Ha Noi, 20 April 2022 – IOM Viet Nam, in partnership with the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training today announces the launch of the project “Supporting the Government of Viet Nam in digital transformation of labour through vocational education and training”.

The project is committed to enhancing digital skills for Vietnamese youth labour force, including migrant workers. As the recent years have seen an increasing importance of digital skills in the global and Vietnamese economy, this project contributes to strengthening access of migrant workers to online acquisition of digital skills, thereby improving their employability and competition in the labour market.

The project kicked off with the introduction of upgraded online learning platform, congdanso.edu.vn, which was initially developed and piloted in 2021 under the partnership with Microsoft Corporation. The upgraded online learning platform provides eight online, self-paced courses including the two Microsoft-certified digital skills (supported by Microsoft), soft skills, job application, entrepreneurship (with the support from the UK government) as well as online marketing, cyber security and internet connection courses (courtesy of the Asia Foundation in partnership with Google.org). The courses are targeted at vocational students and migrant workers in the industrial and export-processing zones in Viet Nam who can have free access to the platform via Azure credit offered by Microsoft Corporation.

The platform’s simple interface design ensures easy access and navigation for learners, particularly low-skilled workers. Microsoft certificates are provided for the two digital skills courses and during its pilot launch, the platform reached more than 7,000 registered users and about 16,000 certificates were issued. The certificates are expected to complement their job applications and increase employability, as many of the local businesses have also gone online during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Mr. Truong Anh Dung, Director General of the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training, shared at the workshop: “As the requirements for high quality human resources are ever increasing, in the wake of the robust development of the digital economy, knowledge economy and the trend of human mobility in the international labor market, education in general and TVET in cannot fall behind in the digital transformation trend, so as to seize the opportunities brought by the 4.0 IR. This project will provide a foundation for digital transformation and digital skills development of the Vietnamese workforce in the coming time.”

With its benefits for employment and self-development, the online learning platform is expected to reach more Vietnamese male and female youth and migrant workers during the project implementation and help their upskilling to meet the new job requirements of this digital era.

“I am very glad to see IOM Viet Nam joining efforts with the Government in providing various skills training to support low-skilled workers in the country, including migrants. It is also exciting to see the participation of Microsoft Corporation, because no skills development and employment initiative can be successful without the direct and active engagement of the private sector”, Ms. Maria Nenette A. Motus, Regional Director, IOM Asia Pacific, shared at the Workshop.

To further support the digital transformation process in the TVET sub-sector, IOM also helps TVET institutions and managers to provide the capacity building on digital transformation planning and implementation at the school level. The consultation activities would also contribute to the implementation of the National Scheme of Digital Transformation and National Scheme of Training and Re-training for the labour force to be inclusive of low-skilled population in which migrant workers make a majority.

Participants at the workshop, including representatives from ministries, government agencies, the private sector, academic institutions, as well as international and national organisations, joined the discussion on promoting the online learning platform to migrant workers and vocational students, and the digital transformation process in the TVET sub-sector, for better employability and productivity of Vietnamese youth and migrant workers.

For further information, please contact Ms. Doyen Yun, Head of Projects and Partnership at IOM Vietnam. Email: dyun@iom.int.