Shortages in recruiting skilled workers have made many Foreign Direct Investment companies (FDI) in Vietnam engage with training at the workplace. Training on the job has become a highly effective solution in TVET Vietnam. It has, however, been considered an informal learning model concerning Vietnam TVET law, applied mostly in the logistics and engineering branches. Besides efforts from industry, TVET Vietnam has also received support from partner countries via foreign agencies such as JICA from Japan, KOICA from South Korea, GIZ (German development agency), and DIHK from Germany, which research on human resources and the impact of labour force quality on industry’s skills demand. This is in order to give advice concerning TVET policies or provide solutions for bridging gaps between TVET stakeholders, such as strengthening cooperation in training via the development of a dual training model or a tripartite model between vocational schools and enterprises as well as promoting TVET trainers and teachers’ training in order to upgrade their qualifications and acknowledge informal training. This paper summarizes the author’s observations and participation in TVET Vietnam to sketch out insights into cooperation in training programs and introduces some lessons learned from international practices that have had an impact on changes in policy and TVET training in Vietnam. It will also discuss how TVET Vietnam can learn from international practices in setting up cooperation in curricula development and organizing cooperative training operations between important main TVET stakeholders: companies and state-run vocational schools. Finally, the paper offers suggestions on applicable cooperative training solutions, such as the dual model and clustering in cooperative training operations related to international experiences.

Keywords: international experiences, cooperative training, skills demand, dual training

1        Introduction

International collaboration on research is crucial for TVET Vietnam, particularly in view of globalization and TVET reform. Collaboration brings valuable support to the TVET reform process due to increasing accessibility to international resources and experts who advocate new breakthrough ideas and efforts in order to refine TVET system management, foster industry involvement, and build interconnection with international partners. In the case of TVET Vietnam, the Government has an obvious awareness of human resource development and the importance of a qualified workforce supply for economic development by establishing a new curriculum, retraining TVET teachers, making efforts to strengthen partnerships between businesses and training institutions, establishing a qualification framework, as well as publishing an initial TVET law. However, these efforts have had insufficient impact on attempts to innovate the TVET system. For example, the TVET law, introduced in 2006, became subsequently obsolete because making policy on developing and strengthening the TVET system involving relevant matters such as strategy planning, funding mechanism designing, socialization of TVET, institutions and relevant stakeholders networking, and system management should be investigated and researched carefully and scholastically to avoid shortcomings. In research on the value of collaboration between public training institutions and private industries, Rashidi (2013) has designed research very carefully by establishing research questions, based on applying qualitative and quantitative research methods to signify that the most important factor affecting TVET collaboration is setting cooperation goals. Meanwhile, other factors, such as management in cooperation or partnership development, are less decisive in building collaboration between other sides in the TVET system. Consequently, the goal is primarily building good cooperation and “needs to be explained and discussed and be transparent to all individual partners” (Rashidi 2013, 14).

Dr. Vinh, former researcher of Ministry of Education and Training has pointed out the root causes of the mismatch between the supply and demand of the labour workforce in his conference paper, held in Bangkok, Thailand, that “some existing policies show many shortcomings partly due to limited competences of managers and partly because of not being based on scientific research” (Vinh 2002, 4). The importance of the vocational educational scientific approach, defined as “access to work, work processes, changes in the work and the related implications”, the result of which can be used for “the design of curricula and consequences for learning processes” (Schröder et al. 2013, 5). Therefore, experiences, especially, exchanged within Regional Cooperation Associations such as the Regional Centre for Vocational and Technical Education and Training Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO VOCTECH), the Regional Cooperation Platform for Vocational Teacher Education in Asia (RCP) and UNEVOC, are essential to providing guidelines for TVET Vietnam to make policy on TVET based on research on mechanism in cooperation of schools with industry, privatization of TVET schools, introduction of vocational higher education, law and regulation of TVET, standardized qualifications, accreditation. With international support, TVET Vietnam has been accelerating reform to build a better TVET institutional network, better the skills of TVET teachers and trainers, as well as generate partnerships with industry.

2        Experiences of the “In-house training” model from foreign direct investment (FDI) companies in Vietnam were the first catalysts for the idea of coordinating training between enterprises and state-run vocational institutions

TVET plays an important role in providing human resources for industry, delivering an impulse to development in each country. TVET has even become a backbone in developing countries such as Vietnam, where state-run vocational schools dominate the training system as the main human resource provider for the labour market, but the labour pool cannot fulfil industry demand because of a skills mismatch in training. The Vietnam TVET system, with over 200 technical vocational colleges and 125 vocational schools, has exposed a deficiency in skilled workers in a wide range of industries when the training is organized and provided only in schools without involving companies or with a minority of industries providing short-term internships or a traineeship. Consequently, trainees can only learn theory and practices related to the job at school through workplace-simulated training activities. This causes a gap between what trainees can learn about occupations at school and the skills expected from an employee at the workplace. The absence of authentic scenarios in the professional qualification frameworks is still a major issue in TVET Vietnam when upskilling to a better-qualified industry workforce. The Agency of Japan International Cooperation (JICA) has indicated the cause of this shortage, which is a lack of information on skill requirements from the labour market that can be used as material for a training program or curriculum. The imbalance between skills needs and skills supply has its roots in the difficulty of determining the skills needs of industry (JICA 2014, 1). Accordingly, experiences in conducting adaptive solutions such as an “in-house training” model to overcome skills shortages, which is assumed to be an ideal suggestion for policy making and is concerned with TVET system management and curriculum development such as enhancing interconnection between two main stakeholders of TVET system in providing internship or traineeship.

The first example of in-house training can be considered MUTO’s. When MUTO, a foreign direct investment (FDI) company, came to Vietnam to set up and operate its plant in Vietnam, it already had to handle the challenge of a skilled workforce shortage and had to conduct in-house training to solve this problem immediately because there was no TVET institution or school that provided manpower for precision moulding and die-processing at the time. Therefore, MUTO Vietnam, a Japanese company based in Vietnam since 1995, have had to train their workforce internally since 1998 and have since expanded its training capacity to support other companies in the same professional field. The model of in-house training and training by job rotation are notable characteristics of Japanese enterprises, where novices are guided by experienced workers at the workplace and can learn requisite skills to fulfil their duties after recruitment. The skilled worker acts as a mentor who will show and train their mentees through detailed working operations at the workplace. Training activities are also divided into phases in which training results are recorded and reported as references for following training activities and are used to assess how the novices are qualified step by step. The Japanese FDI enterprises applied a holistic training system like in Japan when they arrived in Vietnam. In the case of MUTO, a company with 2600 workers, the in-house training operations have initially been firstly conducted privately. Then, they established a training institute for moulding and die-processing. After 30 years, the company now has two training centres, one in Bien-Hoa industrial zone in Southern Vietnam and one in Hanoi in Northern Vietnam. Its model has set an example for other companies in their sector. In-house training and training by job rotation are now also implemented in many Vietnamese companies in the same sector, such as Duy-Tan precision mould company, which has a local version of this training model. At Duy-Tan, newly recruited design engineers, considered as novices, will participate in 12-month modular additive training. The training is divided into four sections where the novice will be sent to each functional department such as milling, turning, mould assembly and mould trial procedures respectively. In each stage of adaptive training, the junior engineer will be mentored by a senior worker or engineer who is responsible for leading the junior engineer step by step to handle complex operations with machines and tools. The in-house training operation in Vietnamese companies such as Duy-Tan company can only be organised in the company separately. 

Furthermore, the model of in-house training has been upgraded in the case of Samsung, an FDI from Korea, where the training is now operated with intersections between the company and state-run vocational schools. In the case of Samsung, its workers can deepen their knowledge and even acquire a professional degree by participating in evening classes which are coordinated with local vocational schools. This kind of in-house training differs from training activities at MUTO Vietnam or Duy-Tan where the training programs are purely internal with no collaboration with TVET schools. In contrast, the training process at Samsung is conducted in parallel at two locations: company and schools. Theories and practices are transferred within the framework of an official curriculum as a result of collaboration between the company Samsung and Vietnamese local vocational schools. The process of collaboration between two main important stakeholders in TVET – company and state-run vocational schools – begins with skills need analysis for each working position to define the exact learning content that needs to be taught before training courses are designed and take place in night schools after work. The training model at Samsung Vietnam is similar to the model of quality apprenticeships applied in the USA by German automobile companies such as Volkswagen and BMW and large international corporations in the automation field, such as Siemens (Aring 2014). 

From its experience of in-house training model and its expertise on skills mismatch at Japanese enterprises, the Japanese non-government agency JICA Vietnam has supported many consultants to improve training programmes at vocational schools and technology universities such as Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI) by revising their current curricula. In the case of HaUI, curriculum analysis has revealed that students cannot read or draw mechanical drawings in third-angle projection and are weak at reading the symbols of geometric tolerance, surface roughness, and fitting and tolerance. Based on the above findings, JICA has run a project to improve the mechanical drawing courses at the vocational college, professional secondary, professional college, and university levels by adding learning content to current curricula on the third angle projection method, which Japanese companies generally use, as well as the fields of fitting and tolerance, geometric tolerance, and surface roughness. This provides students with more drawing exercises for third-angle projection and drawing with symbols of fitting and tolerance, geometric tolerance, and surface roughness. The improvement has also had an effect on textbooks by adding the third-angle projection method and drawing symbols of fitting and tolerance, geometric tolerance, and surface roughness. In addition, the project also supports lecturers who teach mechanical drawing by developing simulators such as a transparent box, which enables them to easily teach the difference between the first angle projection and the third angle projection (JICA 2014, 20-21).

As a result, the in-house training model in TVET Vietnam has encouraged collaboration between industry and state-run training institutions in establishing training programs and having workers train together while exchanging teachers and trainers. There are many training centres placed in industrial zones to provide manpower for companies within the industry zone. This model also provides material for many research papers; Dang and Nguyen have evaluated the impact of the training programs industry on workers’ qualifications. According to the research of Dang and Nguyen, training in Vietnam’ manufacturing sectors comprises two types: pre-employment and in-employment training which are seen as “noteworthy contributions” and play “a crucial role in fulfilling their industry’s skill requirements” (Dang & Nguyen 2024, 8). These training types are normally organized on the job or in service and need to transform into formal training operations of the state-driven TVET system with reference to the national qualification framework in order to formalize the informal “in-house” training model and acknowledge it subject to Vietnam TVET law (Vo 2018). Work-process qualification research is also conducted by applying qualitative and quantitative methods in coordination with an in-house training model (Vo 2019). Finally, the in-house training model ignites the development “strategies and frame conditions to improve the design and delivery of demand-oriented vocational training” in cooperation between the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, the GIZ and the General Department for Vocational Training, an important department of Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs which is responsible for the Vietnamese-German Programme Reform of TVET in Vietnam. This collaboration will be discussed in the next part of the paper.

3        Researches on human resources and skills demand of foreign agencies as guideline for TVET curriculum development

Foreign agencies such as KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency), JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), as well as the World Bank, also play a relevant role in advancing know-how on skills mismatch in TVET Vietnam. The Japanese non-government agency JICA, for example, publishes reports annually on the human resources of TVET Vietnam based on research at Japanese enterprises in Vietnam, which can be used as material for curriculum design and as guidelines for Vietnamese ministries with regard to vocational issues to align better skills requirement from industry. In its latest report, JICA informs readers on the demand for human resources, which it has collected via quantitative surveys and in-depth interviews at Japanese companies in Vietnam and states that basic cognitive skills should be added to ICT skills and knowledge. This is noteworthy because ICT skills and knowledge have become a part of the workplace in all sectors, including the manufacturing sector, and these skills and knowledge have become an essential skill requirement from an industry perspective besides other skill groups such as speciality skills and knowledge involved with job-specific technical skills; soft skills (creativity, teamwork & cooperation, ability to work independently, effective communication, negotiation, organization management, leadership & coaching skill, emotional intelligence) and advanced cognitive skills (active learning, problem-solving, logical thinking) (JICA 2022, 141). On the other hand, JICA Vietnam often issues advice on reducing the mismatch of skills demands by raising awareness of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions and recognizing the necessity to improve training programs based on industry skills demands. The Vietnamese TVET system should accordingly lay the foundation for a social partnership between stakeholders consisting of TVET institutions, industry, and the Government to coordinate capacities between these stakeholders in implementing the workforce training. Moreover, TVET Vietnam should be transformed from a supply-driven skills development concept in which TVET institutions provide training merely based on their perceptions, not paying sufficient attention to employers’ skills demands to skills development through social partnerships, in which training curriculum and content are designed in alignment with employers’ skills demand (JICA 2014, 1).

Vietnam’s vocational education and training report is also a publication on human resources and skills demand, as well as the achievements of TVET Vietnam as a result of the collaboration of Vietnam National Institute for Vocational Education and Training with the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, with the financial support of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB). The report provides a summary of the TVET sector’s performance highlights such as policies for TVET, TVET for the labour market, networking in TVET and between TVET institutes, etc. In its latest issue, it devises TVET development strategies for the period from 2021 to 2030 with a vision to 2045 to guide the sector’s advancement and define specific targets to be achieved by 2025. The system makes an effort to enrol school leavers to increase the rate of qualified workers, enhances training activities by advancing the qualifications of TVET teachers and managers, and standardizes learning outcomes of training occupations aligned to the National Qualifications Framework’s classification of qualifications levels. The system also accredits TVET programmes and institutes and establishes rankings for TVET institutes from national and regional TVET centres to high-quality TVET institutes as well (GIZ 2023, 11). The report describes the development of national occupational skill standards (NOSS) in TVET Vietnam, which includes 199 sets of NOSS and 96 sets of NOS tests built and ready for use. NOSS and NOS tests are key factors in qualifying the workforce because all training components should be fixed in reference to NOSS. The association between the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and the Vietnam National Institute for Vocational Education and Training also produced a handbook for setting up effective partnerships with companies in vocational training, which can be used as a guideline for TVET Institutions in Vietnam to prepare collaboration with companies: Project-oriented cooperation such as the maintaining air conditioning systems on the company’s shop floor; setting up internships with potential industry partner to send students for some weeks in designated fields inside the company; as well as inviting representative of the company as advisors on the board of the college (Buechelem 2014, 15). In addition, the association has promoted analysing current and future industry demands to develop and integrate Industry 4.0 training modules into initial training TVET programmes, which comprise four training units: Object Oriented Programming, Microcontroller Programming, Database Systems, Data visualisation with dashboards. This module is an addition or adaptation of the knowledge and skills of the Vietnamese workforce in the new competence requirements on digitalisation and Industry 4.0, resulting from collaboration in research between vocational school Lilama2 and Bosch Rexroth, a FDI company. Consequently, foreign agencies such as GIZ and JICA play a crucial role in the whole system by playing the role of coordinators of the state-run TVET system and private sectors. These agencies normally conduct research on human resources in cooperation with the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training (DVET) in the case of GIZ and within the framework of the Vietnamese-German Programme “Reform of TVET in Viet Nam”, which is implemented to upskill the workforce and complete training system based on partnership with industry. In the case of JICA Vietnam, it mostly visits Japanese companies in Vietnam to analyse demand for the labour workforce, predict future employment requirements, and implement projects with Vietnamese colleges and universities to qualify better-skilled workers.

4        Partnership between Germany and Vietnam: Projects of GIZ on TVET and Dual training model of AHK/DIHK Vietnam as catalyst for Public Private Partnership between Industry and state-run vocational schools and colleges

Collaboration in research has generated many ideas to build a better and more efficient TVET institute network. Germany contributes significantly to the development of TVET Vietnam. InWEnt – abbreviation for German “Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung gGmbH”, founded in 2002, is an institution with worldwide operations in the field of bilateral development and international cooperation, with a focus on building capacity in TVET, especially of the workforce, in order to teach and design TVET law. It has operated many projects to support development for advanced education and training, engaging in dialogue and networking advisory services for Human Resource Development for TVET Vietnam as well. Processing Water Programme (2005 to 2008) focused on relevant factors such as providing professional knowledge on water resources, providing methodical competence to preserve water resources, fostering regional cooperation, assessing capacity-building-related needs, raising awareness on water management-related topics, and disseminating best practices. The main aim of the project is to build the capacity of personnel in water sector institutions in order to improve the efficiency of these organisations (Palenberg 2009, 3). In addition, InWEnt has also begun many operations to develop better-qualified trainers and teachers for TVET Vietnam, augment the capacity of technical and vocational schools, and bridge gaps between human resource providers and the demand from the industry by setting up partnerships between them. In the case of TVET Vietnam, collaboration with GIZ has a long tradition in the relationship between the two countries, Germany and Vietnam. Besides projects to strengthen Vietnamese teachers and instructors and the whole TVET system as well, GIZ has also conducted projects to assist the law-making competency of the government, such as the project “Enhancement of law-making capacity in the Government Office” to help the Government Office improve law-making work in the period of 2008. The Project also contributed to strengthening mutual understanding and enriching experience and legal knowledge. Furthermore, innovation and reform projects conducted within TVET Vietnam from 2020-2024 by GIZ include the following key areas: digital transformation, greening TVET, industry cooperation, promoting TVET, rehabilitating, quality assurance in TVET, reforming policy on TVET, supporting high-quality TVET institutions (see Fig.1). These areas have had a major impact on aligning TVET better to the changing world of work, which will be more involved in new areas, such as digitalization and greening in the TVET schools network, where GIZ has become a partner. TVET reform initiated in collaboration with GIZ has been developed and expanded to more profound solutions such as transforming modern modular training programmes at intermediates and college levels in order to align with the same curriculum as in Germany in order to meet German or even international standards and in line with Vietnamese requirements and regulations as well. Within the framework of the project, nine of eleven colleges also received modern technical facilities to fulfil training requirements at international standards (see Fig 1 below for more details).

Figure 1: GIZ and its Activities with Partners in Projects on Reforming TVET Vietnam (source: GIZ Vietnam)

Moreover, GIZ with its experience in workplace training, has also collaborated with business and industry sectors to promote the development and update of demand-oriented standards and training programmes for in-house training activities. GIZ has supported companies in qualifying in-company trainers and examiners and in conducting joint training at TVET institutes and at enterprises, as well. GIZ has encouraged networking between stakeholders in TVET by building and strengthening skills councils and industry advisory boards. In addition, GIZ can be a bridge between internationally and nationally renowned companies by developing partnerships between them to found high-quality TVET Institutes ‒ the international vocational college Lilama 2 in Long-Thanh commune, Dong Nai province, as an example. GIZ also holds annual meetings and conferences on the topic of cooperation in TVET Vietnam to exchange experience in coordinating training between companies and vocational schools according to the model “one plus one in one training system”, a replica of the dual training system in Germany, considered a well-known originator of the system. Collaboration on training between Bosch Vietnam Co., Ltd and Lilama 2 International Technology College is best practice for a partnership in TVET. Bosch, with its experience in dual training, has established a partnership considered a model of public-private partnerships with the International Vocational College of Technology Lilama 2 to train 35 mechatronics students every year. Training operations are organized and managed the same as with the dual training in Germany or in Bosch Training Centres all over the world. Students can learn the required knowledge at the vocational school Lilama 2 and practise their occupational skills at Bosch Training Centre before they are sent to a real workplace in the company in the last academic year. 

Another shining example of cooperative training in TVET is DIHK, the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam, founded in 1994, an organization representing German companies in Vietnam. DIHK comprises business representatives of German organizations in Vietnam, such as Messe Düsseldorf, the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt, Messe Berlin, the Free State of Bavaria, the Spielwarenmesse eG, Messe Nürnberg, etc. The organization has great experience in dual training and has recognized the shortage of skilled labour force in Vietnam, especially in logistics. It has likewise executed dual training programmes in Vietnam. DIHK’s principle of dual training operation is similar to Germany’s. DIHK acts as a coordinator who assists German companies that want to operate dual training according to German standards in the company and helps find suitable Vietnamese partners such as vocational schools, colleges, and even universities who can be the best in finding dual training (see Fig.2). The DIHK/AHK Vietnam is the first contact point when finding partners for German companies, i.e. training consultants for each dual training activity according to standard A, B or C of DIHK, and coordinates the training process as well. Moreover, DIHK ensures education quality during dual training process by monitoring training activities, as well as the structure and administration of the training. The DIHK services not only include finding Vietnamese vocational training centres as cooperation partners but also advising interested companies about the establishment, development, and implementation of suitable training programs in Vietnam. The DIHK/AHK Vietnam also manages examinations and generates and manages certificates and qualifications based on German DIHK standards to assist companies with the development of qualified specialists by passing on success factors of the German education, including a combination between the theoretical training phase and working process in firms (see Fig 2 below).

Figure 2: Cooperation model in dual training activity, provided by DIHK (source: GIC/AHK Vietnam 2021, 8)

DIHK’s dual training model focuses on freight forwarding and logistics. In this program, German industry members such as A. Hartrodt Logistics Vietnam Co., Ltd; Bollore Logistics Vietnam; CEVA Logistics Vietnam Co., Ltd; Gebrüder Weiss Co., Ltd; Logwin Air + Ocean Vietnam Co., Ltd; Pepperl + Fuchs Vietnam Co., Ltd; Rhenus Freight Vietnam LLC; Schenker Vietnam Co., Ltd. Former partners: Geodis Vietnam Co., Ltd; IN DO Trans Logistics Corporation; Karl Gross Logistics Vietnam have contacted and recruited the best candidates, who are normally 2-year students from Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport, via an event such as an open day held at the University every year. After that, students who join the dual training will learn theory at the University as usual and spend most of their time in partner companies as apprentices. The proportion of working time spent at the company will increase steadily during the academic year before students can work as full-time members of the company in the last academic year. Training contents are agreed upon and organized in cooperation with DIHK Vietnam. The program members, the companies, should transfer essential knowledge and skills of the occupation, adapted into learning fields such as the process-oriented delivery of freight forwarding and logistics services, the transport and shipment of goods, logistics services, agreements, liability and insurance, marketing and learning objectives, information and communication systems, transport and shipment of goods, consolidated cargo and general cargo, as well as warehouse logistics. Skills and knowledge that must be transferred are described comprehensively for each learning field, for example “Warehouse logistics” learning field, students should show competencies after finishing such as:

• explain services in warehouse logistics;
• describe types of warehouse organization, and present the warehouse system which is used by the training company;
• present the warehouse workflows and integrate them into logistical processes;
• assess the potential of plants, machines and equipment in the warehouse due to transport, conveying and packaging;
• distinguish goods due to storage facilities;
• use warehouse documents;
• supervise the record of warehouse data and the forwarding of them within the transport chain.

During the training process, The DIHK observes the process to ensure that learning contents should be taught at the university and, conversely, skills should be trained in the company. References for the dual training are the curriculum used at the university and the training outline used at the company in parallel in which skills and knowledge are derived from vocational training occupational profile, built and consulted according to German standards in consultation with DIHK. Both skills and knowledge required should be agreed upon by the two main stakeholders of the program: partner universities and logistic companies. All information about the department where apprentices will be sent, the duration of the training operation, and the name of the trainer must be made clear, and training results are checked annually.

Public-private partnerships and the dual training model are breakthroughs in TVET Vietnam, as a result of the collaboration in research and making an effort to build a more efficient TVET networks in which training should be driven by both sides of TVET. Obviously, training should happen in two places: TVET institutions and enterprises. In addition, training content should also be conducted by TVET schools and partner companies. However, the partnership and dual training model could not be extended to the whole system of TVET Vietnam due to the mind-set of the industry, especially Vietnamese companies, as they have not recognized the advantages of dual training in training a qualified workforce and shy away from the training costs.

5        Conclusions

At present, TVET Vietnam is still in transition from a supply-driven skills development through a demand-driven skills development towards the training model of skills development by social partnerships. The transformation was first initiated by FDI companies that had to overcome skills shortages and skills gaps as quickly as possible. With their experiences in managing in-house training, these companies have achieved some singular results in building their own qualified workforce capacity to maintain and develop manufacturing processes in their enterprises. In-house training was then expanded widely to include Vietnamese companies that demand highly qualified skilled workers. However, the Public Private Partnership (PPP) and dual training model could not be broadened to the whole system due to the financial capacity and experiences of domestic companies. Therefore, the impact of the PPP and dual training model is not so significant in TVET Vietnam, although coordination between two important stakeholders of TVET – industry and TVET institutions – is prescribed in the law of technical and vocational training, and contributions by industry in TVET are acknowledged and protected by law. The difficulty in promoting PPP may be due to a lack of a full National Vocational Qualification Framework in TVET Vietnam, which can be used as a commitment for coordination in training at dual learning places: TVET schools and workplaces. On the other hand, Vietnamese companies that have limitations in finance and in training human resources are still not engaged in dual training. Therefore, collaboration with vocational institutes in training the workforce is still constrained. This is a huge barrier to making a more efficient TVET system, which needs the involvement of some professional associations such as DIHK to promote a combination of training between industry and schools or colleges.

References

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The model of school-based training in Vietnamese TVET is currently preventing the country from obtaining a qualified workforce. This is due to a skills mismatch. Training in the workplace is, therefore, a pertinent solution to reduce the discrepancy in expectations for qualified labour between employees’ skills and jobs. Companies in Vietnam have tried to conduct training at the workplace over the years. When the industry is based on manual work, the chances of this being successful are higher. However, as Vietnamese industry rapidly shifts to advanced technologies such as CNC, there is an increasingly urgent demand for well-trained workers who can, for example, operate CNC centres independently and solve problems that may occur during their shifts. Strengthening cooperation between TVET stakeholders in Vietnam, in which vocational schools and enterprises play key roles, will enhance the quality of the workforce. This paper intends to provide models of cooperation for TVET in Vietnam, organising formal and informal training with appropriate recognition and accreditations. Moreover, the paper will suggest some possible solutions (curriculum development collaborating, coordinating training, etc.) for strengthening cooperation between stakeholders of TVET in Vietnam in order to make coordination a permanent feature of training.

Keywords: Coordinating in training, curriculum development collaborating, school-based training.

1        Introduction

TVET Vietnam is a typically state-driven system in which training activities mainly take place in schools and trainees are isolated from industry due to TVET governance in Vietnam. The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) plays a major role in issuing and supervising curricula and establishing occupational skill standards (see Fig. 1). This summary shows that corporate interference in the development of curricula and the setting of vocational qualification standards has diminished.

In this top-down management system of TVET, industry can only get involved with TVET training as internship providers. This restricts opportunities of enhancing experiences of the working world to TVET trainees who are employed by companies and spend at least three to six months in manufacturing, for example, during their apprenticeships. However, apprenticeships are often of a superficial nature when there is no clearly defined commitment or consultation between stakeholders (vocational schools who send TVET trainees into companies and the companies where practical training is hosted) in terms of the content of apprenticeships and no direct correlation with professional qualifications which a worker should attain after graduation. Most internships or apprenticeships in TVET Vietnam are organised or promoted are dependent on the goodwill of industry. This can result in trainees failing to gain worthwhile work experiences during their apprenticeships, either because the company does not allow apprentices to participate in their manufacturing procedures or due to unstructured conditions of the working environment. A director of a metal mould producing company admitted that: “Normally, we do not know exactly what we should do with apprentices sent to us by vocational schools, because they – the schools – do not communicate the outcomes of the apprenticeship.” (Source: voice recording, author’s field trip). The statement indicates typical shortcomings in “cooperation and coordination issues” (BIBB 2020, 3) in TVET Vietnam when the TVET system is not built on complementary training content. This situation is magnified by ineffective cooperation between stakeholders. Curricula are issued by the state, marginalising industry’s participation in curriculum development. This, in turn, presents a challenge to enterprises in the recruitment process. It is difficult for them to find qualified workers due to a skills mismatch. Promoting informal training in which trainees are integrated into the workplace and engaged in meaningful professional activities (in the manufacturing industry) would help to solve the skills mismatch problem. Informal training solutions can show workers how to deal with simple or manual operations, but qualified workers – and a highly skilled workforce in particular – could be trained in unique forms of advanced education (vocational school, college and higher) in which they are emerged in stimulating working conditions which bring professional knowledge and skills together. They need to be prepared to face ongoing changes in technology by practising learning and communication skills. A qualified worker can be characterised by the ability to apply knowledge and skills in performing complicated tasks, by demonstrating the capacity to adapt quickly to technological innovation and by creating new knowledge and skills demanded in the workplace, based on what they have learned through training. Skilled industrial workers are competent at applying knowledge, converting their talent into needed skills in manufacturing, developing their abilities and spreading their knowledge in technology transformation (adapted from Mori et al. 2009; Teichler 1995; ILSSA 2014). Kenichi Ohno defines a well-trained workforce as being capable of “manufacturing for the primary purpose of achieving customer satisfaction through high quality in the spirit of a proud and dedicated artisan, rather than just making profits” (Ohno 2009, 9). They are furthermore “expected to engage in higher-order thinking, such as problem solving, decision making, and critical analysis, as part of their jobs, rather than merely performing routine work behaviours” (Jacobs 2019, 8).

The shortage of skilled labour reflects the actual state of TVET in Vietnam. Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) data, drawn from the 2021 annual report of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), states that only 58 percent of workers are trained in the industry and 12 percent are qualified in the labour market (Malesky 2021). This becomes the most problematic factor for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) companies, making it difficult to recruit skilled workers because of an inadequately educated workforce, as noted in the Viet Nam Technical and Vocational Education and Training Sector Assessment of the Asian Development Bank in January 2020 (ADB 2020). Lack of connections with industry is one reason for the inadequately educated workforce in the case of TVET Vietnam. This is generally the weakest point in a state-driven system. It results in trainees lacking sufficient qualifications and underlines the mismatch between the demands of industry and the professional skills of graduate workers when training programmes and curricula are designed in a top-down system (see Fig. 1).

TVET Vietnam is actually in transition from supply-driven skills development to demand-driven skills development with the intention of reducing the skills mismatch, with vocational training schools normally driven by government and employers (including domestic and foreign direct investment companies). The mismatch will become increasingly apparent through the necessity to fulfil industry’s skills demands. The transition or transformation could be supported by reorganising cooperation and coordination issues on the level of governance. The TVET law (Vietnamese Law on Vocational Education and Training) introduced in Vietnam in 2014 is indicative of the transformation which encourages the involvement of employer representatives and enterprises in TVET training in order to enhance commonality in training programmes and to create consistency in training quality assessment (The National Assembly of Socialist Republic of Vietnam 2014). This TVET law addressed many shortcomings such as industry’s participation in TVET training, quality assurance in the TVET system by focusing on standardisation, international integration and permeability, as well as the rights and obligations of enterprises in TVET. Indeed, enterprises’ participation in curricula development and organisation of training are essentiality to build a qualified workforce, work-ready without the need for a phase of integration after they enter employment. For the first time, the law recognises the role of foreign-invested vocational training institutions, as well as giving vocational institutions greater authority to use foreign training programmes of recognised quality to attain training objectives and to cooperate with foreign or international organisations on training activities. Article 34 of the law affords vocational schools and foreign-invested vocational training institutions more freedom to choose and update their training programmes. The law advocates a bottom-up approach to curriculum development which allows for the provision of information about enterprises’ training and recruitment needs as input for the process of curriculum design. Consequently, there are some successful examples of training coordination in the Vietnamese TVET system, such as the cooperation between the state-run vocational school Lilama-2 International Technology College and Bosch Vietnam Company. This is considered as best practice in TVET Vietnam, with a programme designed for dual training activities. Participants in the dual programme will spend three quarters of their training engaged in practical work within Bosch Vietnam’s vocational training centre and one quarter based at the LILAMA2 vocational institution for theoretical education relating to the profession. Bosch Vietnam’s dual vocational training programme with the Lilama College is, an exemplary training programme based on German standards, in which all assessments are conducted in reference to German Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Moreover, informal learnings at the workplace, such as training programmes to enhance vocational knowledge and skills, apprenticeships, technology transfer programmes are now acknowledged as continuing training programmes in relation to Article 40 of the TVET law (The National Assembly of Socialist Republic of Vietnam 2014). They can be granted degrees of college-level or vocational secondary schools and certificates in elementary-level vocational training. This change will help to strengthen industry involvement in TVET.

Piloting Skills Councils is another sign of the transformation to demand-driven skills development in TVET Vietnam, fostering the institutionalisation of employers’ involvement in founding National Vocation Qualifications (NVQs) (NIVT 2019). Unfortunately, participation levels of companies, especially domestic ones, have yet to meet expectations. In-house training under the conditions outlined in Article 34 of the TVET law should have obvious training objectives for each level (elementary, intermediate and college) and clear parameters for the knowledge and skills of graduates. There should be clarity and specificity to the structure of the curriculum, methods and types of training; methods of accreditation of learning outcomes applied to each module, course credit, subject, major, or vocation and level (adapted from the Article 34 of the Vietnam TVET law) (The National Assembly of Socialist Republic of Vietnam 2014). This is a huge challenge for economic sectors in Vietnam. Most domestic private companies lack the personnel, finances and capabilities to build systematic in-house training which would help them to overcome the scarcity of a qualified workforce. They could mentor their own employees after recruitment on a track from apprentice to journeyman to master. Such a system could see an apprentice take instruction from an experienced technician for a mentoring period of 6 months, for example. During this time, the newcomer would learn as much as possible in terms of skills which can be independently deployed in the workplace thereafter. If training is not framed by legally regulated conditions, it can be unreliable and overly dependent on the qualifications and enthusiasm of the instructor. Therefore, adapted training could be considered as informal training without standardised references such as a specific training syllabus training materials to assure that self-study is available to trained workers. This is essential when facing the challenge of rapid changes in manufacturing technology at the workplace in the future. Many companies have tried standardising the work and then converted tasks into scrutinised behavioral components. Training at the workplace in domestic companies is only functional when a worker fulfils certain working duties which are already divided into simple procedural steps or sets of actions and only has to imitate particular behaviours according to instructions. In some cases, manufacturing procedures are organised according to a belt-driven moving assembly line, with groups of workers assigned to tasks at designated work stations, small in size and limited in responsibility. For instance, a CNC operator just has to push a button to stop and start the machine. Other important tasks are done by a core team. The focus on functional training saves time and is more cost-effective for firms but may impact negatively on a company’s human resources during draining and fails to address contemporary demand.

2        Tripartite partnership in TVET Vietnam as a suitable governance model in TVET Vietnam

The shortage of a well-trained workforce is a key consideration for TVET Vietnam, echoed by many representatives of industrial societies such as EuroCham (European Chamber of commerce in Vietnam), JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Agency) Vietnam and the World Bank. The JICA have even assisted the government in promoting a tripartite partnership model, based on “constant interaction with industry” (JICA 2014, 10). A dedicated core of process training management in which training demands are provided by industry and used as materials for curricula development represents the first in a series of seven procedural steps. During training management, connections and conversations are directly sustained to keep training programmes aligned with industry requirements. Curricula are updated annually to account for demand related to latent skills. Evaluation of training programmes and graduates’ qualifications are also important strategic areas for improvement in TVET, implemented through annual meetings between vocational institutions and enterprises to assess industry’s demands. Industry links would help TVET schools or colleges to tailor advanced training at the workplace via short-term courses. Bringing educators from TVET institutions into contact with the reality of the working world will help to improve practical training lessons in schools (adapted from JICA 2014). The tripartite partnership in TVET Vietnam, introduced by JICA, is a real breakthrough, starting from one small step by the Japanese FDI Company MUTO, the first company in Southern Vietnam to organise systematic internal training for mold and dies technicians. The in-house programme has been running since 1998. In their efforts to overcome the lack of mold and dies workers, the company later expanded training for neighbouring companies’ workforces. The company has now even established an institute for training technicians in the field of molds and dies for the whole country. This can be seen as an autopoietic system: a self-organised training activity in which the company strives to solve the shortage of suitable labour by training its own workforce in accordance with demand, independently producing and maintaining the company’s manufacturing capability through the repetition of its own operations – with reference to (Chilean biologists) Maturana and Varela’s definition of the autopoiesis system. In this system, industry tries to handle problems by itself due to the lack of in-house training, the lack of involvement of vocational institutions and the absence of recognised training qualifications. The Korean enterprise Samsung has established a similar model to Bosch, cooperating with not only one, but many, local vocational schools to provide evening courses for its workforce. In this cooperative operation, the company plays also the role of internship host and acts as a consultant on the development of training curricula at partner TVET institutions. Another example of cooperation in conducting training programmes is Vietnam Singapore College (VSC), which established the Singapore Industrial Area in Vietnam. Having begun with short training courses from 3 to 6 months for workforces in the industrial area, it has grown into a vocational college offering basic training courses and bachelor’s courses. The clustering in TVET Vietnam as described in the case of Samsung and VSC, linking a college to companies in the area to design and conduct training courses together, can be viewed as a typical tripartite partnership cooperation in TVET. Finally, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Vietnam is an important element in the foundation of tripartite partnerships in TVET Vietnam, strengthening cooperation between vocational colleges and the business sector. Local enterprises are more involve in nurturing a qualifying workforce and the aforementioned partnership has promoted many training programmes with a curriculum designed under supervision of the administrative body – the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training (DVET). TVET institutions are involved, as are local professional associations such as the Water Supply and Drainage Association with regard to sewage engineering technicians, for example. All programmes operate on a cooperative basis in dual learning places – schools and workplaces. Tripartite partnership can assure the quality of trained human resources and prevent the risk of functional training by maintaining annual coordination between stakeholders of TVET, organised in a legitimised framework. Training curricula issued in the tripartite partnership are tailored to the exact requirements of human resources’ needs in industry. Although the tripartite partnership has many advantages and could be a solution for training up highly-skilled workers, it has yet to make a significant impact on Vietnamese firms due to a lack of depth in the field of personnel management and the absence of appropriate support from state-run TVET institutions. If domestic companies initiate in-house training, they can respond to the challenges of defining demand at the workplace, acknowledging the realities of the working world, as well as outlining and conducting training programmes. Vietnamese enterprises need support in standardising training at the workplace to build their workforce, in collaboration with state-run TVET institutions.

3        Model of school-industry collaboration – lessons learned from the German Industry and Commerce Vietnam (AHK Vietnam) concept

Enhancing involvement from industry and improving standardisation of enterprise-based training in the TVET system are priorities in Vietnam. German companies in Vietnam usually train their qualified workforce according to the dual system and German standards. This entails the AHK Vietnam looking for vocational schools which can meet requirements on facilities, personnel and curriculum. They must also demonstrate a readiness for cooperation in training with industry partners, once the AHK has ascertained demand from companies. In the AHK concept, training activities are conducted in two learning places: vocational schools or colleges as partners in the dual training system for theoretical knowledge and companies (as hosts of dual training system), where apprentices sharpen their labour skills. By combining theory and practice, the integration of the trainee into working processes can be ensured from the beginning. On-the-job training in a dual system provides knowledge for each individual business and practical work experience during the training period. The GIC/AHK Vietnam plays the role of first contact point, training consultant and coordinator during training. Moreover, the quality of education is ensured by the monitored structure and administration of AHK, providing services with the scope of not only finding Vietnamese vocational training centres as cooperation partners, but also advising interested companies on how to set up, develop and implement suitable training programmes in Vietnam. Finally, the GIC/AHK Vietnam performs examinations, manages certification and bases qualifications in line with German DIHK standards. The model of dual training according to German standards has the advantage of transparent information exchange in TVET and underpins consistency in the coordination of training programmes. The curriculum is implemented with two learning places in mind: school and company.

Lesson learned from the AHK concept:

• Training in a dual system should be organised in two different and specific learning places: vocational schools or colleges are the best and most suitable training hubs for delivering theoretical and professional foundations, and partners in industry as spaces where apprentices can build their personal working experiences through daily training activities.
• Partnership between two main relevant stakeholders in TVET is guaranteed by AHK as consultant and coordinator – the service provider plays an important role in monitoring the quality of training and providing assessment.
• Consistency in training can be controlled transparently through a curriculum which is based on the realities of the working world.
• Assessing activities via third parties helps to secure the quality of training.

From the lessons learned above, a model for effective school-industry collaboration can be depicted (Figure 2) which demonstrates the triangular relationship between three important stakeholders in the TVET system: schools or TVET institutions, industry and third parties for assessment – normally professional associations. Training takes place in dual learning sites and activities are conducted with direct reference to the curriculum – underpinned by official commitment between two partners in the system. The curriculum is designed to encompass skills requirements and analysis of work in order to clarify the need for qualification in a specific occupation. Information resources and materials are incorporated into the design of training theory, whilst practical lessons can make the training process more transparent for stakeholders industry and vocational institutions, as well as making the process of qualifying trainees more effective. According to this model, assessment should be done via a third party from industry, representative of companies who lead the market in the field. Professional associations are the most suitable candidates for this position. The central point of the model is the curriculum. All training activities should be linked to qualification, assessment and recognition of trainees.

The model advocates the involvement of industry in training not only as hosts for workplace experience, but also as contributors or consultants in the development of curricula and as observers in assessment and qualification processes. The suggested model is an open allopoiesis system (adapted from the allopoiesis system as defined by Maturana and Varela, two Chilean biologists) – in which requirements and updates from the working world are more easily documented and amended in the training curriculum. Moreover, the model can help processes become more reliable and unbiased through assessment by third parties. The model encourages intervention of important stakeholders of TVET Vietnam in creating a training community which pledges to train a qualified workforce and expand their contribution to the entire Vietnam TVET system, thus ensuring the quality of training. It may help to accelerate completion of a national qualifications framework in TVET Vietnam and boost the participation of companies in TVET.

4        Conclusion

TVET Vietnam has struggled to establish an effective concept of governance which is capable of increasing participation of industry representatives in training activities. Until now, one only player has taken on this task – TVET state-run and private institutions. Curriculum development, training assessment and qualifications are also crucial elements of TVET. So long as curricula are designed by TVET institutions without industry participation, training cannot be at its most effective. The same is true of assessment, which can be unreliable without greater participation of stakeholders in the assessment process. This, in turn, lessens the chances of bridging the gap between TVET training at vocational schools and the needs of industry. Insufficient information on the skills and qualifications required from the perspective of industry, especially latent skills, makes it difficult to build suitable training programmes or create useful training materials. Without the input of industry, the contents of training programmes tend to be too far removed from the realities of the workplace. Inappropriate enterprise-based training could lead to inadequate teaching of skills and ineffective management of skills development. Industry needs highly skilled graduates who are expected to possess proper competencies such as self-reliance, intellectual thinking, communication skills in technology, etc. However, insufficient industry involvement in TVET Vietnam hinders TVET’s efforts to prepare the workforce of the future. On the other hand, many domestic enterprises have initiated their own in-house training schemes in order to tackle the skills shortage in the workforce. Training in the workplace is still considered as informal activity due to lack of didactic instruction, clearly structured courses and trained trainers who are capable of staging training activities in the workplace. TVET Vietnam now needs to boost industry involvement in TVET systems and governance. Training strategies in each company need to be connected and networked into a single system, with TVET institutions supporting industry in designing curricula and developing didactical training methods. Trainers themselves require training as well. An effective model of collaboration is a priority for the Vietnam TVET system. The establishment of a social community in TVET would engender a cooperative spirit and lead to a more effective system of training a highly- skilled workforce to meet the needs of industry and FDI enterprises. The model of school-industry collaboration would motivate key TVET stakeholders to cooperate in preparing a qualified workforce for modern industry.

References

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Voice recording manuscripts of author’s interviews from field trips.

In TVET training, it is important to build learners’ capabilities of employing engineering principles and concepts from training to solve engineering problems; using knowledge of engineering science to analyse existing conditions and define requirements and constraints related to solving a problem in a complete and accurate statement. Students should be able to develop their knowledge and skills with new or updated engineering tools to solve an engineering problem. Learning how to use engineering knowledge to solve problems may be key to developing a well-trained labour force through TVET in Vietnam. This paper will discuss improving students’ clear thinking and mental efforts to enhance relevant soft skills such as critical thinking, design, recognising and solving problems, quality control and quality assurance through innovation. Engineering design concepts embedded in problem-based learning (PBL) will improve learners’ cognitive actions and assessment, along with simulations of work tasks and processes in classroom activities. Results of practice-based research will be presented in this paper. Online teaching experiences can raise instructor’s awareness in TVET training, and instructional activities can encourage learners to develop self-reliant skills.  

This article includes qualitative surveys and quantitative interviews, as well as innovative teaching techniques from previous semesters at UTE. It also introduces some achievements of teaching experiments using problem-based learning (PBL) in strengthening students’ cognitive skills and intellectual habits. 

Keywords: problematic situations, PBL, engineering design concept, systematic approach 

Introduction 

The pandemic has had a big impact on learners and has dramatically changed teaching patterns in TVET. There is a clear shift to learning in the digital world, which necessitates greater autonomy and self-reliance in terms of planning studies. There are some unintended consequences to the pandemic which can be advantageous: lecturers have the chance to change, learners can expand their deep thinking capabilities and develop problem-solving skills independently. The internet opens up big data opportunities to enrich knowledge and skills via digital media.  

TVET instructors teach courses in certain professional fields as experts, based on years of study and work – but they are certainly not experts in teaching others about professional fields. They are more concerned with knowledge transfer than unlocking mechanisms to promote student learning, helping them to find ways to accumulate fresh knowledge. How learning processes really work is extremely important to TVET and adult education. TVET educators need to align their instructional methods to the characteristics of students in order to facilitate students’ accumulation of knowledge and skills. Zimmerman notes that students: 

(1) can personally improve their ability to learn through selective use of meta cognitive and motivational strategies;  

(2) can proactively select, structure, and even create advantageous learning environments; and  

(3) can play a significant role in choosing the form and amount of instruction they need. (Zimmerman 2000, 4)  

Project-based learning (PBL) is a commonly used technique in Vietnam’s TVET as one of the most popular methods to train hand-on skills, especially in the field of technology. However, qualitative surveys conducted in previous semesters at UTE exposed limitations in implementing PBL. Students had difficulty with the project’s initiative, often skipping relevant steps of the engineering design process such as defining problems or analysing/testing results. Unfamiliarity with engineering design processes proved an obstacle. A systematic approach to the design process would help students to deal with projects more effectively. Otherwise, these limitations hinder students in the project design phase, potentially leading to an unstable or unreliable model. To solve these disadvantages of PBL, engineering design has been broken down into an eight-step design process according to Kosky’s model. Integrated into PBL, this strategic approach would support students in thought processes for design. In addition, teaching techniques would be enhanced by focusing on the mechanism of neural connections and the conditions of organised learning processes so that students can utilise prior knowledge in new situations or problems. This would be useful preparation for the world of work, so that students can take on responsible roles on their entry into professional practice and meet the high demands of industry 4.0. 

2. Learning theories as foundation for innovation to support students’ cognitive strength and improve learners’ intellectual habits 

Ambrose et al. (2010) have emphasised that effective teaching must begin with a consideration of how students learn.  
“Learning is not something done to students, but rather something students themselves do. It is the direct result of how students interpret and respond to their experiences — conscious and unconscious, past and present” (ibid., 3).  
Learning is an intellectual process in which knowledge should be consistent. Students bring their prior knowledge to new courses and may use it systematically to attain new knowledge through their thoughts, feelings, and actions. Nevertheless, prior knowledge can help or hinder future learning processes. If students’ prior knowledge is robust and accurate and activated at the appropriate time, it provides a strong foundation for building new knowledge. If, however, their prior knowledge is inert, insufficient for the task, activated inappropriately, it could prove to be an impediment (ibid., 13). Students make connections between the building blocks of knowledge. Connections are initiated and formed when knowledge is structured and meaningfully organised. Students are better able to retrieve and apply their knowledge effectively and efficiently when instructors adopt a methodological teaching approach. To assist students in mastering essential knowledge and self-reliant learning, they should be asked to apply their prior knowledge to solving a problem or carrying out a practical task. Effective instruction during lessons facilitates students’ knowledge, stimulates particular types of thinking, and motivates students to focus on key aspects of a topic so that they know how to apply what they have learned (Westwood 2009, Ambrose et al. 2010, Schunk 2012, Hoepfner & Koch 2015). Combining and integrating component skills and knowledge to perform complex tasks fluently and automatically is essential for TVET. In addition, pedagogical approaches to teaching must be founded on the neuroscience of learning. TVET instructors and lecturers should pay attention to the relation of the nervous system to learning and behavioural characteristics of knowledge transfer processes in the classroom, which involve using information in novel ways or in new situations: “From a neuroscientific perspective, this means that neural connections are formed between the learning and the new uses and situations. These connections are not made automatically. Students must learn them through experiences (e.g., teaching) or determine them on their own (e.g., through problem solving)” (Schunk 2012, 81). Consequently, problem-based learning (PBL) becomes a standard method in TVET which can engage students in learning and help to motivate them in developing component skills and knowledge. PBL allocates students into work groups so they can improve their cooperative learning skills. Problem-based learning requires students to think creatively, bring their knowledge to bear in unique ways and strengthen cognitive connections as well as triggering neural firing. Transmission of information becomes more rapid and effective. Learning processes are consolidated, described as “the forming and strengthening of neural connections (synapses)” (Schunk 2012, 69). Problem-based learning, therefore, is an effective learning method, based on brain-related educational methods and especially useful for (group) projects. Commonly applied in Vietnamese TVET, project-based learning (PBL) strengthens trainees’ hands-on skills in the technical field, under the banner of work-oriented learning (Schröder & Dehnbostel, 2021). It has been a policy at University of Technology and Education in Ho Chi Minh City since 2012 (HCMUTE 2012), when the first cohort of faculties returned from Arizona State University where they had been trained in the Higher Engineering Education Alliance Program (HEEAP), initiated by Intel. The HEEAP is a breakthrough project of Intel, seen as a solution to solve disadvantages in engineering education exposed through the myth surrounding Intel’s recruitment event: “only 40 engineering graduates passed the Intel recruitment test among 2000 competitors” (The Du et. al 2018, 14) when the company scouted for a qualified workforce to operate its assembly and test manufacturing plants (ATM) in Ho Chi Minh City. This might well be an exaggeration. Intel certainly found it difficult to build a qualified workforce for its new ATM due to a shortage of skilled labour. Intel is by no means an isolated incident. Mori’s research on “Skill Development for Vietnam’s Industrialization: Promotion of Technology Transfer by Partnership between TVET Institutions and FDI Enterprises” also highlights the shortage of skilled labour in Vietnam:  

Many enterprises are still seeking: (i) multi-skilled production line leaders who can manage and improve the entire production process rather than remain limited to a specific one; (ii) engineers or technicians who are skilled at high-precision processing in making metal, plastic parts, moulds and dies; and, (iii) middle managers who can lead day-to-day improvement of factory operations by identifying and resolving problems from a broad and long-term perspective (Mori 2009, 5). 

Applying PBL at UTE is a breakthrough because students can develop capability of applying past knowledge to good use in new projects. UTE is organised in the form of work-oriented learning: “Learning is made up here of simulation of work organization, work tasks and processes. It sets out to simulate real work places as exactly as possible. As learning rather than work is the primary aim, the disparity of simulated and real work places cannot be compensated” (Schröder & Dehnbostel 2017). Through these hands-on projects, they will be trained in important skills such as teamwork, communication, negotiation, etc. But their activities in conducting projects are still driven spontaneously and depend totally on the lecturer’s instruction and supervision, often through trial and error. There are two key reasons for the lack of convergence between engineering education and engineering practice: (1) an absence of rationale (engineering design concept as guideline for student’s project implementation, and (2) an absence of detail (lecturer’s observation and supervision of students to ascertain if they go through the design process step by step. This should ensure that students’ relevant skills are formed during the course of the project). This can be seen in the analysis of quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews conducted with students.  

On the other hand, trainees are still dependent on “knowledge portions given by a teacher, on demonstrations done by a teacher, on the supervision of their activities by a teacher, on assessments of their learning results done by a teacher. They don’t ask a lot, they watch, they listen and they imitate what their teacher does” (Hoepfner & Koch 2015, 11). This is a typical characteristic of Asian culture, where teachers play a central role in the learning process. Furthermore, they cannot reuse their prior knowledge to explain a current situation in which they have a problem to solve. For example, they were asked: “why should we heat steel C45 to the temperature at which transformation from pearlite and ferrite to austenite happens?” in a metallography and materials testing course, having nevertheless already learnt about materials science in the previous semester (according to qualitative recording data in a metallography and materials testing course). In fact, there are no immediate answers which learners can use as professional workers. A decision made by a professional worker comes as a result of deep thinking and a capacity to recombine past knowledge unconsciously. Thorndike has suggested that “drilling students on a specific skill does not help them master it nor does it teach them how to apply the skill in different contexts” (Schunk 2012, 76). Therefore, instructors and lecturers should approach fundamental types of learning which deal with forming associations (connections) between sensory experiences (perceptions of stimuli or events) and neural impulses (responses) that manifest themselves behaviourally when they plan their teaching activities. They must understand mechanisms of information transmission, characteristics of cognitive processes that are represented in the same way that knowledge is represented by synaptic connections in the brain. It is essential to choose teaching techniques that support trainees’ readiness to overcome all of the challenges they might face in future work by producing connectionism between kinds of memories which involve information being established so that neural connections are made and neural transmissions become automatic. It is important to help trainees become capable of recombining past knowledge in decision-making processes, able to sketch out proper solutions for problems in the world of work which is constantly changing at such a rapid pace. Moreover, instructors and lecturers should consider factors that improve consolidation, organisation, rehearsal, elaboration, and emotional involvement in learning such as creating triggers by questioning or putting learners in problematic situations. The various theories of learning include self-regulation (or self-regulated learning), which “refers to processes that learners use to systematically focus their thoughts, feelings, and actions, on the attainment of their goals” (Schunk 2012, 400). Self-directed learning is another theory, in which learners are engaged in a variety of metacognitive processes to monitor and control their learning. Once students develop the skills to engage their learning processes, they can develop intellectual habits that not only improve their performance, but also their effectiveness as learners (Eberly Center n.d.). 

Exploring necessary conditions for building a self-reliant learning environment through experiences in teaching at UTE. 

It is necessary to build an environment of self-reliant learning in which students are encouraged to create links between past knowledge which they can accumulate by solving more or less complex practical or theoretical problems. Through these actions, learners become active, they have to perform and take responsibility for their actions. Using concepts of engineering design as guidelines for student projects should empower students’ thinking and lay solid foundations for thought processes.  

“Learning in school-organized teacher-student arrangements at institutionalized venues requires the focussed development of reflexive action competence. This reflexive action competence describes the ability to reflect on the structures and organizational forms of work as well as on one’s own actions in the work-process in the phases of preparation, performance and evaluation” (Roth et al. 2021, 2).  

The following section will discuss which learning activities are designed to encourage students to recover their past knowledge to deal with processing their projects. 

3.1 Integrating engineering design concepts as a guideline to implementing student projects in PBL.  

The first question is: what lead students in processing their project? Short qualitative interviews were conducted in which students were asked to use a word to describe engineering design processes at the beginning of their courses. Their answers indicate that students consider engineering design as more of an action, like technical drawings, rather than a process. To understand better how students deal with their projects, a further quantitative survey was implemented, in which students were requested to answer questions on the topic of “engineering design”. The questionnaire comprised the following questions:  

• What is engineering design really? 
• What is the outcome of engineering design? 
• Which step do you usually skip when you conduct your project? 
• Which step is the most important in the engineering design process from your point of view? 

The students’ responses reveal that they see engineering design as an activity rather than a process. They tend to finish projects when asked to do so by their lecturers, but their focus is simply on getting a project done, which makes them liable to neglect controlling or testing their project models properly. Although they recognise that testing or controlling models in operation is a vital step of design, their projects are often incomplete (Figure 1).  

It is very interesting to note that 39 per cent of students are likely to skip the first step of the process. Responses to the first question illustrate that students need to develop logical thinking habits to appreciate design concepts more clearly. On the other hand, students believe that they should focus on important steps such as testing and evaluation of performance rather than defining the problem and collecting information about the object of research. This is a positive point to emerge from the research. However, students also show that they have no idea how to manage testing activities when they operate on the principle of trial and error. The essence of engineering design is, in fact, how to recognise and solve problems which can arise during project implementation. Instructors need to guide students to follow the pattern: conceive-design-implement-operate in order to make them understand that design in engineering is really a process. 

Engineering design is actually a loop with specific process alignment – not a linear process. Students should be tutored to adopt a systematic and logical approach to engineering design in order to strengthen their thought processes in project work. Through this action, students can learn how to gather information mentally from external sources. A design process flowchart, as depicted in Figure 2, will guide them step by step in specific project planning. Project implementation will be carried out in practice once the plan has been adjudged to be appropriate. At the end of the design loop, students can compare results with the defined outcomes as described in the rubric (see Figure 3) which has been prepared to assess the project’s result. Comparing operation results at each step during project implementation clarifies whether or not it is necessary to change individual steps or the whole plan. 

An embedded didactical approach to engineering design processes in PBL will help to prepare students for the world of work. Design skills are essential for engineers in the era of technology. According to Mori, engineers (or skilled workers) “… should be considered production engineers who lead the improvement of factory layout, jigs, person-hours, and in-house logistics flows in close cooperation with the production and design departments of an enterprise’s headquarters” (Mori 2009, 5). They should do “the job of engineers to be able to engineer”: The conceive-design-implement-operate sequence can add value to engineering products, processes and systems in a modern, team-based environment (Crawley et. al 2014, 50). Engaging students in assessment using a clearly defined rubric (Figure 3) will help students to build self-reliance with regard to quality assurance. 

3.2 Strengthen students’ cognitive activities by teaching techniques to link past knowledge with the execution of designed action structures in solving problematic situations.  

The world of work is in constant flux and technology can create uncertainty when lifelong learning skills are required. Trainees may pick up knowledge in school, which is obsolete by the time they graduate. Teaching foundational knowledge and technical basics should, therefore enable engineers to think logically and develop calculations to work on practical problems. When ideas become reality, useful products and projects can be manufactured and constructed. Conveying engineering design concepts to students is one example of this. A successful instructional process in TVET is one in which learners can recall knowledge or use external information to implement their project or manufacturing process in future work. They should learn how to use past knowledge and collect the information they need to solve specific problems. This is known as action competence, which is of interest to potential employers. In case of metallography and materials testing courses, students are asked about the temperature of heated work pieces based on colour, but without referring to a colour chart. Their responses ranged from 700 until 1600 centigrade. They are then asked to estimate temperatures with a colour chart (Figure 4), which leads to more precise results.  

Students are asked to explain why the work piece needs to be heated up to the temperature at which it is most ductile (and easier to form). The question is designed to determine if students are able to draw on past knowledge from courses such as materials science in order to give their answer. Previous results were overwhelmingly negative as students were unable to explain adequately without reference to an iron carbon phase diagram depicting austenite. (Fig. 5) Here, they could see the ductile properties of a face-centered cubic lattice which is more pliable than, for example, a body-centered cubic structure. Bridging past knowledge of austenite from a previous course to determine ideal heating temperatures for optimal ductility is a didactical approach which features a problematic situation for students to solve through knowledge of engineering sciences. This approach will develop students’ awareness of professional practice capabilities in work processes where engineers must find solutions.  

This action help students to understand how to recall and use unconscious knowledge to arrive at an explanation or solution for a certain problem. It enhance students’ cognitive activities by creating a mutually cognitive environment (Ritchie 2004) in which learning processes support the development of students’ habitual capability to recall and use their learning background to solve problems.  

4. Results and Remarks 

Embedding design thought processes as a loop according to Kosky’s model makes sense when it helps students to solve problems more effectively. The eight steps design process plays a role as cognitive structures and design process simulations (similar to the manufacturing environment) can provide students with a road map for practice in the context of project design. A didactical approach to design thought processes ties in with hands-on experience in learning how to develop a product, process, or system. For example, one design project – the smart dustbin – from a previous semester was not completed as the students did not conduct any tests on the model. They had not yet mastered engineering design. The team has been now requested to improve their project by focusing on testing and analysis. They were also asked to come up with tests for their model in different conditions and then analyse the results. They set up four working conditions to test the model (Table 1). Running tests meant that the team could subsequently modify the design. Finally, they were able to choose the most appropriate concept for their project. The testing phase added stability and reliability to the smart bin operation.  

Furthermore, students in other groups were also required to focus on the step of analysing the pilot model’s performance according to Kosky’s model in the context of design guidance. They finished successful projects such as: automatic hand washer, chess-playing Scara-robot, Seabin (bin to collect rubbish on ocean surface) which were both stable and reliable. It is important for students to decide on testing plans and conditions in which a model should run smoothly and perfectly. On completing this step, they can select more suitable concepts for projects. Converting ideas into design models as per Kosky can support students in simulating real design procedures in which they apply their knowledge and develop professional engineering practising skills. It is really useful to help students transition from novices to experts in technology design.  

Design concepts can give students roadmaps to lead them through design processes from start to finish without skipping any important steps throughout the project, especially if they can build specific testing conditions with goals in mind. Breaking these down into sub-goals and creating a rough plan in their mind before they begin will lead to more coherent action steps. Embedded engineering design concepts in PBL can create a correlation between thought processes and practical action. What starts in the mind will encourage correct actions. An engineering design concept in this context is a means to help student set clear goals when implementing their projects. It connects action, action structure and action competency. The “building of fire and gas warning models using Arduino” project (Figure 6) creates a context in which students can learn how to design and construct a model and its electrical circuits to fulfil requirements of the project, accumulate their past knowledge of electronic components from previous course modules and choose fitting component parameters which can be linked together. Most of all, they can learn how to develop genuine situation issues (fire and gas warnings) and appropriate solutions (the model with gas and temperature sensors). To finish the project, they have to research how to operate Arduino IDE in order to program it. Programming Arduino will push them to learn coding with C language programming and learn how to communicate between hardware and software. Based on the engineering design concept of Kosky, students can define key factual information in one or more applicable areas of engineering science as related to their project. They have the chance to use knowledge in one or more areas of engineering science to improve elements of a project or product and learn how to employ principles and concepts of engineering science to solve engineering problems. Working in teams improves collaborative skills and encourages the application of critical thinking skills in their project. At the end of a project, they can identify and understand types of experiments conducted by engineers for specific applications. They can design an experiment to test a hypothesis, such as the potential effectiveness of a proposed solution to an engineering problem. This acquaints them with analysis and interpretation of results, helping them to develop a recommended plan of action based, to a degree, on the results of their experiments. 

In the case of creating problematic situations in learning processes, student’s inferences are always based on assumptions and guesses or opinions formed on the basis of existing knowledge or the information that they have – for example, they can compare colours of heating work pieces with a colour chart to calculate temperatures accurately. When asked: “why should we heat steel C45 to the temperature at which transformation from pearlite and ferrite to austenite happens?” they have already learned how to combine prior knowledge and make the connection to basic information as they respond. For example, students can estimate the temperature of a piece of metal with a degree of accuracy by referring to a colour chart and give an appropriate answer regarding the quenching process in the next action. Students now have the intellectual habit of expressing an opinion or answer for a question arising out of a problematic situation. They can follow logical cognitive steps connected to their foundational knowledge in order to find out a suitable answer or expression. In TVET training, individual interpretations in learning processes and, later, in working processes should be considered as representations of common ground – the basic foundation of professional training and linked to long-life learning skills of students.  

5. Conclusions  

In TVET Vietnam, there is still a debate on how engineering science should be transferred effectively, how knowledge should be compacted in relative fields such as the Lernfeld (learning field) concept, similar to the German model, or split into separate subjects in certain engineering fields, which can assists learners in the development of professional skills. Unfortunately, training curricula in TVET Vietnam are normally designed as collections of separate courses for various topics in relative engineering fields such as materials science, manufacturing technology, metal processing technology, electronic components etc. As a consequence, students cannot connect knowledge from individual courses (if not requested to do so). Building students habitual reactions to use past knowledge to solve present problematic situations is essential if students are to be capable of connecting engineering science and engineering tools to overcome challenges at the workplace in future. Engineers who are ready to use foundational professional knowledge and capabilities in work can draw on appropriate knowledge and choose the right tools to solve engineering problems; they can recombine knowledge in one or more areas of engineering science to meet the needs of a new project or production; they can employ principles and concepts from one or more areas of engineering science to create a new engineering concept in the solution of an engineering problem. Therefore, it is necessary that all courses in a certain training programme are carefully organised and taught in a logical sequence, in which knowledge is linked and clearly transferred in relation to specific professions. Furthermore, teaching techniques should be built on proper learning theories and neural science. Instructors or lecturers must have a suitable methodological approach to teaching which will motivate students’ mastery of essential knowledge and self-reliant learning. Appropriate pedagogical activities in students’ learning processes can provide a strong foundation for building new knowledge and makes students’ prior knowledge more robust, as well as catalysing the acquisition of new knowledge. Learning is an intellectual process in which knowledge should be consistent and meaningful connections between prior and brand new or fresh knowledge are initiated in a structured manner. Using questions or requesting students to apply prior knowledge to solve a problem, or to practise a task during PBL in order to facilitate students’ knowledge and stimulate particular types of thinking are key aspects in terms of strengthening students’ cognitive activity. Neural connections are formed between learning and new uses in new situations, so students must learn through experience under instructional processes or through their own problem-solving actions, as Schunk says. These innovations will build an education ecosystem in TVET training based on the principle of supporting engineers’ work readiness and providing a solution to alleviate the skilled worker shortage, delivering workers who are capable of facing any challenge at the workplace.  

References 

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CITATION: 

Vo, X. T. (2022). Problem-based Learning (PBL) with embedded design concept to strengthen students’ cognitive activities. In: TVET@Asia, issue 18, 1-16. Online: http://tvet-online.asia/issue/18/problem-based-learning-pbl-with-embedded-design-concept-to-strengthen-students-cognitive-activities/ (retrieved 31.07.2021).

Since 1986, Economical innovation ‘Đổi mới’ happened in Vietnam. In the beginning, Vietnam had only demand of workforce for light industries such as clothing, footwear or construction, which are characterized as labour-intensive, low-skilled, simple work. Thus, firms did not want to recruit highly skilled workers. Now, three decades later, Vietnam is on shift away from agglomeration (stage of initial Foreign Direct Investment absorption) and to technology absorption (internalising parts and components) (Ohno 2010). Therefore, it brought a new demand of highly skilled workforce; complex work such as operating CNC Machining Centres, assembling agricultural machines, designing and assembling printed circuit, etc., emerges in line with the development of the Vietnamese economics. However, Vietnamese Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions only provide training merely based on their own perceptions, not paying sufficient attention to employers’ skill demands. Thus, many firms struggle to find decent, qualified workers, most of them have to retrain their staff right after recruitment. This poses primarily as informal learning. Beside the formal sector of economics, an informal sector of Vietnamese economics exists as its dark downside. A research of the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates the employment in the informal sector to amount 11.3 million jobs, which represents 48.1 per cent of the national total employment (Cling et al. 2010). Therefore, informal learning is vital in the informal sector from craft villages to enterprises. The author has conducted a field trip through four enterprises of various sizes within two months, last year. This paper is the result of the interviews and notes taking during these trips. By applying qualitative interview and case study, some factors of informal learning will be clarified in this paper. It will also make suggestions in terms of the development of professional profiles, the role of professional competence centres and solutions on how to bridge the gap between vocational schools and companies until the idea of clustering the vocational schools and firms in order to idealise vocational training. Other suggestions will be on advanced strategies of developing curriculums etc., in order to create a common base for qualifications and the improvement of the TVET quality in Vietnam.

Key words: informal learning, training-on-the-job, mentoring, skills, shortages, coaching

1 Informal learning in Vietnam from Mentoring to On-the-Job-Training (OJT); no future without a past.

1.1 Definition and depiction of informal learning in Vietnam

According to definition of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), informal learning is actually a kind of learning, which is almost conducted in “daily activities relate to work, family and leisure” (CEDEFOP 2011, 85). In the past, informal learning in Vietnam occurred normally, in daily activities of agriculture. Mentoring is probably the most popular form of informal learning, which “is not organized or structured in terms of objectives, time or learning support” (CEDEFOP 2011, 85), happened during handicrafts in craft villages within circle of family.

There are many villages, specialising on different kinds of handicraft works in Vietnam such as bamboo-weaving, bronze casting, carpentry, drum making, embroidery, forging, lacquer work, horn sculpture-Oyster-encrusting, paint making, papermaking, pottery, rock capturing, weaving, etc., where this form of learning to training the workforce is used since generations until now. For example, at a village of bronze casting in Ho Chi Minh City, artisan Tran-Van-Thang was taught bronze-casting by his father Tran-Van-Kinh, one of the founders of An-Hoi-Bronze casting village, who learned those skills from another artisan, who went from Hue and settled down in Saigon. Then Tran-Van-Thang taught his sons and his daughters these skills in order to obtain the art of their ancestor. Teaching a person that is not a family member, such as an interested friend, is mostly only possible for some parts of the occupation, the easier ones such as making a wax model, making and assembling mould. More difficult tasks or skills, such as bronze soldering, mixing and melting brass with the right copper and zinc ratio, which are crucial to the quality of the finished product, could only be taught inside of family. Until now, this form of teaching and learning still remains as it went on in the past time (Dang Khoa 2012; Thanhniennews 2013).

The most relevant impulse for that sort of On-the-Job-Training (OJT) is the shortage of vocational and skilled workers. Handicraft firms, firms at the second wave of demand for highly skilled workforce, have to struggle with difficulties of finding a decent workforce, who possesses the ability to retraining by himself and be ready for work immediately. Some firms even recruit absolutely unskilled candidates and train them for the job themselves.

Thus, Vietnamese firms can be divided into two groups with different tendencies concerning their style of training:

Group 1: Recruiting unskilled workers, divides work into several simple tasks according to the mentality of Taylorism. In this group, the employer is ready to hire an unskilled-person and train it at workplace in short time (one-week max.) to adapt the task. It is located at enterprises in the domain of textile, construction and even mechanical engineering, in which occupation is divided into many simple tasks and involved with assembling and manufacturing in line. This kind of training can be called initiative training. Here training is conducted without the supporting of basic technical theory. It will not lead to the individual’s motivation, development and productivity later on.

Group 2: Recruiting novices or graduates from vocational schools or colleges, which still might be not work-ready. This group wants workforces, who can handle independently complex tasks such as operating CNC or other conventional machines, assembling the electrical board of fly cams, etc. The firms usually look for novices or graduates from vocational schools or colleges, that are not work-ready and have inadequate-skilled so they could not start their work immediately after recruiting. These the new workers will acquire from the firms’ training, usually in form of mentoring, of the duration from several weeks until three months, depending on the level of complexity of work. In that time the novices will work under the guidance of an experienced person who acts as a role coach or mentor. The training would be conducted one by one at the workplace and in daily tasks during adapting time. New employees here cam have an official employment’s contract and be accepted as a skilled-worker after the time of retraining, called probation period, if they can prove their progress and can fulfil all tasks at workplace on their own. This kind of training can be called adapted training. It happens at the beginning of occupational life of a worker and can be considered as an extension of the formal learning. In this group, informal learning reinforces acquired knowledge and former skills through application and experimentation at workplace. Therefore, it can help individuals to bridge the gap between knowledge and skill.

Apart from that, the workers can still be trained during the working process in case the firm changes its products, upgrades its devices or similar changes within occur. In the case of a company, which makes moulds when manufacturing plastic articles, when they upgrade from 3-axis-CNC-system to 4 or 5-axis-CNC-system, they mostly either order the firms, which provide the system, to train their workers how to operate these machines or they can send their worker to company of their clients in order to adapt new tasks. This kind of training could be called advanced training. It could be done along professional life of a worker. This form of informal learning seems to be productive for both, the company and its workers but only when the company’s culture and practices fully support it.

However, not all of them can lead to certification. In most cases only advanced training may be validated and certified by the company itself, but even that, and certainly the other types of training might not be accepted in other companies.

It is obviously that informal learning plays a very important role in circumstances of skills mismatch and skills gap nowadays in Vietnam, where lack of linkages between TVET-institutions and industrial sectors. Because some of relevant skills (problem-solving, coping with stress, creativity, negotiation, ideas expression, cooperating as well as sharing skills and information with other employees, cultural awareness) are only developed in certain environment such as at workplace, where demand of using a complex “mixture” of knowledge, skills and behaviour is always required.

1.2 The reasons why informal learning is an important part of the Vietnamese TVET

According to the newest edition of Law on Vocational Training (2014) Vietnam’s TVET system can be compromised into (see Figure 1). The lowest one is the Elementary – Vocational education training center (VET center – Trung tâm dạy nghề) which is both representative and responsible for primary training in terms that last at least three months or such that are equal to 300 training hours a year. The middle level is Secondary – on which are vocational secondary schools (VET school – trường trung cấp nghề) as representatives that provide training courses in one to two years. The highest one is vocational colleges (trường Cao đẳng nghề), which takes on as a training institution of the third level of Vietnam’s TVET. This level offers training courses taking two to three years. All of those institutions are under the supervision of the MoLISA. In accordance with Law on Vocational Training (MoLISA, 2014), completing secondary school or LSE is a gateway to vocational schools.

On the shift away from agriculture and impact of urbanization which occurred on the countryside of Vietnam, land for cultivating reduced and was replaced by many industrial zones. Farmers and their children had to leave their home town to go to city in hope of finding a new occupation. Therefore, high rate of school dropouts followed. The area marked most significantly is Mekong delta, where only about 17 to 20 per cent of the workforce are trained. The report about Vietnam Population and Housing Census demonstrates that of the total number of people aged 15 years and above, 5.5 per cent had no schooling at all and 14.5 per cent had not even completed primary school. As many as 25.7 per cent had completed primary school, but not lower secondary school. Thus, 40 per cent of persons aged 15 or above who started school had dropped out before completing LSE (a few remained in LSE after turning 15), the gateway, as stated above, to proper vocational schooling. Among people living in rural areas, the corresponding figure was even higher, pending at 45 per cent (Thuc Duc Ngo & Minh Tam Tran 2013). Thus, young people are pushed into labour market without training.

On the other side, novices, graduated from vocational schools or even colleges, are not ready for working when they are employed either. Because there is a “gap of vocational training in Vietnam, between vocational institutions, mostly are executive by government and companies in private sector of economics” as Mr. Jean Jacques Diverchy, an expert from France that now works as trainer at Dung-Quat-College in Quang-Ngai-Province, has recognized. “There is no linking between the firms and vocational schools in Vietnam. It results high rate of unemployment in Vietnam. If a firm recruits a worker, they have to retrain him in order to adapt to circumstances of manufacturing system in the firm”, he says, “Even though, there are many engineers, graduated from universities, have very good basic theories. But when we offered them to assembly a certain device, they could not do it. Therefore, domestic or foreign firms waste time and money to retrain their new workers after recruiting.” Expert Jean Jacques Diverchy pointed out (Mai, 2017).

In fact, through results of the interviews with technicians, experienced workers and also managers, it shows that vocational schools or colleges can provide a good foundation of theories but their novices still do not bring enough ability to confidently manage the tasks in real situations at the workplace. “They are not simply ready for working because of lacking necessary skills of their jobs” said the manager of the firm that produces fly cams, “they did not learn these skills at vocational school or have not yet mastered them. […] For example, soldering, the important skill of electrician, but they could not. We have to train them again and again from the beginning of employment”, he added. And to the question what he expected from his engineers, the manager considered that it is not important how an engineer can master the software, like Eagles to design a printed circuit, but that he considers it very important how this engineer uses this software to design a printed circuit, which is small enough in order to be suitable for small drone, which the company intends to produce.

In case of the plastic moulding manufacturing firm, it, too, was a story of improperly skilled-workers. The training course for mechanical engineering job in state vocational schools for example, only focused on building skills of operating conventional machines such as lathe machines, milling machines. In curriculum of mechanical engineering job, there is obviously a small portion for learning operating CNC-machine/system but this length of time is not enough for the cause it is intended for: forming skills to fully operate a CNC-machine/system. This results out of a lack of equipment at the vocational schools in terms of CNC-machines, but also in terms of experienced trainers that could teach the novices the usage of the complex devices, which leaves the novices unequipped, even when they enter the job market for they’ve probably only ever seen somebody use the devices but never practices on them themselves.

Thus, the lack of job-relevant skills (Fig. 2), especially job-specific technical skills, is another reason of informal learning in Vietnam. In the context of skills’ shortage, informal learning may be considered as an extension of formal learning as formal learning at vocational schools or technical colleges is just first step on the way to become a professional worker. During the last field trip, which was conducted in two months in Ho Chi Minh City, all workers who were asked, had the same answer: they had learned theories through the time when they were at vocational school but competencies of profession they could only truly master through daily working duties. Though the second part is the most important, like an iceberg, most of part is underwater. Informal learning in this circumstance is the important manner, which just starts only when formal learning ends. This means it has just happened when the worker comes into real world of working. Day by day, his competencies must get better otherwise he will never adapt to the needs of the company and will lose his jobs. In addition, conditions of working places have vital effects on this process of learning. Such as at company of designing and manufacturing plastic moulds, in which daily working duties of worker are complex because properties of manufacturing work parts are not repeatable and always alternative, the worker can learn more than in a company, in which the worker works in a production line, repeating the same tasks over again.

It was not surprise when serial reports about Vietnamese human resource not only of European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as well as World Bank’s Development Report with titles like “Skilling up Vietnam: Preparing the workforce for a modern market economy”, “Within ASEAN, Vietnam ranks in the lower half of human resources development” or “improving and upgrading the skills of its workforce is one of Vietnam’s key tasks to meet the needs of a rapidly changing labour market” (EuroCham 2014, 31) hit the news. Those reports warned Vietnamese TVET from the lack of job-relevant skills, which every worker (blue and white collar) must possess. In accordance with ‘Training Policies for Workers’ of the World Bank, job-relevant skills are also indicated a set of competencies or abilities valued by employers and useful for self-employment. They include technical skills relevant to the specific job of the worker, as well as other cognitive and non-cognitive skills that enhance his or her productivity more generally. These skills include:

Problem-solving skills or the capacity to think critically and analyse. In the interview with the manager of the company producing fly cams, he considered this skill as vital. He recognizes that students, who had made some projects in the time when they studied, can overcome challenges at working place very effectively, too, and already bring habits to solve problems.

Learning skills or the ability to acquire new knowledge (‘learning to learn’), to distil lessons from experience and apply these in search for innovations. Not only by adapted training but also by advanced training, which come along during the professional life of a worker, this skill is a universal tool to help workers to move on and approach higher levels of qualification through informal learning, too.

Communication skills, including writing skills, collecting and using information to communicate with others, fluency in foreign languages, and the proper utilisation of information and communications technology (ICT). All interviewees considered that communication is crucial for learning at work place.

Personal skills for self-management as making sound judgments and risk management. Those skills are essential when the worker plays a managing role in the firm.

Social skills to collaborate with and motivate others in a team, managing client relations, exercising leadership, resolving conflicts, and developing social networks. This skill has a vital role in exchanging experiences between people within the firm and also in creating an environment of Know-how for enriching knowledge of the firms’ workers.

1.3 Characters of informal learning and critics

Informal learning is very subjective. It depends almost entirely on capacity and motivation of the learners, their enthusiasm, occupational qualifications and also the educative skills of the mentor. Moreover, the complexity of the work and conditions at the workplace also have a large impact on informal learning. In firms following the idea of Taylorism, the worker doesn’t have good conditions and only a small chance to learn a whole job instead of specific, simple and repeated tasks. On another side, at the firms like that making moulds for plastic injection, the employees were trained to master a very complex work. In this firm, the mentor has a check list of required skills for training. After the trial time, the novice has to prove abilities to handle all tasks in this check list. It can be concluded that informal learning is totally up to the views of employer. Thus, informal learning is also authority.

However, it is easy to see that informal learning is very practical. It can be seen as a form of work integrated learning (WIL) and supports work-readiness very effectively. Informal learning starts at the beginning of the occupational life and may draw through it until the end of it. It’s called lifelong learning (CEDEFOP 2011, ILO 2003). But there is a big question, which remains unanswered, which is whether worker is on risk to fall into the trap of elementary training, meaning he obtains just enough skills for the specific tasks he is assigned with instead of general skills. As an interview with a manager in steel construction and shipping company in Vung-tau Province, a city is located about 120 kilometres far from Ho Chi Minh City, shows, employers sometimes even use this authority, the ability of choosing any informal learning methods they wish, to their advantage. The manager’s company has extremely high demand of workforce in the field of welding and is eager to recruit even unskilled people, offering them free training with only one condition: they have to work for company in certain time after finishing the training course. He is afraid of high a turnover, so he gave many politics to prevent them quit the job, for example by teaching them skills for specific jobs, or reimbursing money, the worker had paid for training course himself, as an reward when the worker protract his contract, etc. This situation occurs also in other fields such as textile, construction engineering or household utensil (such as repairing conditioners).The most remarkable character trait of this informal training is its length, as it only takes place in a time between several weeks to a maximum of three months at the lowest level of TVET according to law of vocational, established in 2014. There are many reasons, which make companies don´t want to invest more in TVET in Vietnam. German companies in Vietnam, as an example, dislike facts such as poaching, lack financing, high turnover, lack of knowledge, no need for training, scepticism. They intend to train their employees just enough skills for specific jobs. Therefore, workers have to face the risk of unemployment when aged 35 to 40 or older. A research of the Institute of Vietnamese Trade Unions has indicated that average age of workforce, working in firms is only 31.2 and duration, of work at a firm is only an average of six to seven years. That means the firms have the tendency to employ younger workers and dismiss old ones.

2 Informal learning: Circumstances of existence and shift away from the traditional system of seven levels of qualification to system of NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications)

2.1 The level of qualification: definition and classification

Since 1958, Vietnam’s ministry of labour has already established occupational skill standards, which can be considered as the earliest NQFs of Vietnam and instrument for supporting in skills’ measurement at workplaces, in form of a seven levelled system, giving a set of skill standards for workers in the mechanical engineering domain, covering standards of twelve popular careers within mechanical engineering such as lathe machinist, milling machinist, metal planer operators, Blacksmiths, metal former, solder, welder, wood patternmakers, foundry worker, casting worker, vehicles mechanic, vehicles electrician, etc. It functions as a base to set payments, way of employment and other things considered in a labour contract. Its structure contains two elements: knowledge (what workers should know) and abilities (what he should do best) and is divided into seven levels. Though only level 2/7 or 3/7 and above are acknowledged when novices graduated formal training course at a vocational school ⁽¹⁾. It can be expressed in another way that level 2/7 or 3/7 function as departure of a long professional way of a worker. Another higher level of qualification (4/7 to 7/7) could be achieved through the process of working and collection of experiences by the worker, which is considered informal. Afterwards he can approach a higher level when he passes an examination, normally held at workplace. A formal training course in Vietnam is considered only when examinees pass the entrance examination or get the acceptance of examination board. A formal training course takes normally at least one year. Novice will get a degree of vocation when he graduated. All training courses are hold in firms and not over 3 months, are considered as informal training. For his studies, the author took part as inspector in such an examination. This examination, according to the recognition of the author, is very subjective but has a vital role for grading wages and salaries because the occupations are always changing and do not stay the same as the occupational skill standards, that are only established once and were not updated since. It lacks of up-to-date foundation information about the occupations as it had been only once and for all issued and is looked like desire for a single occupation, not holding any connection with industrial sector. In addition, many careers that appeared just recently, like the operator for injection moulding machine, as a typical example in Vietnam an occupation, not trained in vocational school. It is only trained in firms and certainly in informal way the system of skill standards could not be monitored towards as an empty cover (original word in German: eine leere Hülle) (Frommberger 2015, 27). So firms often don’t feel comfortable to recruit and classify their workers based on this system. Therefore, they are not formally trained in a governmental vocational school and not acknowledged. Thus, this former set of occupational skill standards does not have impact on not only state firms but also private companies anymore and can no longer be considered up-to-date.

The term level of qualification could be defined in two ways:

It can be considered as the level of attainment in education and training recognized in a qualification system or in a qualification framework;

Or as the learning outcomes acquired through education and training, work experience or in informal/non-formal settings. (CEDEFOP 2011, 104)

The level of qualification is often determined in comparison to a standard in a qualification system or a level descriptor in a qualification framework. In case of Vietnam, the Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs (MoLISA) plays as dominant role of state managing institution but its monopoly has not covered and caught up on development of the economics. The level of qualification has obviously a big impact on vocational training because it determines “the learning outcomes acquired through education and training, work experience or in informal/non-formal settings” (ibid.).

In addition, it can be determined in comparison to an occupational profile (for example, description of learning outcomes required to perform the tasks, attached to a job at a specific level of responsibility and autonomy) (ibid.). Therefore, it brings exchange value for the occupation between firms of the same industry.

2.2 Developing National occupational skill standards in Vietnam: structure, critics and strategies to guarantee exchange value and continuous development of a worker’s professional life

Since the beginning of 2016, the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is a milestone in ASEAN with a very important point, which is the mobilization of labour between those countries part of the community. It puts Vietnam under the pressure of a TVET reform and raising informal to formal training. Because “only less than one fifth of Vietnam’s labor force have received technical training and the skills they gain from the education system often do not match those wanted by the labor market.” (ILO, 2014) Therefore, most of labours are mainly trained on the workplace and during their daily professional practice. From those reasons, Vietnam decides to develop National Occupational Skill Standards (NOSS) like the NOSS for CNC Operator in 2011 in order to set a foundation or reference for

employees to orient their efforts and improve their levels in terms of knowledge and skills by studying or gathering experience in order to have a chance of promotion in their occupations;

employers to have bases for selecting employees, arranging jobs and paying proper salaries for employees;

TVET institutions to have foundations for developing a TVET program approaching. (MoLISA, 2012)

The structure of NOSS consists of three contents:

description of occupation including scope, estimated working position, conditions and environment of occupation, context of task performance, machines, necessary tools and equipment or devices could be involved with this profession,.

list of tasks which the worker must prospectively and professionally performed or fulfilled. These are arranged in form of table and classified by levels of occupational skills.

Table 1: Sample table for the list of tasks (own depiction)

standards on task performance, which cover task description, performance criteria, essential skills and knowledge, performance conditions, criteria and evaluation methods.

The Vietnamese skill standards are developed based on methods of occupational analysis with targets on determining prospective, essential duties and tasks, which a worker has to perform in the occupation. This set of skill standards is a result of a theoretically cooperative process with the participation of experts from different sectors: specialists in the occupation, TVET teachers and researchers. Since 2008, Vietnam has issued decisions of NOSS, which consist of rule that members of the NOSS development board such as members from enterprises (inclusive representatives of employers, employees, professional associations) must make up approximately 50 per cent or all phases from occupation analysis, task analysis, and development of task list to the compilation of national standards on occupational skills, where suggestions of at least 30 experts who have practical experiences in the occupation are taken, in order to guarantee the popularity, objectivity and representative of NOSS (MoLISA, 2008).

The process of NOSS development, which is conducted by doing analysis of a group of constituent works, and led by only MoLISA without participation and references of professional associations, which are more decent representative from industrial sector, is currently liked as ‘black box’. Thus, it needs more transparency and may be more scholarly. Because skill standards of an occupation contains not only one element, technical skills, but also another two elements, cognitive skills and behavioural skills (or soft skills), as the comment of a manager in interview stated before “students, who had made some projects in the time when they studied. Then, they can overcome challenges at working place very effectively and they have habits to solve problems“. Moreover, “the development of the national standards on occupational skills has initially mobilized the participation of members of enterprises. This is a necessary condition to ensure the quality of the national standards of occupational skills. However, at present the active participation is mostly by training institutions, whereas the role of enterprises is passive and dim.” (MoLISA 2012) In fact Vietnamese firms have a real demand to take part in the installation of skill standards but there is not a mechanism of this cooperation as the report of MoLISA about TVET expressed by saying that “in current context and conditions of Viet Nam, the development of the national standards on occupational skills is presided over and implemented by the state through respective responsible bodies. In the long-term, this activity should be undertaken by enterprises and employers through Councils of Occupational Skills” (ibid.).

3 Recommendations

3.1 Clustering between state vocational schools and enterprises with the target to ‘wipe out’ mismatch between the TVET in Vietnam and utilisation of labour force

During the field trip, the author met a group of students, who spent their time in a plastic moulding company, doing their apprenticeship. During this trip, maximal three months before the graduation, the schools will send their students to companies to make apprenticeship in order to form their specific professional skills such as CNC-machine operation. But still through all of their apprenticeship, students are not once allowed to operate the machine. They are only ordered to do simple tasks such as cleaning machine, picking up work parts or even to watch what happens. The manager of this firm explained that school had only sent students to firm. He did not know what he should do with these students. He also assumes students might sometimes even just wait for a proof of time spent in the company, without being interested in serious achievement of skills. It is fact that it still lacks of agreement between vocational schools and companies, to which they send their trainees, on clear learning outcomes of the training, otherwise their trainees have to or should attend such apprenticeships again, the first one being more or less a waste. In addition, they should come up with a solution for insurances in order to share the risk of breaking down machines and protect their trainees from potentials of accident at the working site during the duration of apprenticeship. Like that, the companies must not be afraid to let the trainees operate the machines themselves.

The clustering should not only be under form of cooperation about apprenticeship but also in curriculum development and agreement, maybe in accordance with a model of quality apprenticeship, like it is done in the United States of America, such as Siemens Quality high skills apprenticeship programme, which was conducted by coordination between the Siemens Energy plant in Charlotte and Central Piedmont Community College under the supervision of the State of North Carolina (Aring, 2014).

 This form of cooperation in TVET in Vietnam has already existed in the last couple of years, especially in the domain of textile industry, tourism, banking, law and Information Technology (IT). Then enterprises and vocational schools normally sign memorandum for the cooperation in TVET. Learners would learn theories in schools and trainees would achieve their professional skills by doing their apprenticeship in enterprises. In this situation, enterprises often received offers from schools to give advice in processing of curriculum development. And they can also share information and responsibility with each other during training times. This also occurred in the industrial zone, for example the Dong-An industrial zone (in Binh-duong province) or in High-tech industrial zone (in Ho-Chi-Minh-City). In these zones, a school or centre for TVET is established with the main purpose of training trainees for all firms in this industrial zone. Clustering could help us to ‘wipe out’ the adapting training and labour would actually be work-ready when novices graduate. But “a concept for demand-driven training has not materialized yet” (JICA 2014).

3.2 Innovation in process of issuing NOSS

It is necessary to make the process of establishing a NOSS more transparent by answering the question, who members from enterprises are, if they are qualified enough to be representative for an occupation and how they are asked, if questionnaires for occupational analysis are enough qualitative or quantitative to sketch the outline of occupation. It is crucial to the popularity, objectivity and representative of NOSS. Councils of Occupational Skills should be representative for professional associations and the responsible institute for establishing NOSS and keeping it updated. This is also an advice of Mr. Sziraczki, Director of ILO Country Office of Vietnam: “to make skills development more demand-driven, Vietnam needs to enhance co-operation with private sector and promote the participation of business and industry in the education and training system” (ILO 2014).

3.3 Supporting informal learning to be formal

Since 2015, the Vietnamese government has issued decree No. 31/2015NĐ/CP to acknowledge skills, which workers gain by informal learning. Thus, vocational schools or training centres are permitted to hold examinations to upgrade the occupational level of workers. Throughout this, the workers have the chance to prove their qualifications by joining and passing tests, which are held by the TVET or training centre for this exact matter. However, due to the lack of NOSS as a foundation, detailed information on specific skills’ needs at the occupation level are made for sketching up a general outline of the profession and fair and productive examination. So those examinations are not to define exactly and properly proficiency of workers. Though it lacks of accuracy in evaluation. Moreover, this acting is done by only monopoly and dominant role of TVET institutions, private sector or professional association has not yet played any role in this acting. It may be more efficient when this acting is conducted by tripartite coordination firms, professional associations and the state, in which firms and professional association would define as well as establish NOSS and also specific skills needs at every occupation level of a certain job. While vocational schools, as Representative of the State, would be host of occupational examinations under the supervision of the MoLISA.

Table 1: Conditions to attendance an examination for higher occupational level acknowledgement

4 Conclusion

Skill shortage and skill mismatch in Vietnam are a big barrier, which Vietnam has to overcome on the way to industrialisation. It leads to the existence of informal learning in Vietnamese companies, which thus are struggling on their search for and recruitment of workers, who have sufficient professional qualifications. It is time to change this and let industrial and private sectors contribute much more and more intensively to TVET, as they are ready to do this. Though clustering firms and TVET schools is not enough to reduce the skill shortage and mismatch. It is necessary to build up a model of social tripartite partnership between stakeholders consisting of TVET institutions, industrial partners and the government, in order to not only better determining the skills’ needs of industry, which play a role as information resource for improving training programs based on industry skills demands, but also to develop a sufficient skill evaluation system, in which the state and industry will share the role as supervisors. This system will effectively support the process of acknowledging professional skills of workers.

Establishing NOSS for all of occupations is very urgent in Vietnam but it should be done in context of interaction between TVET institutions and enterprises who should be enhanced, to assure their contribution as important representative for the private sector and vital information source to figure out more accurate descriptions of required skills and knowledge, but also as provider of occupation.

And after all, the TVET should be a subsystem in the whole system of economy. It needs to link or communicate more effectively with other subsystems in the whole, enterprises as a subsystem, for example, should keep communication channels with TVET institutions as another subsystem open to explore future or latent skill needs of industry in order to promote development of the dynamic training program to grasp the demands of industry. The economy does not stand still, thus the TVET system should not stand still.

TVET should be a truly alive system, made for a truly alive economy and its truly alive participants’ needs.

References

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Citation

Vo, X.T. (2018). Informal Learning in Vietnam: Status quo, Circumstances of existence and the demand to be acknowledged. In: TVET@Asia, issue 10, 1- 18. Online: http://www.tvet-online.asia/issue10/vo_tvet10.pdf (retrieved 31.01.2018).

In the circumstance of lacking Monozukuri (JICA 2014) TVET Vietnam has been considered as “poor cousin on the education side of the family” (Aring & Goldmark. 2013) for a long time. That’s reason why many companies have to struggle catching up their demand of qualified workforce by providing In-house-training courses or on-the-job-trainings. However, the question are: how to build a proper training course in order to cultivate their newcomers with intend to help them to adapt demands at workplace and make them being work-ready after training? Moreover, how they define correctly skills needed? This is the most important concern in TVET Vietnam at this time, when most of Vietnamese companies have been ready for setting up training courses for their new workers, even advanced training afterwards in order to advance qualification their workforce. The author had spent a field trip at plastics company in Ho-Chi-Minh-City, involved with making molds for manufacturing plastic wares, and also tried using social research method qualitative Interview to sketch out professional profile, which could be applied to design an adaptive training course for newcomers and also used as standards for recruitment new workforce in the future. Throughout this process, the author has developed a trial concept for Job analysis by using qualitative Interview, also has some remarks when this method would be used as demand-driven training concept. Moreover, this may be initiating a beginning of coordination between stakeholders in Vietnamese TVET in order to reduce the mismatch of skills demands and supply at the technician level. 

1 Introduction: “Professional profile as reference of training skilled workers”

The major issue of Vietnamese TVET has been requiring high-skilled industrial human resources or Monozukuri, a Japanese word that means “making things“, introduced by Prof. Kenichi Ohno, who had researched over twenty years on Vietnamese economics. He identified Monozukuri as qualified technician, who can “improve product quality and production operations” and “achieving customer satisfaction through high quality in the spirit of a proud and dedicated artisan, rather than just making profits” (Ohno 2010, 9). In addition, JICA Vietnam has already confirmed: “The first issue is the difficulty in determining the skills needs of the industry. The lack of detailed information on specific skills needs at the occupational level and the dynamic changes in skills demands make it hard for TVET institutions to grasp the demands of the industry when it comes to skilled workers” e.g. the case of MUTO Vietnam, a Japanese firm has done  In-house-training of mould-and-die technicians in Vietnam since 1997 (JICA 2014). Actually, TVET Vietnam has difficulty to access industry skills demands and stay by side of Supply-Driven Skills Development for a long time, although some technical and vocational education and training institutions and their supervisory ministries are becoming more aware of the necessity to improve training programs based on industry skills demands. Meanwhile, many companies have also to try hard to conduct in order to solve the skills mismatch and skills shortages. It may be easier for foreign companies such as Bosch, Intel, Samsung, Toyota and MUTO, which have enough experiences and capacity to do in-house-training. Some of them are even representative of world class model of dual system such as Bosch, coordinated with a state-run vocational school – namely LILAMA with purpose to supply skilled labours for itself. But it is another story, happened at domestic companies. Since beginning of 21st century, many Vietnamese companies have attempted to solve lack of skilled workers whereas absence of didactics as strategic guiding to implement the model In-house-training prevent them to figure out precisely requirement of their workforce and their attempt mostly were led to functional training courses, shortly conducted right after the recruitment, directly on the job and extremely fixed on demand of recruited position of job in order to handle on daily tasks, which have been already divided in many simple tasks according Taylorism’s Philosophy and without demand on basically theoretical Background of Profession. This phenomena could be already seen in some companies such as state-owned enterprise PTSC (Petro Vietnam Technical Services Corporation) and private firm Bui-Van-Ngo, where trainees may be trained just enough functional skills within 2- 3 months in order to solve their tasks in specific working context. Indeed, the author has realized during my field trip that those companies have willed to build partnerships with TVET-institution in order to construct suitable curriculum for their In-house-training. However, they have difficulty to describe their wishes about personnel needs. Despite they really know what they expect on applicants, who they really want to recruit. On the other hand, TVET institution also lacks of persons, who are capable of implementing investigation of conditions at the workplace to grasp demand of the real working world and sketch out proper training courses to meet demand at the workplace, although the Government has encouraged the involvement of the interest group (industry, enterprises and professional association) in curriculum for TVET development. 

Lack of skilled workers is also obviously a main obstacle to be decided investment modern technology in order to expand company’s capacity in Vietnam (see Figure 1). According to Figure 1, it is easy to recognize that most of firms, especially international firms, expected to hire skilled worker, who are properly trained and work-ready. Thus, this is indicated the major obstacle because labour market and Vietnamese TVET did not provide enough requires high-skilled industrial human resource.

Figure 1:     Figure 1: Lack of skilled labour is major obstacle in expanding manufacturing capability of firms in Vietnam (Bodewig, C. et. al.2013)

Consequently, this situation of TVET Vietnam can be considered as the head of Janus, which is one side can be understood as highly demand for more complex competencies in the workplace, what a skilled worker implicitly has to have in order to cope with unpredictable challenges at the workplace. Hence, this is the causality, which came from breakthrough in technology development and desire of expanding manufacturing capacity of firms. Furthermore, it’s also initiated by shifting process of Vietnam industry on the way becoming an industrial country, from the first stage of Agglomeration, which industry absorbed normally Initial FDI from foreign investment, to the second stage of Technology absorption, which industry in Vietnam could be called as supporting industries but still under foreign guidance. In addition, another side of Janus’s head is the isolation of TVET-institutions from development of industry and considered as “poor cousin on the education side of the family” (Aring & Goldmark, 2013) for a long time. According to actual Vietnamese TVET law, which has established since 2016, TVET-institution has a wider free space in developing and establishing a curriculum and in building partnership with industry. Nevertheless, the difficulties in accessing industry’s demand and settling directly connection with companies prevent TVET-institution in turning from the state of Supply-Driven Skills Development to state of Demand-Driven Skills Development. A processing of curriculum development, described by Figure 2. When Head of department at an institution, who is responsible for developing vocational programs, under information about demand from industry and consultants from TVET-teacher/ his staff, on behalf of the Rector/Director of TVET institution, can make a decision on establishing training program, which could address certain firm’s demand of human resources. Unfortunately, difficulty in seeking proper information about the professional profile of a certain position in industry prevent him or TVET-institution from establishing a sufficient training plan in order to solve the dissociation between demand and training while the company does not have any comprehensive proof of professional profile as an information resource to provide TVET institution to sketch out an effective training plan. Through experiences from field trips, the author can define that a professional profile of a certain job could be guidelines for developing an In-house-training plan for this job in the workplace and also used as an information resource for designing innovative curriculum of TVET institution. 

Figure 2:     Process of curriculum development according to actual Vietnamese TVET law (VO, 2018)

2 Fundamental ideas of development a curriculum as theoretical Background for preparing qualitative interviews in order to develop Information resources for processing Curriculum – a criticism of the current process in TVET Vietnam

Obviously, there are many different approaches in Curriculum development, but a process of curriculum development, especially in TVET-system, in which the key factor of “strong occupationally-based orientation, strong links between school, work and civic education, a more interventionist as well as more coordinated approach, which is, moreover, based on demand-orientation…” (Gonon 2013) should be involved in order to shift the TVET-system from the side of Supply-Driven Skills Development to the side of Demand-Driven Skills Development, is “… a sign for a better-established VET system” (ibid.). On CURRENT (CURriculum Revision und ENTwicklung)-model, for example, Ebeling and his co-authors have also determined some key factors, which have vital impacts on definition of consistent contents and skills, which should be taught in next coming curriculum. One of them is identification of labour market demands, which are represented by needs of the industry and the developmental level of technology in the economy. Therefore, interpretation and integration scenario of the real working world in new curriculum plays obviously important role to enhance work-ready of learners. It would be helpful for processing curriculum when this scenario is converted into comprehensive information such as: tasks, skills and knowledge. 

However, the industry’s intervention in case of TVET Vietnam at present in the development of the national standards on occupational skills is “….passive and dim.” (GDVT 2012), it led to “… qualification of the national standards on occupational skills is limited in terms of relevance for the labour market. (ibid.). In the fact of the last field trip, the author has also recognized that some policies of Vietnamese Government had not been influenced on the industry, for example the establishment of the occupational standard for CNC-technicians, which had already been introduced in 2011 with the intention of using as a guideline for designing a training plan of this career. The cause of this mismatch had already indicated in the Background Paper, published by MoLISA (Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs) in 2012: “… the active participation is mostly by training institutions, whereas the role of enterprises is passive and dim.” (ibid), because more than one half member of processing occupational standard’s Editorial Board came from the institution (see Establishment of occupational standard for CNC-technicians by MoLISA, 2012). Therefore, failure of this issue could be predicted. Moreover, DACUM (an acronym for the term Develop A CurriculUM), a very well-known method for describing a job under a matrix of tasks and activities, was firstly introduced by Robert E. Norton in 1970s years, based on verbal description of 5 – 12 skilled workers under the guidance of a well-trained facilitator about competencies, which are essential to perform their works. Finally, the result of DACUM is lists of indicated job-specific skills, knowledge and behaviour, needed to fulfil the tasks of the analysed working position. Actually, DACUM was introduced in Vietnam through a project of Swiss Contact in about 1990s years, intended to train a core group to develop Matrix of job analysis (Mori, 2009). Until now, concept of this method is still used as standard in developing a curriculum and NVQs (an acronym of National Vocational Qualifications), organized by MoLISA (Decision Nr. 09/2008/QĐ-BLĐTBXH of Minister of Labour, Invalid and social Affair, on 27. March 2008: Regulation on Process of Developing and Establishing National Vocational Qualifications Framework). In process of DACUM’s initiation, choosing of participants plays a very important role and has crucial impact of the process’s validity and reliability. Because representative members come from certain companies, they cannot represent all of experts in the whole country or region. It depends also on expertise level of invited participants who come from target professional field. However, according to Decision Nr. 09 by MoLISA, experts, who is being invited to participate the DACUM-process, might come from both of TVET institution and industry. It has effects on  the result’s reliability and validity of DACUM-process to failure when invited experts can not represent to those criteria such as high level of technical competence, knowledge of job-specific development prospects, full-time employees, and good communication skill.

On the other hand, the process of DACUM focus on the relationship of tools, equipment, material and supplies, which a worker used in daily works. But in the fact of the job CNC-technician, which the author has already observed at a moulding company and a manufacturing firm. The CNC-technician, who is working as mould-and-die technician. Probably his work is requested more complex competencies than the technician, who works in field of machining manufacture. Furthermore, the mould-and-die technician usually has to process continuous changing forms of work pieces and many kinds of moulds and dies. In contrary, a CNC-technician in machining manufacture often works with repeatable and typical work piece’s form and has to engage only same machine’s structure e.g.  Agricultural pumper’s engine. Though, their task are the same, namely CNC-technician. Therefore, the DACUM has disadvantage because it analyze a job through observation activities of workers and concentration on tasks, which might be various and rapidly change in modern industry. The matrix of job analysis, after all, will be corrected under consultants of experts in 1 or 2-days workshop, but it has very high risk of superficial agreement, although they are all specialists in their professional field. Moreover, it’s very hard to observe needs of soft skills, which are extremely essential for the job, for examples adaptability, care and attention, teamwork, interpersonal skill, friendly personality…etc. That is why DACUM should not be used in analysis an interactions job (Aring & Goldmark, 2013), that requires exchanges involving complex problem solving, experience, and context – such as in CNC technical field because of the abstraction of CNC-work. Therefore, a didactic for verbal description in the situation, when many companies in Vietnam have tried to develop training course for themselves, is urged to be introduced and applied. Theapprehensibility of work process or scenario of real work world must be pictured through the process of work experience’s analysis, which is done by interviewing experienced worker. It would be described under the form of skills and knowledge, which could be used as valuable material to design basically In-house-training courses and as a reference for suggested promotion of career path according to NVQs, which are introduced by MoLISA. Finally, these collective knowledge and skills could be seen clear and lucid advices of firm to enhance quality of training programmes in TVET-institutions.

Figure 3:     Connection between reflected work experience and work process knowledge (Lehberger 2013, 64)

The most important question is how to discover reflected experiences, which are implicit and covered under personal experiences of skilled workers, which they had collected along their working life and convert it into sufficient material such as knowledge and skills needs, which are essential for a specific profession to overcome all challenges in the workplace. Furthermore, transforming from the subjective experiences of each skilled worker with various professional levels into a neutral, objective, reliable information resource for developing a curriculum is an important condition. Then, it could be realized as work process knowledge – a foundation for designing an In-house training course (see Fig. 3). And it could play as valuable material for designing curriculum in TVET-institutions. 

In the process of developing curriculum for a training course, one of the most important thing is understanding about knowledge, which is necessary to be taught, which must be interpreted from identified needs or demands of the profession. Therefore, work process knowledge could be a useful input for processing an adequate curriculum. This is the reason for decision, why the method of qualitative interview was chosen for analyzing and identifying professional profile. At the end, the work process knowledge needs to be controlled once again by quantitative questionnaires before it could be used as an information resource to process a curriculum. 

Indeed, a job can be divided into various positions in the workplace and those positions could have related to each other. In the job analysis process, the observer could only watch and recognize the visual relations and interactions between worker and equipment, which he has to use in order to finish his tasks. Unfortunately, the observer could not see what hidden beneath these activities, e.g. when the technician types in the control panel of the CNC – machine in order to adjust the macro program. Obviously, this is visual activity, which could be watched. Nevertheless, the question is how he can handle with the macro – program? This is called nonvisual background or tacit knowledge, which we do not really know. When he is asked to explain how he handle the machine, he will confirm that knowledge of programming languages such as Visual Basic would be very helpful and essential for his job. Moreover, many modern jobs deal only with computers and mental work such as CNC-designer, CNC-programmer, who have to sit on the computer and handle their tasks every day. Thus, these jobs could not be observed in order to find out profile of them without interview, due to the abstraction of them, which are classified as interaction work – engine of knowledge economies, which could be called as “… interactive jobs technology tends to complement, not substitute for jobs.“ (Aring & Goldmark, 2013). Even when the observer tries to map their tasks with necessary working tools or equipment, which the worker need to finish their tasks, it is very hard to figure out fundamental understanding about these professions. The figure 4 indicates differences between three positions of job of CNC technology, in which the degree of abstraction and the correlation of them are very various. If the job of the CNC-operator could be observed or interviewed easily because the observer can recognize relations between tasks (object of work) and essential tools, equipment in order to identify which knowledge, professional competencies are essential for the job. But in case of the job of the CNC-Programmer, who just concerns with computer, it is really more difficult to indicate required knowledge and competencies, which are required for this position. After all, the position of CNC-designer, who just work with customers to realize their wish about a production to develop e.g. a prototype of an injection mould. Therefore, a qualitative interview would be a more effective tool in job analysis. During recent time, many companies have tried to make contact with TVET-institutions in order to design demand-oriented training course, but they had difficulty in clarifying their requirement, while TVET-institutions have to face the problem that they are not capable of figuring out the demand of the working world.

Figure 4:     Figure 2: CNC jobs and their relation to degree of abstraction and correlation with workplace

3 Concepts of using qualitative interviews as a tool of Job Analysis

3.1 Criteria and instances of qualitative interviews

−      The first step in the process of using qualitative interviews as a tool for the job analysis is determining criteria (Robinsohn 1971) for upcoming interviews. This step is based on the answer of the question how a profile of the job looks like? The terms of professional profile implicates not only the required knowledge and capability of the occupation, but also expectations and vision of employer about the job. That is why setting question sheet has crucial influence on the results of the research. 

−      A next important step is choosing instances (Robinsohn 1971) or interviewers. Meanwhile, the DACUM only focuses on experts, who are considered as experienced workers and depends totally on these experts, the qualitative interview’s method concentrates on experienced workers as well as on newcomers, who have just served several months in the position. Therefore, instances of qualitative interviews should be chosen from various workers, which have different levels of experiences and points of view about the job. Then, it is more important to setting up a strategy in communication with interviewees by repairing questions, which should be suitable for each target group. For example, with a freshman, we should ask him to list activities of the position and to express his experiences of the transfer process from learning environment with the real working world. Because his experiences and opinions about the transfer process are very valuable in order to assess whether the current curriculum was probably sufficient or not yet. Moreover, they can demonstrate gaps between theories what they had learnt at school and what they really need in the working world. This instance can provide valuable information to improve teaching process in TVET institution and give many proofs for innovating the current curriculum. On the other hand, talking with experienced workers could have us to draw entirely the outline of the position. This instance can also indicate comprehensible needs of the position such as knowledge, capability and even soft skills. In addition, they always work with newcomers and even train them. Thus, they can define basically requirements of the recruitment of the position, which can be used as learning outcomes for training courses in the firm and TVET-institutions and for controlling the training quality of the current curriculum. In addition, they can give many reliable hints for training in the workplace, especially how to train effectively a newcomer. The last instance is top-level manager, who can supply expectation and future vision of the job, e.g. he wants to recruit employees, who are able to control machines and also capable of using CAD/CAM software to convert NC- program from CAD files. Indeed, both positions (CNC-operator and CNC-programmer) should be unified in one occupation. Due to lack of skilled workers, company must divide at present the occupation into two positions: Operator and Programmer. This division has caused many disadvantages such as the programmer cannot understand about machining process. Therefore, his programs had so many mistakes and often did not adapt to CNC-machine.

Table 1:        Criteria of qualitative interviews

3.2 How to conduct a qualitative interview effectively?

Using qualitative interviews as a tool for the job analysis is a suitable method for developing training courses in company because it can identify detailed information about a specific position of work. However, some remarks should be concerned.  

−      Firstly, the key factor is who should do interviews? At the first time, the author had done it alone. All of interviews happened in a room, where there were only two peoples: interviewee and interviewer. Therefore, these interviewees gained the willingness from interviewees. The author had recognized that all of them felt free to express their experiences. However, at the second time, interviews had done with two person: the author and a man, who came from the personnel department. So, the presence of him made interviewees were not easy to explain their points of view. It might come from the cultural feature of Asian people. But my conclusion is that Interview should be done by external resource, for example personnel from TVET-institution. 

−      Voice dictation machine should be applied. It is very useful for qualitative content analysis in the next phase. But when the interviewee feels uncomfortable, dictation machine must be turned off. 

−      Using the method of qualitative interview in order to analyze a job depends totally on the proficiency of the interviewer. He should be friendly to lead interviewees to believe that the content of the interview will not bring disadvantages to them in him, by explaining clearly purposes of the talk. Thereby, he can convince interviewee’s necessity of the interview and make them feel free to express their opinion. The interviewer should prepare well for the talk by writing down questions on a sheet. Additionally, he should provide the question sheet to interviewee in advance at the beginning of the talk. He must also have a good strategy to use these questions and lead the talk well to get as much as possible information about the needs of the job. 

−      Theoretically, qualitative interview is one of the best practices of investigating the requirements of the specific working position and identifying skills need which could be provided to TVET institution in order to design training courses to address demand of certain company. But the interviewer must be well-trained or he should have a good understanding of qualitative research method.

4 Recommendations

Two parties (company and TVET institution) of the TVET system should build a partnership in training by sharing resources of personnel and technology within training process. TVET institution cannot create a scenario of the real working world for learners by itself. Meanwhile, company can offer apprenticeship program for TVET – learners to help them have chances to practice with real modern machines instead of learning through simulation software at school, but it only  happens when company do really know what learners have learnt at vocational School

Figure 5: Model of building partnership in TVET Training

In Figure5, a model for building partnership between TVET institution and industry is recommended, in which most of professional theories and basic practice skills such as handling with conventional tool machines etc. would be taught at vocational school. Then, learners will build their advanced practice skills during the apprenticeship period at the company. This model can solve the actual gap between TVET institution and companies, which companies do not let apprentices to handle their machines because they do not know what learners had learned and what they can do. According to this model, the company can have a good chance to observe applicants during the period of apprenticeship in order to choose and recruit them in the near future and also does not need to retrain them. Meanwhile, TVET institution has not to equip expensive, modern machines and has also good chances to access real working by cooperation with the company. They can send their staff to firms to strengthen their professional capability. But both of the party have to unify the training content and period of time, at when learners will spend in the Company.

Moreover, the description of professional profile at certain company is also useful in the evaluation and classification professional capability of workers. It makes the process of evaluation and classification more transparent, fair and acceptable. Furthermore, professional profile, which developed at a certain firm, might be used in processing national curriculum and NVQs after it is controlled through a quantitative research in order to revise the reliability and validity. 

Finally, the description could be used as valuable material for curriculum development when the reliability and validity were confirmed.

5 Conclusion 

After thirty years, the DACUM – method for the job analysis, introduced in Vietnam. TVET Vietnam requires an effective method for identifying apprehensibility of job, which is called interactions work. The work demands worker is capable of complex problem solving, professional experience and overall learning ability to adapt changes, which may come from the work context. Through the two last field trips, the author has recognized the trend of dual training in TVET Vietnam, in which industry has will to coordinate TVET-institution to complement training course. However, they have really difficulty to indicate apprehensibility of their demand because they only know what they expect at their worker, but they do not know how to describe it. While TVET-institution, unfortunately, has not also adequate personnel for job analysis. A concept for interpretation job’s requirements and converting them into comprehensive information such as tacit knowledge, skills needs, should probably be useful in the circumstance of TVET Vietnam. 

References

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Transcripts of qualitative Interviews, conducted in April 2017 at Duy-Tan-Plastics Corp, Ho-Chi-Minh-City, Vietnam. 

Citation

Vo, Xuan-Tien (2019). Qualitative Interview as a tool of Job Analysis in TVET Vietnam: Perspectives and Concepts. In: TVET@Asia, issue 12, 1-13. Online: http://www.tvet-online.asia/issue12/VO_tvet12.pdf (retrieved 30.01.2019).

The recent lack of a skilled labour force is a high risk for the economy in Vietnam. Within ASEAN, “Vietnam ranks in the lower half of human resources development” (EuroCham 2014, 31). Therefore, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), “reforming training and education to better meet demand for skilled labour” is one of Vietnam’s key challenges for the medium-term (EuroCham 2014, 31). For the long term, TVET institutions have not had connections with industry. This causes a gap between the need of a labour force, which comes from industry, and the quality of the labour force who are trained in TVET institutions. The best solution for solving this gap is through the enhancement of Work-Integrated Learning through cooperation of TVET institutions, companies, and universities.

Training-on-the-job has already existed in parallel with training at vocational schools in Vietnam for decades. However, such training has not yet formally become a part of TVET.  Is a Vietnamese “DUAL IN TRAINING” model for TVET, in which vocational learners can learn both in school and within real work situations, available? And how can we improve the quality of training a TVET teacher? The answer will be introduced in this paper, which covers the result of a field study which examined on-the-job training at a series of companies within two months. This field study utilized a combination of both qualitative research methods and analysis of case studies, which were observed during the last field trip. In addition, a best-practice-example, conducted at University of Technology and Education in Ho Chi Minh City by using Principle CDIO (conceive, design, implement, and operate), will be presented.

Key words: CDIO, training-on-the-job, WIL, skilled labour force

1 Introduction – the importance of WIL in Vietnamese Vocational Training System

1.1 Introduction

The 2014 World Bank Vietnam development report was titled “Skilling up Vietnam: Preparing the workforce for a modern market economy” and was published in November 2013. This report emphasized the need of job-specific technical skills in the Vietnamese workforce, not only for blue-collar workers but also for white-collar workers (World Bank 2014, 16). During a field trip to a company in the field of plastic moulding, through qualitative interviews with three managers and fourteen workers who worked as CNC-operators, the implications of the World Bank report can be clearly observed. Most workers needed to be trained when they entered as new employees in the company, needing at least three to six months to adapt to their job. Moreover, so that these employees could do their tasks confidently, they worked as CNC-operators for nearly one year. This is true not only in this specific plastic moulding company but also in three other companies, which have also been visited. Companies in Vietnam typically have to train their new employees, and they spend a lot of time and money to do so.

New workers at the plastic moulding company follow an experienced employee to learn how to operate CNC machinery for making parts of plastic moulds. Most interviewees recognized that they cannot operate CNC-machine at the beginning when they entered the company, admitting that they needed instruction from another skilled worker who is considered a master CNC-Operator. New employees were trained on how to operate a CNC-machine, how to position a working part in the machine, how to load a program, and how to make a macro program in order to process a work-part. These employees have not been trained in these essential skills, which a CNC-operator should possess, although they had graduated from a vocational school in the field of mechanical engineering. How does this happen?

The answer can be found through interviews with workers, who claim that they had not operated a CNC-machine when they studied at vocational school. Most schools have only one or two industrial CNC-machines for training. This means that training usually involves a teacher modelling how to set up the machine, position a work-part, load a program etc. while trainees merely observe.  This happens also with apprentices from vocational school. In order for the company to avoid accidents and damage to the machinery, these apprentices usually only observe how a CNC-machine works, though they may have some opportunities to do some simple tasks such as picking up a work-part. Sadly, there has never been a formal agreement between vocational schools and companies regarding student training and qualifications prior to graduation. Moreover, companies do not know the learning outcomes and demands of apprenticeship programs.

WIL in Vietnam can be classified into two groups:

−     WIL can be understood as a way of teaching during the apprenticeship before graduation. The apprenticeship only lasts for two or three months, and there is no agreement between companies and vocational schools about the relevant content or demands during this apprenticeship. This depends totally on the companies where the apprenticeships take place.

−     WIL can be understood as adaptive training after entering a company. In this case,

“training-on-the-job” or “adaption training” are synonymous terms for WIL.

1.2  Recommendations and needs for WIL concepts in Vietnam

WIL is already existing and taking place in vocational school systems in Vietnam. WIL can be integrated in the curriculum and during training, focusing on learning theory and practice in vocational schools and apprenticeships. Some occupations, such as banking, tourism or economic careers, have done this very well. Unfortunately, in the mechanical engineering training course, especially CNC careers, it is very difficult to make WIL come true. The existing course has just now focused on training skills for operating conventional machines such as lathe machines and milling machines. In the mechanical engineering curriculum, some time is dedicated to learning CNC-machinery but not enough time. At the same time, vocational schools cannot be equipped with enough CNC-machines for the demands of training, and schools also do not have enough skilled trainers. One solution to this pressing matter involves vocational schools sending their students to apprenticeships in order for students to properly learn CNC machine operations. These kinds of apprenticeship are intensive training periods or an extended training time outside of school. Ideally, these apprenticeships would clearly define their learning outcomes to future employers so that afterwards the trainees can control and reflect on their achievements. Moreover, these apprenticeships would need to provide insurance to protect trainees from any health or financial burdens related to job-site accidents.

The current situation in vocational training in Vietnam is similar to Germany’s situation 150 years ago, when the demand for a trained workforce was too high and the vocational school system could not satisfy this requirement. In 1769, Margrave of Baden was worried that skilled workers such as stonemasons, bricklayers, and tilers would not have enough qualifications to effectively and independently do their job. Many companies tried to train their workforce by themselves (Jongebloed 1998, 260). This is currently happening in Vietnam. But the nature of training on the job is very specific and narrow. The trained workers can only effectively complete tasks specific to the company in which they were trained. The workers do not have enough competencies to face the working world, which changes day after day. This gap was discussed in an article by Andrew Trounson, University of Melbourne with the title “Narrow Training Sells Students Short” (Trounson 2017). An occupational profile for specific occupations can minimize this gap because this job profile can provide guidelines for training courses in vocational schools and companies. Such a  profile would comprise of knowledge, skills, and attitudes of specific jobs, which learners have to master before graduation. Therefore, these profiles can be used to build curriculum for training, and this curriculum can be shared with vocational schools and companies.

2 Work-readiness and practical learning as key factor in training VET-teachers

2.1 The CDIO-concept and its usability for VET-teachers

During the field study, one manager at an electronic company was asked “What do you expect from your engineers?”

The manager answered that it is very important that an engineer can use Eagles software to design a printed circuit small enough to be suitable for small drone that the company intends to produce. Therefore, a student who has worked on this sort of project in the course of their training and education will easily and effectively overcome routine challenges in the workplace. Through this interview it was recognized that some of the most important skills that a company demands from an engineer involve using knowledge of technical fundamentals to solve complex problems and to design new products.

The reason why CDIO is a suitable concept for training VET-teacher is “because it provides the natural setting in which to teach key pre-professional engineering skills and attitudes.” “The essential feature of the CDIO approach is that it creates dual-impact learning experiences that promote deep learning of technical fundamentals and of practical skill sets” (Crawley, Malmqvist, Ostlund, Brodeur, 3). CDIO comprises of four words: conceive, design, implement, and operate. It is a concept which was originally formulated by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. CDIO’s philosophy emphasizes the “essential features of a modern engineering education – excitement about what engineers do, deep learning of the fundamentals, skills, and the knowledge of how engineers contribute to society” (Crawley, Malmqvist, Ostlund, Brodeur, 3) to teach “processing technology”, which was traditionally conveyed only in a theoretical manner. The lecture comprises of three parts: foundry technology, forming technology and welding technology. “Foundry technology” is conducted in seven weeks. With experiments on casting processes in the laboratory, “foundry technology” works as a practical addition to the typical theoretical lecture, in combination with applications of CDIO concepts as a way to lead students to learn not only with their brains but also their hands and their hearts. The project “foundry a work-part” belongs to the course “foundry technology” and was implemented parallel to theoretical lecture. (See table 1). This innovation comes from the program HEEAP (Higher Engineering Education Alliance Program), which was initiated by Intel, USAID (U.S. Agency for international Development) and ASU (Arizona State University).

Table 1: Project tasks are designed parallel to contents of the course

2.2  An example of CDIO for training VET-teachers

At the beginning of the course, the class is divided into groups. Each group comprises of four to six students who are assigned a real part to a machine. (Fig. 2) Then each group recieves list of tasks (table 2). Their first task is to develop a technical drawing from the part. In order to develop a technical drawing, students have to use basic measuring tools such as a vernier caliper to measure a real piece of machinery and to apply their knowledge of development in a technical drawing (fig 3).

The following table is a list of tasks that were given to every group on first day of the course. This table contains weekly deadlines (date) for tasks and student evaluations (result).

Table 2: Tasks of the foundry project

This project ensures that students can apply what they have just learned in class to real-world situations (Table 1). In order to engage student passion, the lecture does not utilize the traditional “chalk-and-talk-teaching”. Students use knowledge of technical fundamentals, gained not only from the foundry technology course but also from past knowledge, to solve problems. Therefore, the project is realized as a process: conceive, design, operate, and implement (Fig. 4)

The advantage of this project is the experience knowledge that is gained during the processes which students perform in the lab at the end of project. With these experiences, students can apply and compare theoretical knowledge, (which they have learned in class before) with steps and results in practice. For example, some experiments might deal with how to mix and check mixtures of sand for casting (Fig. 5), how to prepare patterns to make moulding, or how to take patterns out of mould.

The students are encouraged to apply and reflect on what they have learned and apply this knowledge to new and unexpected problems. When these problems are solved, they have more confidence in their learning abilities and in their skills as future professional engineers.

2.3 The project method and its effects towards the development of professional competencies

In practical courses, such as in a welding course, students are required to complete tasks in order to finish their course’s work (for example: butt joint, lap joint, tee joint in positions 1G, 2G, etc.) This method does not engage student interests during the course and does not provide target-orientated support to form skills regarding professional competency and soft skills. So during the project, there was a didactical change. The class was divided into groups. Each group could develop their ideas according to the task given to them, e.g. drive-wheel-bicycle, pinwheel for garden decoration, etc. Those ideas were then developed within self-organized projects.

During the project, students have opportunities to work with many types of equipment, not only welding machine, but also hand-grinding and cutting machines.

Throughout the practical course, students gain not only professional competencies but also soft skills such as problem-solving. Students also developed negotiation skills, teamwork skills, and presentation skills.

3  Conclusion

The integration of experimental tasks in project methods is a very effective method for enhancing student motivation. Students learn not only theoretical knowledge but also practical skills. Students are driven by passion, curiosity, engagement, and dreams. These methods give students motivation to learn not only for examinations but also to gain knowledge for future careers. We do not know what awaits our TVET-students in the future. We do, however, know some competencies that will help them to overcome challenges, to achieve new knowledge, and to build professional proficiency. The integration of experiments in project methods helps students to anchor knowledge effectively and provides more practice to support professional competencies—not only now but also in their future professional life. Most importantly, these practices give students “readiness to be an engineer”.

References

EuroCham (2014): Trade/Investment Issues & Recommendation, 18-31.

Jongebloed, H.-C. (1998): Komplementarität als Verhältnis: Lernen in dualer Struktur, in: ders. (Hg.): Wirtschaftspädagogik als Wissenschaft und Praxis – oder: Auf dem Wege zur Komplementarität als Prinzip (Moderne der Tradition, Bd, 1), Kiel: bajosch Hein, 259-286.

Trounson A. (2017). Narrow training sells students short, University of Melbourne. Online: https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/narrow-training-sells-students-short, (retrieved 06. March 2017).

Vo Xuan Tien (2014). Enhancing Student Motivation in Foundry Technology using Active Learning and CDIO Practices. In: Vietnam Engineering Education Conference 2014; March 25-26, 2014, Ho Chi Minh City, 39.

Vo Xuan Tien (2014). Project-Based Learning: Best practice to implement CDIO-Principle – Experiments through teaching Foundry Technology at University of Technology and Education Ho Chi Minh City. In: CDIO Conference 2014; December 12, 2014, Ho Chi Minh City, 22

Vo Xuan Tien (2015): “Introduction to Engineering” Course – a Catalyst for Innovation in Engineering Education and Blooming Student’s Creativity, In: Vietnam Engineering Education Conference 2015; March 16-17, 2015, Danang City, 27-28.

World Bank in Vietnam (2013). Vietnam development report 2014- Skilling up Vietnam: Preparing the workforce for a modern market economy.

Citation

Tien Vo, Xuan (2017). WIL in Vietnam and Best practice example of CDIO at HCMC University. In: TVET@Asia, issue 9, 1-14. Online: http://www.tvet-online.asia/issue9/vo_tvet9.pdf (retrieved 30.06.2017).

The dual system is considered as a successful and well-known model of TVET all over the world. It might be a proper solution in order to solve skills mismatch and skills shortage, which the Vietnamese industry names as a “main obstacle” for developing and also expanding their manufacture in Vietnam. In the report about the innovations in quality apprenticeships in the United States, Aring with collaboration of La Rue has mentioned the case of German companies in the USA such as BMW, Volkswagen and Siemens, which have brought the dual model to the countries where they have settled their plants and have implemented the model but using a different name e.g. Quality apprenticeship (Aring 2014, 5). Another example is the case of the company Bosch in TVET Vietnam, which has brought this model to Vietnam and collaborated with a state-run vocational school (Lilama2) to train the workforce for itself. Unfortunately, TVET Vietnam stays on the drive of the supply-side until now, in which the TVET institutions design and provide the training course, based on their perception without paying attention to skills demand from the Vietnamese industry (JICA 2014, 1). The reason for this obstacle is that the TVET institutions have difficulty to access the need of the Vietnamese industry. Consequently, many Vietnamese companies struggle to re-train their newcomers after recruitment. This is the form of In-house-training or training at work, conducted right after recruitment and directly at the workplace. In order to save time and costs in the term of training, these training courses normally have the tendency to focus on functionality, which are designed tightly fit to the job at the workplace, for example, welder and machine assembler training, which only took place for 3 or 4 months to adapt to the demands of the workplace. Therefore, training-at-work has been implemented informally in most of Vietnamese companies. In comparison, with the dual model in Germany, it has a similar character: It is directly connected with the workplace and qualified mentors are responsible for the instruction. However, the company has difficulty in defining skills and knowledge, which could be used as reference for developing a road map of training and controlling the quality of these training courses. Therefore, TVET institutions in Vietnam provide merely training courses, which are only built on their perceptions of necessary skills and knowledge about the careers in the industry instead of sufficient consultants from employee about the employer’s skills demands (JICA 2014, 1). The reason is that they have difficulty to grasp the know-how on demand of workforce from industry. The identification of skills needed is not a simple analysis or synthesis process because the nature of work is nowadays more complex than what it used to be and tends to become an interactive work that requires exchange, involves experience and context, and is considered as the engine of knowledge economies (Aring & Goldmark 2013). The need of a didactic for work analysis, in which know-how on the demand of the workplace would be clarified, is very urgently needed at present. A strategy for catching up the tacit knowledge of the profession would become a useful information resource, which would be exchanged between stakeholders in the TVET-system in order to enhance transformation about the quality of TVET-training and expectations of industry. Furthermore, it also supports the coordination in training workforce between them and reduces training costs.

 This paper based on my research finding and the final part of my doctoral thesis will contribute to the actual state of the Vietnamese TVET and the concern about the development of curricula in Vietnam, particularly the research on the identification of professional competence through analysing the case study of a Vietnamese company. It also aims to provide suggestions for job analytical processes which can enhance the information exchange between the two sides of TVET Vietnam (state-run schools and Vietnamese industry sector) about the skills needed and shows that both stakeholders are involved in designing and conducting the training curriculum.

 Keywords: Dual VET, Complemental VET, Quality apprenticeship in Vietnam

1 Introduction: Status quo of TVET in Vietnam and challenges in constituting the coordination between stakeholders

Since the start of the economic renovation in 1986, Vietnam has achieved remarkable success such as GDP growth, becoming a middle-income country or getting more involved in world trading. Vietnam became firstly a member of the ASEAN free trade area, then joined the WTO (World Trade Organization) and ratified the free trade agreement with the US, and a Trans Pacific Partnership. As a result, Vietnam became a hub for foreign investment and manufacturing in Southeast Asia. Many huge international companies like Intel or Samsung have decided to set up their plants in Vietnam. Moreover, Vietnam has gotten involved in the global supply chain shown by the fact that labels like “made in Vietnam” appear more often on many European and American products. At the beginning of the industrialization process, the Vietnamese economy absorbed purely FDI investments from foreign companies which just intended to “perform simple assembly or processing of light industry products for export such as garment, footwear, and foodstuff” (Ohno 2010, 5). In this stage, Vietnam had not faced the challenges about the demand of a qualified workforce because most of the companies required only simple and labor-intensive workers, who could handle routine work which is already divided into many single steps. At that time, Vietnam could easily provide production-line workers in order to fulfil the demand of industry. Subsequently, Vietnam stepped up to the next stage, called “initial FDI absorption”, which asked the country to provide a semi-skilled workforce, which could handle conventional machines to manufacture certain parts of machines or use hand tools in order to assembly electronic devices. This increased the need of “high-level industrial human resources such as excellent technicians and production-line leaders who can improve production operations” (Mori, Thuy & Hoang 2009, 1). Therefore, many firms have tried to start their own in-house training courses directly at the assembly lines or tried to divide their work processes into many simple steps and trained their workforce functionally according to the specific task at the certain work position before they got started at the workplace.

 Figure1: Stages of industrialization process (Ohno 2006, 4)

 Recently, Vietnam has reached out to the third stage of the catching-up to Industrialisation-process when the country began to initiate supporting industry in order to provide components for these assembly lines or take part in more value added manufacturing process such as product development or design. It results in an increased demand of a skilled workforce which is called “Monozukuri”, who is defined as a craftsman with his spirit of “excellence, skill, spirit, zest, and pride in the ability to make things, good things, very well” (Saito et al. 2010, 1), also a workforce, which is “fully empowered and trained to deal with different situations creating an elevated sense of ownership” (SApartners 2012, 3).

Unfortunately, the difficulty of overcoming the lack of skilled workers, who have the “ability to design and operate factories efficiently; maintain, adjust and repair machines; design parts; produce precision molds and dies” (Ohno 2006, 9) still stays behind the story of Vietnam’s economic miracle. Because there are almost all reports about Vietnam human resource of many NGOs, which have already addressed this problem and stated that it is a main obstacle to enhance the competitiveness of Vietnamese economic and to attract more FDI. The low-wage labour force is not an advantage of the country anymore when Vietnam now got into the second stage of industrialization process and needs to well prepare for the next step by breaking the “Glass ceiling” of Middle Income Trap (see Figure 1) if Vietnam really wants to move itself up: “For further industrialization, it is essential for Vietnam to develop highly skilled industrial human resources who can increase productivity and manufacturing value-adding before the country loses the advantages of a low-wage labour force” (Mori, Thuy & Hoang , 1). Otherwise, Vietnam will remain stuck in this trap. Lack of skilled workforce is the most popular statement about Vietnam’s human resource, broached in reports about human resource since 2012. After the STEP survey, the Vietnam World Bank has indicated that most employers expect job specific technical skills from their employees (Bodewig et al. 2014, 33). This is also a relevant requirement when they seek their work force (see Figure 2). 

Figure 2: Employers’ View of Importance of Job-Related Skills for Blue- and White-Collar Workers. (Bodewig et al. 2012, 33)

Unfortunately, they have to struggle in recruitment workers who possess right skills for the right job. Therefore, a phenomenon “they encounter skill gaps and shortages in the context of expanding enrollments in universities and in vocational schools, some employers choose to provide on-the-job training for their workers” (Bodewig et al. 2014, 17). The form of on-the-job training is the most popular reaction from industry in order to overcome the skills gap and the skills shortage in TVET Vietnam. The author has already mentioned this informal learning a in a former paper, which can be divided into two groups (Vo 2018, 2):  

Group 1: Initiative training. It is usually conducted at those Vietnamese firms, which demand just on labor – intensive assembly such as furniture manufacturing, textile industry or even in some kinds of construction and mechanical engineering. This form of training happens in a very short time from several days to maximal one week because the firm has already simplified their producing line in small steps in order to make the initiative training easy to conduct at the workplace. This type of training helps the firm to solve the shortage of labor on a short-term basis. However it does not create the labor’s motivation because the tasks at the workplace are repeatable and very simple. Therefore, the workers have the feeling of boring and do not see the chance of developing in their career paths. They could easily leave their workplace and find another job.  

Group 2: Adapted training. This type of training is expected to become the Vietnamese version of “Quality apprenticeship” when the Coordination between stakeholders in TVET Vietnam is substantially developed instead of “the present loosing cooperation” between the TVET-institutions and the Vietnamese companies when the TVET-institutions try to send their students as much as possible to the firms in order to conduct the internship without the intention about professional competences’ development, which their students have to achieve after finishing their apprenticeship. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese companies do not know how to deal with those trainees, come from TVET-institutions. They just want to train the trainees, who have proper knowledge and really want to stay after the internship. Because “The purpose of such training is to deepen the technical skills acquired in formal education and training and to adapt employees to the individual workplace” (Bodewig et al. 2014, 17). This kind of training is organized under the Mentoring between a skilled worker and a trainee. This training takes place at least three to even twelve months, and attempts to advance skills of newcomers, who are freshly recruited from vocational schools or colleges. This type of training is conducted at firm, where requirements at workplace are usually more complex such as operating CNC or other conventional machines, assembling the electrical board of fly cams, etc. At the presence, this training is implemented after recruitment. However, it should be happened earlier in the period of learning at TVET-institution if the concept of complementary in TVET training is established and approved.  

However, both of those ways of training are considered as informal learning, although one of them, for example, the adapted training reinforces acquired knowledge and former skills through application and experimentation at the workplace also deepen the technical skills acquired in formal education. It can also help individuals to bridge the gap between knowledge and skills. Informal learning under the type of e.g. in-house training is the main form of training, firstly existed in FDI companies and become by tendency more popular in many Vietnamese companies in recent years. But, according to the article five, in chapter one of the newest Vietnamese vocational Training law, all kinds of training activities, which are implemented outsides the TVET-institution, are informal.  

Lack of skilled workforce is shown as the main obstacle to Vietnamese industry when most of them have answered that they have really difficulty in recruiting workers and this state is increasing from time to time (see Figure 3) because “Vietnam’s skill development system today is not as responsive as it needs to be and is suffering from disconnects among employers, students, and universities and vocational schools” (Bodewig et al. 2014, 17).

Figure3: Difficulties in Recruiting Different Types of Workers in Vietnam (Mori, Thuy & Hoang 2009, 5) 

In comparison, with another country in ASEAN, it is obvious to see that the problem of lack of skilled workforce in Vietnam is worse than in other ASEAN countries because more than 60% the firms said that they have difficulty in seeking adequate workforce for own demand (see Figure 4). 

Figure 4: Difficulty in recruitment all kinds of workforce in Vietnam in comparison with other ASEAN countries. (Mori, Thuy & Hoang 2009, 5)

The reason why “Vietnam’s skill development system today is not as responsive as it needs to be” is that TVET institutions have difficulty in “determining the skills needs of industry” (JICA 2014, 6) and the system stays still in the form of Supply-Driven Skill Development, in which the TVET institution provide their training course based on their perception about industry without paying sufficient attention to employers’ skills demands. This is the main constraint, which is determined by JICA: “The lack of detailed information on specific skills needs at the occupation level and the dynamic changes in skills demands make it hard for TVET institutions to grasp the demands of industry when it comes to skilled workers” (JICA 2014, 6). From this determination, it is necessary to initiate coordination between stakeholders in TVET in order to inform them each other better about skills demands because “Information is the oxygen of responsive skills development systems” (Bodewig et al. 2014, 147). But the question is how TVET institutions can build partnership with industry, in order to access the detailed information on specific skills needs at the occupation level easier and use it as foundation to design their training courses and implement an up-to-date curriculum to fulfill the demands of industry. Because “Education and training providers cannot make good choices on the programs to develop and offer without good information about employers’ skill needs, conditions in the labor market, and returns to certain fields of study” (Bodewig et al. 2014, 147).  

 1.1 From In-house training to partnership in TVET Vietnam – the certain response to the lack of qualified workforce: The Story of MUTO Vietnam

The MUTO, an FDI company from Japan, is capable of molds, dies, and plastic-injection-molding parts and has implemented the In-house training of mold and die technicians since 1998 when the company had to deal with a shortage of skilled workers. Firstly, it just intended to provide the training course for intern workforce and meet its own demand. The company recruited novices or graduates from vocational schools or colleges even engineers from universities and trained them according to in-house training courses on designing and making molds and dies, which is designed to adapt to their real needs. Some of them were sent to Japan to deepen their proficiency in the field of designing and making molds and dies. Furthermore, the company expands their training activities to another FDI companies now, which have the same demand on the field of making molds and dies. This story is a popular example about individual effort of a foreign company in Vietnam, which try to overcome the shortage of skilled workers by providing training course for its own. This is also the actual way of many Vietnamese companies in the field of technology, which have to try the best to create skilled labour workforce for their own. Unfortunately, this type of training is implemented outside the TVET-institutions and without coordination with a state run TVET institution therefore it could be not acknowledged, according to article five in the law of Vietnamese TVET.  

1.2 Partnership – the main form of cooperation in TVET Vietnam

If the story of MUTO was an individual effort, there is another kind of cooperation in TVET Vietnam: Partnership. A brilliant and successful example is the partnership between the firm Bosch and the TVET institution – LILAMA II College. This example is usually cited in many case studies about a successful model of cooperation in TVET Vietnam. In this partnership, the firm serves as a host for practical training and providing experts also consultants in order to help the TVET institution – the LILAMA II College to catch up with the skills need demand in industry. Then, the college updates their curriculum and takes on teaching theory and giving fundamental practice their students before they get into practice period in the firm.

This model can be looked like dual model in Germany. It works really well in Vietnam but its’ impact to whole TVET system in Vietnam is not really obvious. Because the company intends to employ just twenty four students for both of training careers: mechanical engineering and mechatronics every year. This is a very small number with limited careers. Therefore, it seems to be the way which the company Bosch has tried to solve the shortage of skills-workers by itself, more than being a solution for improving the whole TVET-system in Vietnam because this model has not been expanded to other companies, especially Vietnamese companies. Moreover, this model could not be applied in Vietnamese companies because the obstacle is the capacity of domestic companies, which are not enough personal, experiences and financial to build up a training apartment within the companies. Thus, it prevents them to conduct this model. 

Furthermore, in many industrial zones in Vietnam, there exists a kind of cooperation as a network between a training centre, founded only for priming labour force within the zone and promoting suitable training courses to meet actual demand of the firms, e.g. The Vietnam-Singapore Technical Training Centre (VSTTC), which was established in 1997 when the Vietnam-Singapore industrial zone (VSIP) was settled. This centre has a duty to offer training courses in specific fields (such as electrical maintenance; mechanical maintenance; machining; electronics; mechatronics) and supply skilled workers to enterprises in VSIP. The training form in this centre is normally set up as a 6-month modularized training course. In 2005, this centre was merged with Binh-Duong state-run Vocational School and became Vietnam-Singapore Vocational school since August 2006. After that, it was developed to Vietnam – Singapore College at the beginning of 2008. If the former centre could only provide vocational primary training courses, it can now offers two and three-years of study to their students. Thus, their graduates would get vocational or college diploma after graduation. This form could be named the clustering between Stakeholders in TVET, which had been mentioned by Xiong in his Ph.D.-Thesis “Clustering in the field of vocational education” (Xiong 2013)  

In reference to the newest Vietnam vocational law, which has been in force since November 2014, building partnership between a state-run TVET institution and a firm or networking between companies of the industrial zone and TVET Centre with the participation of a state-run institution has the advantage, that certificates and diplomas from this type of training are acknowledged. It makes the transition’s process of the workers between domestic companies easier. But in many cases, the workers have to spend a trial period at least one month when they start to work at another company. In the meanwhile, the type of In house training such as MUTO Vietnam is until now not acknowledged unless the MUTO establishes the TVET-institution within its company. Because the training on-the-job is just acknowledged when it is conducted in cooperation with a state run TVET-institution or directly in the TVET-institution, which is built in the company and approved by the state, according to the article nineteen in the Vietnamese law of TVET.  

1.3 Internship, Quality Apprenticeship – A new model for TVET training and higher vocational education 

Nowadays, many FDI companies in Vietnam such as Intel, Bosch, Samsung, Honda etc. intend to provide many programmes of internship and aim at students, who are learning in vocational colleges or universities and looking for a chance for getting to know the real working world in industry. Most of them try to prepare their next generation of workforce by attracting talented young students through internship programs. This is also a kind of adaptive training to help their potential candidates getting acquainted with the firms’ environment and have more time to select the most suitable candidates for their demand. One remarkable example is the Samsung Talent Programme, initiated by Samsung Vietnam, the programme permits Vietnamese universities (Hanoi Technology University, Hanoi National University and Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology) to send students to the company with the purpose of learning and doing research or thesis and it also gives financial support to talented students to help them get promotion in their study. Moreover, the company has implemented the Quality Apprenticeship when it cooperated with local TVET institutions with the aim of training their workforce directly at the workplace according to work-based curricula. This activity is a kind of the programme, structured learning which formally combines and alternates learning in the work place with learning in an education or training centre. REE, another company in the field of refrigeration has also implemented this model. One of them – the IT Corporation FPT has even founded a private university since 2006. This could be considered as the initiation of the concept of complementary in TVET Vietnam. The FPT University offers full academic bachelor, partnership program, postgraduate, polytechnic in main fields of IT and business. The university has advantage when it embedded its’ experiences in IT field to develop their own curricula and have enough proper facilities and instructors, who are required to have two years’ working experience in the IT industry, to train their students more effectively. This art of training is usually based on work-based curricula, which are developed by industry and remain up-to-date frequently. The implementation of the training is complement between theory and practice, because it based on one curriculum, which is designed for two places: TVET-institution, where the students learn theories and company, where they spent their apprenticeship under the mentoring of skilled consultants. Moreover, the addition and exchange of facilities and personnel within the organisations would be easier. Thus, the complementary in TVET training proves an effective impact on training quality. 

1.3.1 Concept for Enhancing Cooperation in TVET Vietnam 

As mentioned above, lack of detailed information on specific skills needs at the occupation level, which can be referred to the National Vocational Qualification Frameworks (NVF) and the dynamic changes in skills demands, which already happened in industry, is the main obstacle of TVET Vietnam in the shifting process from supply-driven skills development to demand-driven skills development, in which curricula should be built on the sufficient attention to employers’ skills demands, which come from real working world instead of perception of TVET institution about working world. Moreover, in the context that Vietnam has not yet established the national qualification framework for whole popular occupations exception to some professions, which are consulted and acknowledged such as Automobile technology, Welding within the project “Implementing the strategic framework and the action plan for human resource development in Greater Mekong Sub-region”, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) (General Department of Vocational Training 2012, 20), or CNC-Mechanic, which is built under the consulting and funding of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). (General Department of Vocational Training 2012, 18). It is difficult when stakeholders in TVET Vietnam really want to found the Coordination together because they do not understand clearly their part in the coordination. In the case of the company MUTO, the occupation of mold and dies technician has already existed over 20 years but until now is not officially well-known. Furthermore, the present capacity of domestic companies has not yet enough to settle a private TVET-centre for own.  

Mori has wondered what would speed up the spill-over of knowledge and technology from enterprises to TVET institutions. He has answered: “One proposal is to carry out TVET programs in cooperation with FDI enterprises. The direct interaction between TVET institutions and FDI enterprises would shorten the time for technology spill-over. It would also promote direct exchange of information about labor demand and supply. In this way, TVET institutions could adjust their curricula up to the needs of industry and produce graduates who are ready to enter the workforce” (Mori, Thuy & Hoang 2009, 13). From his argument, stakeholders in TVET need a mean such as professional profile, serves as a reservoir of information about the set of skills needs and relevant knowledge about a profession, which exits in real working world, and also as memorandum of understanding (MOU) about the guaranty of training’s quality between them. Hence, it would be used as an information resource in developing curriculum at TVET-institution or training plan at the firm. However, this training could critically become a functional training if this curriculum is just developed in order to train the workforce for a specific profession, which exists in a certain firm. That’s why these professional profiles should be introduced and developed by a leading firm (see Figure 5) or a group of firms in the same professional field. In addition, those profiles would be approved by professional associations, a group of companies or skilled workers (engineers, technicians) in a same professional area and should be acknowledged before using it as information resource for designing curricula and training plans, which will be conducted in TVET institutions, companies or both. This concept has the target that curriculum and training plan have the same reference – the professional profile. It is also the intention of Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affair Vietnam (MoLISA), to “strengthen public relation and dissemination in order to improve awareness of purpose, process and benefits of standards on occupational skills and to evaluate occupational skills for enterprises” (General Department of Vocational Training 2012, 22). The establishment of an occupational profile would be “…undertaken by enterprises and employers through Councils of Occupational Skills” (ibid.). The profiles for present occupations in the industry should provide detailed information about skills, proficiency, required knowledge in line with NQFs and also predictions or visions about development of the job in the future. The establishment of such profiles would be a great step forward in developing the curriculum, improve guidelines and orientation for training in both of places: TVET-institutions and firms, also share this information within all relevant TVET stakeholders. Thereby, stakeholders in TVET Vietnam could share their parts in implementation of training the workforce. However, it emerges a dilemma, which the author has recognized through the last field trips that the Vietnamese companies do really know what they expect on skills of the worker but they do not know how to describe them in detail. In another sides, the TVET-institutions are not ready to help Vietnamese companies in order to constitute and document these skills needs. It lacks the same concern between TVET-institutions and firms. This stand of dilemma is already identified in the report of JICA Vietnam “TVET institutions need to collect a certain level of detailed information by themselves. Nonetheless, many of them do not have the capacity to collect and analyse comprehensive information on specific skills needs. Moreover, not all enterprises may provide comprehensive feedback on their skills needs to TVET institutions. It is a time-consuming job to collect and analyse comprehensive data of specific skills needs in all different departments and section” (JICA 2014, 6). Therefore, the cooperation would hardly be founded without this intersection between Stakeholders in TVET Vietnam.  

 Figure 5:        Proposal concept of Coordination between stakeholders in TVET Vietnam through professional profiles and work-based curricula. Source: own research

Once a curriculum is established and based on a professional profile, roles of stakeholders in TVET system would be clarified. Thus, the coordination with industry through the agreement about contents of curriculum would be found in order to share the part in TVET training. The industry do really know what the students have learnt in the institutions and easier in developing a training for them in order to strengthen practical skills of students. Therefore, the process of spill-over knowledge and technology from industry to TVET institution would be accelerated. They will share their part to each other: TVET institution would teach their students mainly theoretical background about the profession according to their work-based curricula, also provide basic practice at the workshop while firms would be the host for advanced practices and giving internship programs (see Figure 6). The former school-based curriculum has also a good chance to upgrade itself in order to meet demands of the industry. In addition, instructors and their institution could also improve their proficiency when they have occasions to communicate with the Vietnamese industry and get to know modern technology in firms in order to widen their professional know-how and use it to instruct their students and also advance their learning materials. There would not be two separate work-based curricula and school-based curricula anymore. Instead, both stakeholders – institution and firm would use only one curriculum in order to share their parts, facilities and personnel in training their students. Hopefully, the profile of profession would bridge over the current disconnection and become the link between the curriculum in the TVET-institution and training plan at the firm. It also eases the Know-how’s transfer of modern technology from industry to TVET-institutions, enhances the modernisation of learning materials, supports the advancing of faculty members’ professional competency. On the contrary, the companies would recruit more workforce, who have adequate knowledge and basic practical skills. Then, they just have to focus on advancing practical skills of those trainees. Moreover, the TVET-institution would help them in analysing skills needs at the workplace and so far describe the road map for developing those careers, which could be referenced for paying wage and evaluating the productivity of their workforce. 

 Figure 6:        Complemental impact of professional profile on TVET system. (Own research).

2 Conclusions 

The issue of professional profile is the ultimatum in advancing coordination between TVET institutions and Vietnamese industry. However, in many domestic companies, at least the firms that I have visited, it is very difficult to describe detailed information about their skills need. They have no personnel to analyse scholarly their work and demands. It leads to big barriers when they look for a chance of making the coordination with TVET institution in order to implement together the TVET training because they cannot picture exactly their requirements and the set of skills needs is still to be their intuition about the career. This is a kind of state “I know everything I want but I cannot document it”. In addition, those profiles would be a comprehensive mean in the communication within stakeholders of Vietnamese TVET. On the other side, TVET institution aim only to send their students to firms with only one purpose to conduct the company internship, which is one of subject in their curriculum. Instructors from institution are not interested in achievement of their students’ proficiency after the period of internship. However, both of them really need to coordinate together to approach high quality in TVET training. The TVET institutions want to access and gain up-to-date information about occupations at firms to upgrade their curriculum and also to give their staff a chance to expand their professional horizon. Reversely, the firms need to know clearly novice’s ability in order to plan in-house support training. That’s why TVET Vietnam urgently needs a mechanism for coordination, in which stakeholders would agree to each other through the professional profile about their part in training plan, based on common and consistent curricula as a bridge for information exchange during the coordination. The institutions have not invested too much to equip expensive and modern machines such as CNC-processing centre for their workshop because they just have to offer their students basic training on conventional machine at TVET School. Afterwards, the students’ skills would be improved on industrial machines continuously at firms. Both of these activities of training is led by one curriculum, which could be divided into work-based curriculum at TVET School and training plan in the firm. However, both of them have the same reference – the professional profile. It would save time and money because the firms don’t have to conduct adaptive training their novice like now. But, at first, the firm requires support from the TVET scholars in order to analyse their working world and convert them into written form such as set of skills need and tacit knowledge which relates to background for building those skills and roles as foundation for further development professional proficiency of the worker in the future.  

References 

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Aring M. (2014).  Innovations in Quality Apprenticeships for high skilled manufacturing jobs in the United States at BMW, Siemens, Volkswagen. Geneva: International Labour Office. Online:
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Bodewig C., Badiani-Magnusson R., Macdonald K., Newhouse D., & Rutkowski J. (2014). Skilling up Vietnam – Preparing the Workforce for a Modern Market Economy. Washington: The World Bank. Online:
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JICA (2014). Policy Paper – Promoting Tripartite Partnerships to Tackle Skills Mismatch: Innovative Skills Development Strategies to Accelerate Vietnam’s Industrialization. Hanoi: JICA. Online:
https://www.jica.go.jp/vietnam/english/office/others/c8h0vm00008ze15n-att/policy_paper.pdf (retrieved 04.07.2019).

General Department of Vocational Training (2012).TVET Quality Breakthrough – Vietnam TVET Background paper. Hanoi: MoLISA. 

Mori, J., Thuy, N. , & Hoang P. (2009). Skill Development for Vietnam’s Industrialization: Promotion of Technology Transfer by Partnership between TVET Institutions and FDI Enterprises, Vietnam. Online: http://www.grips.ac.jp/vietnam/VDFTokyo/Doc/Mori_SkillsDevVN.pdf  (retrieved 04.07.2019).

Ohno K. (2006).Vietnam’s Industrial Policy Formulation to Become a Reliable Partner in Integral Manufacturing. Online: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.501.7558&rep=rep1&type=pdf (retrieved 14.06.2019).

Ohno, K. (2010). Avoiding the Middle Income Trap: Renovating Industrial Policy Formulation in Vietnam. Online: http://www.grips.ac.jp/vietnam/KOarchives/doc/EP32_ADB_HQ_MIT.pdf (retrieved 14.06.2019).

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Citation

Xuan-Tien Vo (2019). Dual or Complemental in Vocational Training: which concept would be suitable for TVET Vietnam? In: TVET@Asia, issue 13, 1-16. Online: http://www.tvet-online.asia/issue13/VO_tvet13.pdf (retrieved 30.06.2019).

“Skills mismatch” and “skills shortage” are very popular concerns in reports on Vietnamese TVET. As a result, many Vietnamese companies struggle to re-train their newcomers after recruitment. Some of them have to accept even unskilled workers who then undergo a “functional training”, for example, welder training and machine assembler, to adapt to the demands of work. Thus, training-at-work has been implemented in most of the Vietnamese companies. However, this process is similar to what has been practised in craftsmanship for years: a repeating process of “watching – imitating – trying – failing – experiencing and working”. There was no place for didactics and educational principles. These companies have difficulty in defining skills, developing a training roadmap and conducting scholarly training. Moreover, TVET in Vietnam is facing supply-side problems (in terms of workers) because TVET institutions merely provide training based on their perceptions instead of paying sufficient attention to employer’s skills demands (JICA 2014). Consequently, there is a gap between the providers (TVET institutions) and the consumers (companies). Therefore, Work-Process Based Curriculum for TVET in Vietnam is now a relevant and suitable solution for supporting training-at-work and to minimize this gap. As a result, the problem of skills mismatch and skills shortage could be solved. However, risk of “functional training” could appear when employers train their workers “just enough” to handle their work tasks, organized according to Taylor’s theory. The tendency of training “functional skills”, in order to adapt to the short term demand, prevents workers from quitting their jobs after training. Moreover, the development of work process based curricula must be done scientifically and based on the results of research on professional qualifications and competencies, which presently lack in the Vietnamese TVET system. The identification of skills needed is not a simple analysis – synthesis process, because the nature of work nowadays is more complex than what it used to be and tends to be an interactive work (work that requires exchange, involves experience, and context), considered as the engine of knowledge economies (USAID 2013). This paper will contribute to the actual state of the Vietnamese TVET, concerning the development of curricula in Vietnam, in particular research on the identification of professional competence through analysing the case study of CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) -operators. It also aims to provide suggestions on the scientific-based job analytical processes that can be applied to define skills needed and cooperation in curriculum development between TVET institutions and the industry sector.

Keywords: work-based curricula, competency, professional profile, National Vocational Qualification Frameworks (NVQs), domain knowledge, declarative, procedural, qualitative research.

1. Introduction

Skills mismatch and skills shortage are the most popular concerns, which were highlighted in the reports on Vietnamese human resources and training (Bodewig et al., 2013). As a result, Vietnamese human resources quality was evaluated and ranked in the lower half in Southeast Asian countries. According to the Research on Cooperation in the Field of Skill Development, Education and Economic Development, “the shortage of engineers, technicians and middle managers is more evident in Vietnam than other advanced ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines (Mori, Nguyen, & Pham, 2009).” TVET in Vietnam, therefore, is under pressure to “improve and upgrade the skills of its workforce”. This issue is urgent as “one of the key tasks of Vietnam is to meet the rapidly changing labor market needs” (EuroCham 2012, 31), a recommendation of European Chamber of Commerce (EuroCham) in their Whitebook, published in 2014.  

1.1 Overview of labour market and skilled worker demand

In the past few decades, Vietnam has become an attractive destination for foreign companies investing in simple and low-technical work in light industry such as textiles, garments and electronic devices assembly. Local companies, meanwhile, only play a role as production companies, which received contracts from foreign clients. Vietnam then moved from the stage of purely Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) absorption to the stage of technological absorption (Ohno 2010), which started in the beginning of the 21^st century when some of the inter-continental companies such as Intel and Samsung decided to build their plants in Vietnam. Furthermore, domestic companies, after a long time of being production partners, are willing to invest intensively and pay attention to the design and manufacturing of their own products. The demand for skilled technical workers in Vietnam has been flourishing. However, in order to be a developed country in the near future, moving from the stage of technological absorption and the stage of creativity toward industrialization, Vietnam is experiencing a dramatic change in skill requirements (ibid.).  This phenomenon is also known as “all boats float with a rising tide”, urging all companies in Vietnam to carry out their own training courses to enhance the qualifications of their workers. Transition from the Taylorism organized work to a more autonomous work requires a huge number of skilled and trained workers, who can successfully cope with complex and flexible work tasks, which is still lacking at present. It creates further problems for Vietnam when education and training systems are not sufficiently responsive to the needs of skilled labour. As pointed out by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations “a man educated at the expense of much labour and time to any of those employments which require extraordinary dexterity and skill, may be compared to one of those expensive machines” (Smith 2007, 84), which is similar to “monozukuri” (Mori et al., 2009), the Japanese definition of a skilled technical worker, “whose work performance is expected to be above the usual common labour” (Smith 2007, 84).

Additionally, many companies in Vietnam have productivity and efficiency problems from recruiting unskilled workers or low-skilled workers, resulting in less efficiency of capital investment and reduced competitiveness. According to “Skill Development for Vietnam’s Industrialization”, Mori indicated that Vietnam “needs human resources who can initiate and manage the improvement of production operations, rather than those who can perform only standard tasks”. Therefore, many companies (domestic and FDI – Foreign Direct Investment) try to deal with this shortage by doing in-company training in the following forms: adaptive trainings, on-the-job training (OJT), and apprenticeships. Although industries are engaged in developing their own workforce, however, the states and schools continue to face an enormous challenge in preparing trainees for work.

Currently, a tendency towards training at work in Vietnam is very remarkable. It is considered as a possibility to enhance the quality of Vietnamese TVET. Nevertheless, it is challenging when comprehensive information on specific skills needed were not scientifically compiled due to the difficulty of establishing collaboration between institutions and firms. This is evident in the policy paper of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) about Vietnamese TVET: “in Vietnam, many TVET institutions do not properly understand the skills that industry requires” (JICA 2014, 10), “lack of detailed information on specific skills needed at the occupational level” and “the dynamic changes in skills demands make it difficult for TVET institutions to grasp the skills demands of industry” (ibid.). Therefore, “Training programs developed without sufficient information about industry skills requirements cause employees or job applicants to have insufficient proficiency which leads to skills gaps and shortages” (ibid.).

1.2 Issues and challenges in TVET

Training-at-work is the corollary reaction of the industry to address the skills gaps and shortages. There are many of those responses conducted by both FDI and domestic companies such as initial training (Vo 2018) where the companies recruit unskilled workers and train them functionally at workplaces. This initial training is widely organized in the field of textile, construction and even mechanical engineering such as welders and machining assembler.  The work is divided into simple tasks and involves assembling and manufacturing procedures with repetitive processes. Another common form of training in Vietnam is “adaptation training” (ibid.) when firms train their trainees or graduates coming from vocational schools or colleges that are not ready to work and have inadequate skills to start working immediately after recruitment. In this training form, the trainees will be trained under guidance of an experienced person who acts as a coach or mentor until the trainee can independently handle complex tasks such as operating CNC or conventional machine, assembly electrical boards of fly-cam, etc. It requires the firms to invest sufficient time and resources for enhancing their workforces, since it is particularly beneficial for both employers and employees. Companies that use this form of training often desire to upgrade to advanced training (ibid.), which could be done along the professional life of the workers. For example, in the case of upgrading manufacturing system (from a 3-axis-CNC-system to a 4 or 5-axis-CNC-system), most of the companies have to ask their client whose offer this system to train their workers how to operate the new machine (ibid.).

This is a very significant commitment of the industries in Vietnamese TVET. It can develop further when the industries try to develop a model for within-company training such as teaching firm on the account of solving the skills mismatch. Teaching firm is defined by the Education Development Center -USA, as “an environment in which teaching and learning are institutionally and culturally embedded in the organization and are perceived to be beneficial to both the firm and the individual” (Education Development Center 1998). This is not a monopoly phenomenon in TVET in Vietnam now compared to circumstance of the 80s to 90s of the last century. It has become increasingly popular in recent years for international corporations such as Bosch, Intel and Samsung to set up their plants in Vietnam. This is similar to the model of quality apprenticeship, conducted in the USA (Aring 2014), which was introduced by German companies like Siemens and Volkswagen when they built their factories there.

In the case of Vietnam, Bosch has collaborated with a Vietnamese TVET institute, the Lilama2, to provide training courses. The TVET institute takes responsibility for teaching theory while the company trains their trainees in terms of technical skills within the training center or on-site. Previously, Lilama2 also conducted the same model for welder training, here trainees were trained under the supervision of the on-site skilled workers and learned theories in the classroom. This may be similar to the “dual model”, an extremely successful and accepted model around the world, used in Germany and some German-speaking countries such as Austria and Switzerland.

Some Vietnamese companies (such as PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation – PTSC and Duy-Tan-Plastics-Corp…) want to use this model. However, it can lead to an immediate harm which is identified as “functional training” (Gonon 2011), where the trainees may be trained functional skills just enough to handle their tasks in specific working context which are divided small enough to be implemented within 2- 3 months. Nevertheless, it depends on the level of work division in the company. This indicates that the company pays greater attention and emphasis on practical subjects and hands-on training rather than on theoretical instruction. Furthermore, due to the lack of the National Vocational Qualification Frameworks (NVQs) (General Department of Vocational Training 2012) as a guideline, this form of training occasionally becomes initial training to prevent workers from leaving their jobs after training. Additionally, this may be caused by the limited capability of training staff whose gained their experiences only from mentoring the hands-on training of certain specific jobs, and also an overall lack of involvement of curricula as a roadmap for training processes.

Moreover, Vietnamese companies are struggling with the organization of curricula development for training courses. They can easily determine skills needed since they have enough technical facilities and also human resources (e.g. skilled workers) for the on-site training as well as a lot of experiences in on-the-job training (from previous training activities: adaptation or advanced training). However, they have difficulty in sketching out a roadmap from identifying the skills needed to develop curricula and implement in teaching firms. Finally, informal learning, especially OJT, existed as an undeniable truth in Vietnamese TVET for a long time and was separated from the rest of TVET system managed by the state.

Therefore, the need of an outline from the definition of the skills needed and profiles of professions (German – Berufsbild) as a reference for within company training, for acknowledgement of informal training and for certifying and accreditation of TVET training forms, is urgently to be realized. Moreover, research on skills needed and profiles of professions as a milestone in curriculum development to meet the demands from companies and workers and as a realistic solution for skills mismatch in TVET in Vietnam, must be intensively and scholarly implemented. Thus, the linkage between TVET system in Vietnam and the whole industry can be created.

DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) was introduced as a tool for job analysis within a project with Switzerland, held in Vietnam to train DACUM-Facilitators in 1999, who then were expected to be key persons for job analysis processes. The project supported vocational-technical educators to describe jobs using a DACUM-matrix, which would later serve as a foundation for developing a curriculum for specific job training courses. DACUM involves developing a list of job-specific skills needed for the specific work process in form of a matrix, which is divided into steps, tasks and duties according to an inductive way to find out the needs of a job position or a whole job concerning knowledge, skills and behavior of workers that are required in the real world of work. Moreover, the process also identified “enablers”, which workers may need in the work process such as tools, equipment, etc.

The philosophies of DACUM are that “expert workers are better than anyone else to describe their occupations” (Norton 1997, 54) and “successful task performance is directly related to the knowledge, skills, tools, and attitudes” (ibid.). In actual practice, qualification requirements for specific positions of certain jobs at specific companies cannot be considered as a representative of the job in the real world of work. These requirements need to be integrated for the whole industry (Bank 2015). The process of DACUM depends totally on the capability of the facilitators and the quality of invited expert workers. However, results from this process only reflect their points of view about certain jobs at a specific company. Even in the establishment of standards on occupational skills by the Ministry of Labour – Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), Vietnam has set the policy that “members from enterprises in the board of directors develop standards on occupational skills make up of approximately 50% and suggestions from at least 30 experts play significant role in all steps involved for developing the national standards on occupational skills” (General Department of Vocational Training 2012). 

However, during the development of a set of occupational skills for the CNC-machine operator, resulted from a pilot project under support of the GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), conducted in 2011, were only 4 out of 9 experts from companies participated and the rest came from TVET institutes. It is the reason why this skill set, later on, had no real impact as a guideline for TVET-training. Consequently, there was no proof of qualitative research on skills needed during the process of occupational analysis.

1.3 Problems in the implementation of TVET

As stated in the assessment of JICA’s policy paper about TVET in Vietnam “The lack of detailed information on specific skills needed at the occupation level and the dynamic changes in skills demands make it hard for TVET institutions to grasp the demands of the industry”. Therefore, curriculum development of TVET in Vietnam is not based on relevant information about skills needed from industry. As a result, TVET institutions provide training courses mostly based on their perceptions and are not paying sufficient attention to employers’ skills demand. This is due to lack of connection between industry and TVET institutions: no proof of qualitative research on skills needed and also an inactive role of vocational schools in state-controlled system, hence, TVET institutions as a provider of labor resources cannot consider how fast the world of work changes and which new skills are needed.

Under the circumstance where there is no national qualification framework consistent with the national vocational qualification framework (NVQs) (General Department of Vocational Training 2012), TVET in Vietnam has sought to develop the national framework of occupational skills, for example, for the job of CNC machining (ibid.) under support and consulting of German experts. They intended to create a tool to:

−     Support employees to orient their efforts to improve professional qualifications (knowledge and skills) through self-studying or gathering experience in order to have a chance for promotion in their occupations;

−     Support firms to use it as a reference for recruiting employees, managing jobs or working positions and paying proper salaries to their employees;

−     Support TVET institutions to use it as foundation for developing a vocational training program in order to approach the national standards on occupational skills;

−     Support competent authorities or centers to have a fundamental reference for evaluating professional skills and accreditation of national occupational skills certificates for the employees.

However, the “passive and dim” participation from the industry (ibid.) and the process of establishing the national framework of occupational skills only involved TVET institutions and some enterprises which were not enough to represent the whole industry. Meanwhile, the world of work is richly diverse. Consequently, the established national framework of occupational skills had almost no impact on industry and could not be a qualification-driven factor for solving skills mismatch as expected. This results in the fact that the qualification of the national standards on occupational skills is limited in terms of relevance for the labor market.

In addition, as mentioned above, the world of work is very diverse. For instance, in CNC-domain, various software of Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) such as Pro-E, AutoCAD, and Mastercam are exerted to design machine parts, various operation systems (Heidenhain, Okuma, Sinumerik, Fanuc…) are also applied to control CNC-machines or processing centers. Thus, a training course for the CNC-machining job does not match with what is happening in the real work. According to laws of technical and vocational education (TVE) in technical and vocational schools, TVET programs that has practical training may claim a minimum of 40 percent (may increase to 50-60 percent) of the institutional time. However, the availability of facilities, equipment and staff with relevant expertise are improper in order to achieve learning outcomes of the training course.

Contrary to the weakness of the implementation of practical training, however, the interviews with the workers conducted in 2017 revealed that TVET institutions have done very well in conveying jobs’ professional theories. All of the interviewees confirmed that theories they had learnt are very useful in their present careers. Nevertheless, they had difficulty in adjusting their CNC machine independently after being recruited due to inadequate training at vocational schools. This is confirmed by the company’s managers and it is the reason why companies often train their workers after hiring. Finally, TVET institutions in Vietnam, due to the capacity of equipment and professional staff, currently provide only training courses for mechanics (mechanical engineering) that emphasize on conventional machines such as lathe, milling machine, etc.

Moreover, Vietnamese TVET law, although, encourages firms to provide information about expected skills needed of their human resource and promote the active role of rector/director of TVET institution, who is responsible for issuing a new curriculum for a training course. However, the information of skills needed from those firms is simply a list of demands, what they expect from graduates whom they could later recruit. It is rather a raw data, not analyzed and not good enough as a resource for curricula development and this information is sent to TVET institutes separately via e-mail. The firms are aware that their sensitive information about technology, human resource and business plan are not to be unfolded. Therefore, it is difficult for TVET institutes to gather necessary information for the development of a work-based curriculum.

At present, the process of curriculum design can be briefly described in Figure 1, the head of department will enroll as a facilitator in the process to collect skills-demand lists from firms under the consultants of teaching staff in the department in order to sketch out a curriculum. Later, the draft of the curriculum will be sent to firms for feedback before getting issued by the rector or director of the institution. The curriculum will then serve as a guideline for the new training course. Corrections and modification occur every year when they receive feedback from firms that employed graduates who were trained by this course. These suggestions will be sent to the TVET institutions, mostly to the head of the department who is responsible for the quality of the training course. The curriculum can be used for 5 years before being replaced by the new one. The exchange of information between the host of curriculum design (head of the department) and firms is done normally through meetings or indirectly by submitting documents.

1.4 Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is to develop a work process based curriculum in order to overcome skills mismatch and skills shortage in Vietnamese TVET. The newly developed curriculum is expected to benefit training providers and relevant industry in the country. This is in line with the country’s mission to develop a more competent workforce in the future. In order to achieve this purpose, three objectives have been set as follows;

(a)      To find out the current situation of CNC machining work sector in the country

(b)     To identify skills needed

(c)      To develop a work-process based curriculum guide for CNC machining work.

2. Need of a work-process based curricula development approach

Due to the lack of collaboration with the industry, the development of curriculum has not been based on relevant information on required skills from the industry. Therefore, training provided by TVET institution is merely based on their perception and not on employers’ skills demand. What actually happens is that the companies simply provide a list of demands which they expect from graduates whom they plan to recruit. Consequently, the established national framework of occupational skills had almost no impact on the industry and could not be a qualification-driven factor for solving skills mismatch as expected. Therefore, it is the right time for the curriculum developers to adopt the work-process based curricula development as an approach to alleviate those problems.

2.1 CNC employment sector in Vietnam

In the CNC-domain, a job is usually divided into 3 positions namely an operator, a programmer and a designer, where job requirements for each position are diverse. The operator is responsible for operating the CNC-machine or the processing center for the completion of the parts, sketched by the designer under construction of a programmer through the form of machine-generated, which is written and repaired by a programmer. Firms usually look for trainees from vocational schools to recruit for the position of the CNC-operator. At the same time, they will employ graduates from colleges or even universities for the position of the programmer and designer. Although the work of those two positions is mainly done by using software and computers but, according to the interviewees, having the experience as the CNC-operator is extremely important and plays a vital role to support programming and designing because it provides the “fantasy” about the reality of machining process.

2.2 Case study and work process analysis

In order to develop the “know-how” about the job, analysis is required. In this case study, the qualitative interview method is used to identify the tasks, required knowledge and attitudes that the job demands. By asking a set of questions concerning required tasks that arise during the daily work shift, such as:

−     Which tasks do you have to do every day from the beginning to the end of the shift?

−     What kind of knowledge do you need to master your duty in reference to these tasks?

Moreover, with the aim to improve learning outcomes of training courses in TVET institutions, the interview also intended to ask about problems and difficulties that were encountered at work. Asking for their reactions when they come across certain challenges at work was meant to record the attitudes and soft skills requirement, which is needed and very relevant for the job. Information about the interviewees’ graduation is also important to determine what the training course has done well and what needs to be added to improve the curriculum. Consequently, interviewees, one of the relevant factors in determining skills needed, must be selected carefully.  

Based on this research, it is recognized that the domain knowledge is very important as a core-knowledge and plays an important role in mastering the job. The core-knowledge consists of declarative and procedural knowledge. Declarative knowledge contributes to the workers’ thinking process and is very helpful in adapting to changing work conditions and achievement of new knowledge. Without this knowledge, workers may experience problems when their tasks change. This usually happens in companies that recruit unskilled workers and train them functionally at the workplace. After training, the workers do what they learned. Once they can handle the task properly, they are more likely to reduce the work process to get their job done faster, regardless of what they have done.  

Declarative knowledge is based on the development of a working life. According to the interviews results, TVET institution had done relatively well in teaching because workers have confirmed that knowledge, such as mathematics, technical communications, machining elements, machining processing, technology of technical measurement, materials, etc., learned at TVET schools, are very useful in supporting them to fulfil their tasks, solve the challenging problems and make adaption to new tasks easier. Meanwhile, interviewees also agreed that they had difficulty in handling CNC-machine and in applying their knowledge, although, according to the TVET laws, practical training may claim a minimum of 40 percent of institutional time, and even increase up to 50-60 percent. The procedural knowledge and practical skills are the weakness of the Vietnamese TVET since the facilitators and trainers are not able to guarantee the time required for the trainees to spend on machine to master the skills for operating the CNC machine. Besides, trainers at TVET-institutions do not have enough practical experience.  This leads to lack of core skills, such as the independent use of the CNC machines and solve problems that may occur during the time of operation. Through the implementation of job analysis, some remarks can be identified, such as:

−     The interview should focus on tasks that workers have to complete during a work shift, which also involves working with objects such as tools, machines, and equipment. Then, requirement of skills needed can be identified, and the level of completion of a task is determined. Consequently, level of complexity depends on the position of the job, here workers just get involved with computers and software and do not work with specific objects such as the CNC-designer. It requires that the interviewer should have experience in work analysis and must be fully prepared, showing a friendly attitude and being well informed about what he/she wants to achieve by conducting the interview in terms of tasks, domain knowledge, core-competencies, skills etc. For example, in the case of analyzing the position of the CNC-designer, the interviewer has to understand what designers do in order to describe the exact skills needed of the positions.

−     It is difficult to determine attitudes and soft skills needed for the job. Years of experience are very useful to identify them. Workers with less experience will express the views of newcomers. Meanwhile, the experienced interviewees would provide the whole information about a job. Therefore, the size of the samples must be large enough to cover many ranges of experience.

−     Unpredictable skills needed of a job could be defined by a manager who knows well about the developing plan of the institution in future and also about the development tendency of the job such as the CNC-operator should have the ability to write a CNC-program (programmable ability).

−     Expectations of the managers are always higher than the workers’ actual ability but it is a very important and useful resource for designing work-based curricula.

−     Dilemma in distinguishing the difference between jobs and positions is a barrier in determining what should be taught in a training course because the duration of the training course is limited and TVET institutions cannot train the trainees to meet the demands of every single firms.

2.3 Curriculum development work

Through focus groups and workshops, experts and skilled workers from the industry have met and come up with a guideline which stipulates that skills needed should include the following elements:

−     Expected tasks which workers have to fulfil with requirement of completion (expectation of firms about achievement of tasks), e.g. the CNC-operator has to handle CNC milling machine to perform work from the beginning to the semi-finished product in accordance with the construction of a technical drawing.

−     Requirements about the level of the task completion, e.g. the CNC-operator must understand and leave surplus stock properly according to the given technical documents.

−     Requirement of qualifications that includes knowledge, skills and attitude, which a CNC-operator should possess e.g.:

–          Knowledge of cutting tools, operating principal of CNC-machines, technical drawings, jig, processing documents, CAD-software…

–          Skills: setting up parameter for work parts in order to process it until finish, handle with software Cimco Edit to operate CNC-machine, …

–          Attitude: careful, concentrated, disciplinary, positive, responsible…

−     Objects or equipment that the CNC-operators deal with e.g. software, machine, equipment, cutting tools, and personals.

With this specific information, firms can easily find benchmarks and find out which skills needed are to be trained to their workers so that a training plan can be developed to address this mismatch.

As described above, skills needed for CNC-operators can be a relevant information resource to develop curriculum for within company training courses, primarily used at certain firms, in order to fix skills mismatch. In addition, skills needs set can be send to TVET-institutions as a suggestion from firms about expected qualification of graduates. It makes the process of developing curricula easier and more effective (figure1), not only for adapting training at firms but also for formal training courses at TVET-institutions. Besides, it can become a professional profile after the process of quantitative research, which can be done in form of questionnaires send to other companies of the same domain. Therefore, it will be a representative for the work of CNC machines as the CNC-operator, a professional profile, which is considered as a reference of curricula design for vocational training course for “CNC-operator”, and as a reference for building up the National Vocational Qualification Frameworks (NVQs) for the “CNC-operator” (Figure 2). As a consequence, curriculum based on the professional profile, can be accepted and used in coordination in TVET between vocational schools and the industry because it plays a role of an agreement from both stakeholders through quantitative research. Professional profile, counted as a central point of TVET, in order to enhance cooperation between the industry and vocational institutions, makes TVET process in Vietnam more transparent, assure quality of trainees, and also acknowledge informal form of training at firms.

3. Findings

Developing a work-based curriculum in a certain firm is only the first step in developing a quality training program that will be formally implemented in TVET-institutions. This process depends on the complexity of tasks and division of work that is different in each company.

A professional profile is just representative and reliable when it is investigated further by another quantitative research under the form of questionnaires, sent to other companies in the same domain, in order to filter core-skills or core-competencies, which are representative and typical for the job. Therefore, professional association plays a very important role in defining professional profiles (Figure 2), and the competency centre (may be organized by TVET-institution, professional association or firms) is responsible for the quality assurance of TVET in Vietnam. The three organisations are currently expected to be more active in TVET in Vietnam.  

Work-based curriculum is at present developed for adaptation training at certain companies. It needs to be recognized as a formal training course, even if it did not take place at a TVET institution through the effort of connecting firms from the same technical domain to meet and work together in order to establish the professional profile of the job, that they demand.

There is no universal system that is ideal for all situations. Therefore, Work-based curriculum should be considered as a bridge connecting between TVET-institutions and firms. It acts as an agreement to assign work in enrolment and division of teaching tasks in training processes where the TVET-institution will be the host to provide theories and basic practices while advanced practices (such as quality apprenticeship) will take place at certain firms where the curriculum will be designed. TVET personnel is expected to be more active in contacts with firms in order to analyse jobs and skills needs identification as well as to support them. This is an effective way to approach the demand of the industry. Consequently, in the process of conducting qualitative and quantitative interviews not only firms but also the teaching staff from TVET-institutions should participate (figure 3). Then, both sides (firms and TVET institutions) could unify which parts of the curriculum they will teach. For example, TVET institutions teach trainees theories and basic practical training will happen at school then trainees will be sent to firms to perform advanced practices. The division of duty in training could help stakeholders to understand clearly about their part and make training process more transparent and effective. This will create corporation among TVET stakeholders and eventually bridge the gap.  

Work-based curriculum is a very practical solution to help TVET in Vietnam to move from the state of supply-driven skills development to demand-driven skills development. It could be a promising solution to approach a mechanism for skill development by social partnership in which skills needs set is issued annually by the professional association and professional competency be evaluated by competency centers under the supervision of the government.

4. Conclusion

Curriculum as a roadmap for imparting knowledge and basic skills to learners (trainees) in order to prepare for integration into professional life and supporting their development in the future. In the context of industry 4.0, workers are required to be able to adapt to rapid changes in technology and meet higher demands and more complex functions at work. The nature of work is now not a list of visible tasks anymore but includes also invisible tasks such as quality awareness, perception of time management, etc. Therefore, DACUM may not be suitable tool anymore.  Curriculum development, especially work-based curriculum, needs more research not only qualitative but also quantitative research on professional qualification and profile, relevant information resources to design training courses that meet the demand of skills needs from the industry and thus bridge the skills gap. Thereby preventing the risk of functional training, which would have a negative effect on professional career promotion and competence development of the workers. Consequently, work-based curriculum is as a remarkable proof of cooperation between TVET institutions and industry in the circumstances where there is a lack of the practical connection between those stakeholders.  Based on qualitative research in Duy-Tan-company, the author recognized the need to develop guidelines for qualitative interviews in order to provide educators in TVET-institutions and personnel in firms with a tool that is more efficient than DACUM, in terms of work analysis and defining skills needed. Moreover, a model of cooperation in curriculum development will be introduced to enhance connection between TVET-institutions and industry in Vietnam. 

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Citation

Vo, X. T. (2018). Work Process Based Curricula for TVET in Vietnam – inevitable tendency and how to prevent a functional curriculum. In: TVET@Asia, issue 11, 1-16. Online: http://www.tvet-online.asia/issue11/vo_tvet11.pdf (retrieved 10.07.2018).