Part 3: Mergers are an inevitable trend
Reviewing and evaluating the operational efficiency of existing vocational education institutions, and accelerating the merger and dissolution of poorly performing institutions, are the goals set forth in Project No. 14-DA/TU dated January 25, 2022, of the Standing Committee of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee on training and developing skilled human resources in the province for the period 2021-2025, with a vision to 2030. In the current context, this is an inevitable trend.
Thanh Nga - My HaAugust 26, 2024
The latest report from the People's Committee of Nghe An province on the results of human resource training and development in the area has pointed out shortcomings in vocational training. These include a scattered network of vocational education institutions with overlapping functions and responsibilities, and a large proportion with small enrollment capacities. High-quality, internationally-standardized programs, especially those in German and Australian fields, have not yet been widely implemented.
Furthermore, the number, structure of professions, and quality of some teachers and management staff do not meet the requirements. Training programs are not truly flexible to the demands of the labor market. Several new professions with high demand in the future, such as logistics, mechatronics operation, industrial vision system maintenance, and integrated circuit engineering, have not been opened. The physical infrastructure and training equipment of most vocational education institutions are still lacking, have not been invested in comprehensively, and have not kept pace with the development of new science and technology, especially at the district-level Vocational Education and Continuing Education Centers.
The limited quality of vocational training is one of the reasons why many students are still not enthusiastic about attending vocational schools. A provincial survey also shows that, over time, the rate of vocational training across the province has tended to decrease. For example, the period from 2016 to 2020 saw a decrease of nearly 12.6% compared to the period from 2011 to 2015, and the graduation rate decreased by 6.5%. The structure of training enrollment levels does not match labor market needs, with college-level training accounting for only 19% of the total workforce. The vocational education network is scattered, with overlapping functions and tasks, and mostly small enrollment sizes; training capacity only meets 73.4% of student demand.
With these limitations, besides objective causes, there are also many subjective reasons such as the role of state management, the proactive regulation of enrollment quotas, training fields, the regulation of the teaching staff, vocational education management staff, and the system of workshops and training equipment to suit the actual needs of vocational education institutions have not been done well. This leads to a situation where some localities have a need for vocational training but lack teachers and facilities, while other localities have an excess of teachers and waste of workshops and vocational training equipment...
Furthermore, many vocational education institutions lack dynamism and responsiveness in management and organization to keep pace with new industry requirements; training levels do not meet the demand for technical human resources from businesses and local realities. The structure of investment in infrastructure and equipment procurement at some key vocational education institutions is irrational, and insufficient attention is paid to investing in teaching equipment to enhance students' practical skills.
Furthermore, implementing staff reduction in accordance with Resolution No. 39 for many vocational education institutions is inappropriate, especially given that these schools are still short of teachers, have had additional functions and responsibilities added, and have increased in size.
To overcome these limitations, a review and evaluation of the effectiveness of existing educational institutions is necessary. Therefore, on January 25, 2022, the Standing Committee of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee issued Project 14-DA/TU on training and developing skilled human resources in Nghe An province for the period 2021-2025, with a vision to 2030. In this project, in addition to improving the quality of the workforce, Nghe An also aims to strengthen and enhance the operational capacity of vocational education institutions in an open, flexible, modern, efficient, multi-modal, and multi-level manner to meet the learning needs and upgrade the vocational skills of workers…
To ensure the effective implementation of Project 14-DA/TU, one of the key solutions is to reorganize the network of vocational education institutions. This reorganization will be carried out in a standardized manner, following regional principles, reducing the number of public institutions, minimizing the number of functional units responsible for vocational education, and dissolving or merging ineffective institutions that do not meet the required conditions. Simultaneously, the development of non-public educational institutions will be encouraged.
Specifically, from 2021 to 2025, the province aims to reduce the number of vocational education institutions from 62 to 41, including 18 public institutions, 3 private institutions, and 2 institutions under the management of central ministries and agencies. By 2030, in addition to continuing to maintain, strengthen, and develop the operational efficiency of the planned vocational education institutions, the province will merge colleges and vocational schools operating according to regional orientations (including urban centers, coastal plains, and the southwestern and northwestern regions of the province).
In addition, attract investment and establish 1-2 colleges or vocational schools with foreign involvement or owned by large domestic enterprises to train and supply skilled human resources for industrial zones and key economic regions within and outside the province.
In fact, the restructuring and merger of vocational schools in Nghe An province began with Project No. 14 – DA/TU. Prior to that, during the 2015-2020 period, the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, relevant departments and localities actively advised and implemented the reorganization of the organizational structure and network of vocational education institutions, dissolving those that were operating inefficiently.
Through the restructuring process from 2015 to 2020, Nghe An province merged 25 vocational training centers and continuing education centers into 12 vocational education and continuing education centers; renamed and added vocational education functions to 7 continuing education centers, transforming them into vocational education and continuing education centers. The province also dissolved 1 public secondary school and 2 private centers. Simultaneously, it transferred the state management functions for vocational education of 1 college and 5 vocational secondary schools from the Ministry of Education and Training to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.
The Anh Son District Vocational Education and Continuing Education Center used to be two independent institutions with the function of providing vocational training and general education for students after graduating from junior high school. Therefore, before the merger, competition to attract students was a frequent occurrence.
Recalling that time, Mr. Bui Duc Tuan, the center's director, said: "When two units have the same training function, competition is inevitable. But in reality, the quality of training at both units was not high at that time. This was because the vocational education center only provided basic vocational training or training courses lasting less than three months. Therefore, students who wanted to improve their skills or obtain a vocational certificate had to enroll in other vocational schools in the province. As for the Continuing Education Center, because it only taught general education, it didn't attract many students. Most students in this system wanted to study both general education and vocational skills to shorten their study time and obtain dual degrees upon graduation."
It is precisely for these reasons, coupled with the need to streamline staffing and simplify the vocational education and training system in accordance with Circular No. 39/2015/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BGDDT-BNV on the merger of vocational training centers and continuing education centers at the district level, that in October 2017, the two continuing education and vocational training centers in Anh Son district merged into the Vocational Education and Continuing Education Center. Mr. Bui Duc Tuan, Director of the Anh Son District Vocational Education and Continuing Education Center, added: "Since the merger, we have been able to leverage our previous strengths in facilities and have established linkages with vocational secondary and college schools such as Viet Duc College and Bac Nghe An Economic and Technical College, so that students receive both a general education degree and a vocational secondary education degree upon graduation. In recent years, the school has consistently exceeded its enrollment targets, and parents and students no longer have concerns about studying at the Vocational Education and Continuing Education Center."
Over the past period, the Nghia Dan District Vocational Training and Continuing Education Center has made remarkable progress in training and attracting students from the district and surrounding areas. From two independent units operating rather sluggishly due to enrollment targets always exceeding the number of students attracted each year, after 7 years of merger, the unit has gradually become more effective, with the number of students attracted each year consistently higher than the previous year. In particular, many junior high school graduates from surrounding areas such as Quynh Luu and Hoang Mai always seek out the center as a reliable choice. Mr. Truong Hung Cuong, Director of the Nghia Dan District Vocational Training and Continuing Education Center, said that for the past two years, the number of students registering for the center's continuing education program has increased, and the school has had to request additional enrollment quotas to meet the learning needs of children in the area.
According to Mr. Hoang Sy Tuyen, Head of the Vocational Training Department of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs: After the merger of 10 vocational education and continuing education units, the actual work of vocational training and cultural education for students after streaming in the area has achieved outstanding results. Enrollment scale: 88,500 students/year, an increase of 8.9% compared to 2014, increasing from 80,600 people in 2015 to 88,500 people in 2020 (an increase of 9%). Of which, vocational colleges increased by 17.2% with 7,975 students; vocational secondary schools: 15,655 students; and basic vocational training and regular vocational training: 64,870 trainees.
(To be continued)
