VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam is considering building a national qualifications framework that will standardise workers' qualifications, by 2014.

Viet Nam is considering building a national qualifications framework that will standardise workers' qualifications, by 2014.

"It basically will help us classify the academic qualifications needed for the simplest job to the most complicated ones," said Duong Duc Lan, director of the General Department for Vocational Training.

If approved, the framework will provide a boost to Vietnamese workers and improve learner-mobility between countries in the region ahead of the ASEAN Economic Community scheduled to begin in 2015.

Speaking at the event, Education and Training Deputy Minister Bui Van Ga stressed the need for a framework to eliminate discrimination towards certain types of degrees and build public trust in tertiary credentials.

"We need a framework that recognises the learner's ability despite where and how they learn and the awarded degree must reflect accurately the skills learners achieve," he said.

According to Hoang Ngoc Vinh, director-general of the Technical and Vocational Department at the Ministry of Education and Training, "unclear and confusing definitions" of tertiary qualifications make mobility and recognition a challenge.

The proposed framework would likely divide the system into two major strands - higher education and technical and vocational training - with clearer definitions for different levels, Vinh said.

Viet Nam currently has about 2.2 million undergraduate students and about 4 million in vocational and technical schools or other skill-based programmes.

The lack of a national framework has made it difficult for students to move across the system and limits progress in quality assurance and teacher training. It also limits the connection between education and the labor market, Vinh said.

According to experts, the perception that vocational and technical training is ‘low-level' has created a rush towards academic qualifications. This has caused a race for university degrees rather than for specific skills appropriate for the labour market.

Approximately 400,000 high school students failed to gain entry to universities and 250,000 could not enter academic colleges, according to recent results from nationwide exams held in July.

According to a survey conducted by the General Statistic Office and the International Labour Organisation in early 2013, three out of ten 15-29 year olds are ‘too educated' for their job and cannot reach their potential within a company.

The survey also indicated that it takes about five years for young people to attain stable or statisfactory jobs in the country.

According to Mac Van Tien, director of the National Institute for Vocational Training at the labour ministry, around 130 countries already applied national qualifications frameworks. In the ASEAN community, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar remain to do so.

Most frameworks used internationally cover both formal and informal qualifications and working experience.

Tien said it took Thailand 10 years to build its national qualifications framework, which categorises programmes, graduates and learning outcomes from Level 1 (associate degree) to level 6 (doctor).

Countries within the ASEAN community are also planning to build a common reference framework possibly by 2018, to compare the qualifications of workers and students across 10 nations.

Mark Novels, director of Novels Consulting, a UK-based education management consultancy, said the national qualifications framework must help people understand what the qualifications are and professional trajectory.

Novels said that in the UK, the public could access a database of qualifications where they can find and search for qualifications that enable them to work in a particular sector.

He added that Viet Nam should aim for a system that can ensure relevance of qualifications for employers and protect learners.

Viet Nam's education and labour ministries are expected to submit the proposal for developing the framework for government approval in the second quarter of 2014.

Source: VNS