“Reading technical documents as well as the professional operation and maintenance of mechanical and electrical testing and measuring devices used in mechanical engineering are prerequisite qualifications for professional work planning and quality assurance during the whole manufacturing process”, explained Mr. Ricardo Bartsch. He is one of the German trainers who conducted the further training courses “Technical Communication”, “Testing and Measuring Technology” and “Conventional Metal Cutting” for up to 25 key teachers of LILAMA 2 International Technology College (LILAMA 2), Vocational College of Machinery and Irrigation (VCMI) and Dong Nai College of High Technology (DCoHT).

Building up on the acquired knowledge and skills in technical communication and measuring technology, the key teachers also enhanced and deepened their knowledge and skills in manufacturing of work pieces and sub-assemblies with conventional machine tools. “The participants proved their competence in realising real work orders independently during the conventional metal cutting course. They planned projects, manufactured work pieces on lathe and milling machines, assembled and aligned parts as well as checked and documented functions and measurements according to the required quality”, defined Mr. Thomas Schaefer, an expert in conventional metal cutting.

The three practice-oriented training courses with a duration of 180 hours were specifically designed for Metal Cutting-CNC and Construction Mechanics teachers. They were also relevant to some extent for Mechatronics teachers. The courses were conducted in the training workshops and testing laboratories at LILAMA 2 in Long Thanh, Dong Nai Province from 16 April to 17 May 2018.

As the next step, the newly acquired competences of LILAMA 2, VCMI and other TVET teachers of Dong Nai will be further developed and consolidated through international trainings in manufacturing of complex project works by CNC machine tools.

The series of training courses is part of a comprehensive further training concept for teaching staff of LILAMA2, VCMI and other qualified TVET teaching staff in the region. The concept aims at developing practical professional competences of vocational trainers comparable to the competences of a German skilled worker in the industrial occupations of Metal Cutting-CNC, Construction Mechanics, Industrial Electronics and Mechatronics.

The training courses were 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 (BMZ).