Provincial Party Secretary Thai Thanh Quy surveyed vocational training facilities in Erfurt city, Federal Republic of Germany.
On the morning of June 17 (local time), continuing the working program in Germany, the provincial delegation visited and surveyed the Vocational Training School in Erfurt city, Thuringia state, Germany.

The delegation was led by Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation.
The delegation included comrades: Le Duc Cuong - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Head of the Provincial Party Organization Committee; Major General Bui Quang Thanh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Director of the Provincial Police; Nguyen Nhu Khoi - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Bui Dinh Long - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Directors of the Departments: Planning and Investment, Finance, Transport, Agriculture and Rural Development, Foreign Affairs.
Next, working with the Delegation was Mr. Silvio Lindemann - Head of Training Department, Erfurt Craft Industry Department (CRAFTS).

The city of Erfurt is an important economic center of the state of Thuringia, located in central Germany, with the service industry accounting for the largest proportion of GDP, including financial services, tourism, healthcare and education.
Industry plays an important role in Erfurt's economy, with prominent sectors such as automobile manufacturing, mechanical engineering, high technology and the food industry. In addition, Erfurt is also known for its main agricultural products such as cereals, vegetables and livestock.

In particular, Erfurt is a dynamic city with a developed economy, a high-quality education system, many prestigious universities and colleges, and vocational training centers, attracting students from all over the world. The city attracts many young workers and students from all over the world.

The Provincial Party Secretary and the delegation visited and worked at the Vocational Training School in Erfurt City, established in 1995. With a scale of nearly 10,000m2, the school has modern equipment, currently training 11 main majors and occupations: auto repair, refrigeration, painting, baking, cold mechanics, precision mechanics... with 2 main training programs including: basic training, duration 3-4 weeks/course; master program (advanced), duration 10-12 weeks/year. Students graduate in 3.5 years and are awarded a vocational certificate.

Each year, the school trains 4,000 students; the basic training program is funded by the state and city government; students in the master training program must pay tuition.
Students studying at the school, in addition to citizens of the state of Thuringia in particular and other localities of Germany, there are also 171 foreign students studying, including students from Vietnam.

Most programs allow students to spend 70% of their time studying at businesses, where they can practice and work directly during their studies; only 30% of their time studying at school, mainly theoretical content.
Training targets are built based on the recruitment needs of local businesses to limit the situation of overtraining or undertraining for actual needs, helping students to have jobs immediately after graduation.


Currently, Germany needs to add about 400,000 workers each year to replace the number of retired workers. German businesses are turning to other countries with young labor markets, including Vietnam.
The Erfurt Chamber of Crafts was founded in 1900 and currently has 15,000 member businesses. A representative of this agency said: The network of member businesses all highly appreciate workers from Vietnam. In 2023, the Prime Minister of the state of Thuringia paid a working visit to Vietnam, in which the important content was to attract Vietnamese human resources to work in Germany.

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Currently, the Erfurt City Craft Industry Department is implementing the Craft Project to recruit and connect vocational students from other countries, including Vietnam, to handicraft enterprises in the state of Thuringia. Students receive free vocational training and receive a salary right from their first year of study, about 1,000 euros/month (28 million VND/month).