HANOI – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Viet Nam and the General Directorate of Vocational Education and Training (DVET) under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs have just completed their 24-month collaboration that promoted free-to-access learning courses via online learning platform www.congdanso.edu.vn as part of the Supporting the Government of Viet Nam in the Digital Transformation of Labour through Enhancing Technical and Vocational Education and Training project.

The project was implemented under the partnership between IOM and DVET, with the support from Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and Microsoft. This project was recognised as a successful example of public-private partnership in workers skills development, where close cooperation between policymakers and industry leaders is critical for sustainable impact.

To mark the achievement, more than 300 senior officials and Government experts, members of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, educators, embassies, international organizations and representatives from the private sector joined the hybrid workshop on Leveraging TVET system for Digital Skill development and Skill Mobility in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on 25 August 2023. Jointly organized by IOM and DVET, the workshop provided the participants with an opportunity to reflect on the collaboration, while inviting the international and national experts to share their insights into the priority areas for improvement in skills development of Vietnamese workers, especially in the context of the current labour market, which has been rapidly changing.

Despite the continuous strong economic growth in Viet Nam, the unemployment rate among the youth remains high in the country (7.61% compared to the national average at 2.25%), which has been raising concerns for policymakers and resulting in the national plans and policies that prioritize TVET reform, reskilling and upskilling programs, along with other related initiatives for improved labour productivity in the industrial revolution 4.0.  

Prioritizing those with limited access to learning opportunities but faced with immediate needs to learn new digital skills that came to permeate their daily life since the pandemic, the project targeted TVET institutions and industrial areas in Thai Nguyen, Quang Nam, Dong Nai and Binh Duong, with 163 instructors from 50 TVET institutions in the four target provinces being trained.

Hybrid skills learning sessions were then rolled out – introducing online learning platforms and incorporating online courses in their teaching. Under this project, 31,100 course completions on digital, soft, job application and entrepreneurship skills were recorded on the platform. Nearly 26,000 certificates were issued by Microsoft for digital literary skills, which attracted the most significant number of users.

Given such impressive results, IOM Chief of Mission, Park Mihyung, noted that, “investing in skills development in Viet Nam is very important as it helps people get better jobs and work more productively, which makes the country stronger in the world economy.”

Park added, “The online learning platform is just one of the prime examples of how IOM, the Government agencies and the private sector collaborate to create innovative solutions. Together, we are supporting Viet Nam’s goal of elevating its vocational education to match top regional countries by 2030, with a vision to 2045.”

The project also supported DVET in producing Reference Book on Digital Transformation in Vocational Education and Training, which aims to provide the national TVET policymakers and relevant stakeholders with practical guidance in exploring different priorities and issues related to the digital transformation for TVET system. It illustrates school-based administrative procedures to be simplified if the data collection and analysis system is used and connected.

Together with DVET, IOM will continue to leverage and update the online learning platform and toolkits developed from the project to contribute to skills development for the Viet Nam labour force and engage with various stakeholders, including companies and employers, to expand this model.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Ms Nguyen Ngoc Tram, National Communications Officer - ngocnguyen@iom.int/ Mob: 0912893964