Within the framework of activities to develop a German standard-oriented training program for the profession of Wastewater Treatment under the Programme Reform of TVET in Viet Nam – GIZ, the workshop was held at Hue Industrial College during 15 – 17 February.

The aim of the workshop was to consolidate suggestions to complete the curriculum for three modules compiled by the lecturers of the College of Construction No. 1 and the College of Technology II; as well as agree on the 2023 work plan for the group of partner colleges.

The workshop welcomed 33 delegates who are the lecturers of Wastewater Treatment faculty at three partner colleges and company representatives participating in the development of the training programme as well as representives of GIZ and GOPA Consulting Group.      

At the beginning of the workshop, Ms. Nguyen Thu Hien and Ms. Vu Linh Huyen Trang from the College of Construction No. 1 presented about compiling detailed lectures for Module 3 on Operation of wastewater collection and drainage network; and followed by Module 4 on Maintenance of drainage networks. The next day, Ms. Tran Thi Loan and Nguyen Thi Minh Hue from the College of Technology II gave a presentation on the content of Module 6 on Operating a wastewater treatment plant in the 12-module curriculum by German standards.       

Lecturers from the three colleges as well as company representatives were divided into groups to discuss the modules as well as the practical exercises. The participants shared experiences and cooperated to develop the materials in the most effective way.       

Ms. Maria Zandt – Deputy Program Director of TVET – GIZ, emphasized that revision of these materials is extremely important, especially for the implementation of the programme. Moreover, the opinions of company representatives play an important role in ensuring the training content will meet the actual needs of the job market.                      

After adjusting the modules, the delegates agreed on the cooperation plan and assigned to deploy the remaining modules of the training program in 2023. On the last day, the lecturers also had a hands-on exchange in the lab at Hue Industrial College, and shared valuable experiences with experiments on BOD (a measure of the amount of oxygen required to remove organic wastes from water during decomposition by aerobic bacteria) or COD (the amount of oxygen needed to oxidize chemical compounds in water including both inorganic and organic). 

The workshop was a great opportunity to connect colleges and businesses to contribute to the development of the Collaborative Training model, helping students of the colleges to increase their practice time at enterprises. In addition, the lecturers at the partner colleges had their professional knowledge as well as teaching capacity strengthened to continue implementing the transferred program.