Two ministries are joining hands to create a project on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) that aims to prepare Viet Nam to access an "open" labour market once an ASEAN Community is established.

The ministries of Education and Training and Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) are drafting a project that encompasses tertiary education and vocational training. It will be submitted to the Government for approval as soon as possible.

In anticipation of the formation of the ASEAN Community at the end of this year, which is expected to generate 14 million jobs in 2025, Viet Nam and many other regional countries are taking cautious steps to approach the regional labour market.

The birth of the ASEAN Community will make it easier for its citizens to acquire jobs abroad with attractive salaries under the ASEAN Agreement on the Movement of Natural Persons and the Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs). It targets eight professional sectors, including accounting, architecture, engineering, medicine, dentistry, nursing, surveying and tourism.

Viet Nam's Vocational Training and Education Development Strategies for 2011-20 and the Government's Plan of Action on comprehensive education and training reform have highlighted the significance of setting up a NQF to conform with other regional and global models.

To make that framework a reality, Viet Nam has studied the ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF) and frameworks of the UK, Australia, New Zealand and other nations.

The country also participated in the working group on building the AQRF in 2012, which was ratified by regional economic and educational ministers in 2014 and by labour ministers a year later.

MoLISA has been tasked with managing international cooperation in evaluating and issuing National Occupational Skills certificates and setting National Occupational Skills Standards that are more in line with those of ASEAN and the world.

The ministry is also piloting training programmes for major occupations using regional and international standards, which will apply state-of-the-art technologies from foreign countries.

As a result, 2,750 college students were trained from 2011-15 in 34 main occupations and another 4,000 are expected to be qualified from 2016-20.

The ministry has assessed the English language and computing skills of 150,000 final-year students pursuing major national, regional and international occupations at vocational schools. 

VNS