluation are Ha Noi Vocational College of High Technology, the Vocational College of Machinery and Irrigation (VCMI) in Dong Nai province and the College of Technology II in Ho Chi Minh City.

After the training course on 23 October ,2018, in Hanoi, the two German experts, Mr Prippernau and Mr Wolf with the support of six domestic auditors, spent nine days in evaluating the quality of the three TVET institutes according to the selected German quality evaluation framework. At the final workshop, the two experts presented the evaluation results of the three colleges. VETA and the participants exchanged opinions on the orientation of international quality evaluation in the future. They discussed how to change the way to evaluate and asses, focussing on being an advisor rather than an inspector or controller. Detailed evaluation results and recommendations for the system level institute level will be synthesised by the German experts into the official report and sent to VETA / DVET and the management of the three colleges in the coming time.

Dr. Juergen Hartwig, Director of the Programme “Reform of TVET in Viet Nam” emphasised: “I am confident that the report’s recommendations will support the decision-making process to improve the quality management system. These contents will be the basis for colleges to improve the quality in accordance with the requirements of the economy”.

At the closing of the workshop, Dr Pham Vu Quoc Binh, Director of VETA, confirmed that the quality evaluation has met its objectives and suggested that the three colleges plan to improve the quality based on the recommendations of the two experts. Recommendations for the system level will be used to adjust quality assurance and accreditation circulations in the coming years. Dr Binh also expressed his desire to continue to cooperate with the Vietnamese-German Programme “Reform of TVET in Viet Nam” on this topic.

This activity took place within the component “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) GmbH in cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA).