Ho Chi Minh City extends vocational training scheme

Civil servants, for example, have been trained in basic knowledge of political theory, professional skills and task performance skills, he said, adding that vocational training had also enhanced human resource quality.

The programme was established by the Ho Chi Minh City Ninth Party Congress for the 2011-2015 period. It focused on tertiary education, vocational training, higher education, human resources for business management, staff for the political system, for the health sector, and discovery and development of talented people in sports, arts and culture.

Over the past four years, the city has provided vocational training to more than 2.8 million people, increasing the rate of skilled workers at companies to 72 per cent, 2.4 per cent higher than the city’s target for the 2011-15 period.

Nearly 52,000 people have been trained in business management, meeting 171 per cent of the programme’s target.

The city’s Party Committee has also chosen university students with good marks and young civil servants, who are trained in leadership and management skills. After participating in training courses, the students are appointed to work at district, commune and ward administrative agencies.

The city has also sent graduates and civil servants to study abroad for Master’s or doctoral degrees. As many as 543 people have completed Master’s or doctoral degrees, and now work at departments and agencies.

Despite success, implementation has been slow and only 50 per cent of the targets for some criteria had been reached, according to the draft political report issued at the 10th Party Congress of Ho Chi Minh City (2015 -20 term).

Programmes on tertiary education, for example, have lacked connections among training faculties, causing overlap and waste in training. Some tertiary education programmes are also outdated.

Mai Thi Que of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies said many graduates still did not meet job requirements, especially in foreign languages and the use of modern equipment and technologies. Many graduates were weak in teamwork, self-study, research and work manner.

Pham Xuan Hong, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Garment, Textile, Embroidery and Knitting Association, said the labour-intensive garment and textile sector depended heavily on skilled staff. 

Most small- and medium-size companies in the sector are facing difficulties in recruiting skilled employees, especially in management. “We have ideas of uniting companies with vocational schools in training workers to develop high-quality human resources and use training programmes closely linked to work requirements of companies,” he said.

 

Business cooperation ‘important’

Nguyen Hong Minh, deputy head of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Vocational Training Department, said: “Companies have upgraded their production technologies constantly, while vocational schools cannot keep up with the change. 

“Cooperation between vocational schools and companies is an important solution. Based on labour demand of companies, vocational schools will invest in equipment and let trainees practice at the companies,” he said.

In recent years, the city has improved cooperation between vocational schools and companies, including arranging trainees to practice at companies, inviting company leaders to participate in vocational school examination boards and recruiting trainees at vocational schools. The models have brought benefits to schools and companies.

The city’s vocational schools have also worked with international schools to improve training and teaching methods.

At the end of the year, establishment of the Asean Economic Community will allow the free flow of skilled labour in eight professions: doctors, nurses, engineers, architects, accountants, surveyors and tourism personnel. The eight professions account for only 1 per cent of the labour force, but they require high skills and have high income, according to experts.

So, Ho Chi Minh City officials plan to continue the high-quality human resources programme from 2015-20. It will reform training programmes so they are more closely linked to market requirements, and focus on investment in personnel.