Vietnam’s fast economic growth due to “Doi Moi” – the 1986 economic reform, has led to the increased demand for skilled labor with the government responding through the formulation of a “Vocational Training Development Strategy 2011 – 2020”. The rapid industrialization over the past decade has also resulted in increased annual energy consumption growth rate of more than 12%. Forecasts show that an energy shortage of up to 70% could be experienced by 2025.
Seeing the need to increase energy management skills and trained labor in the industry to ensure environmentally sustainable development, Schneider Electric and ASSIST spearheaded a private sector partnership (PSP) project called “Green Electrician: Education in Electricity for Employment”. The project aims to promote and improve vocational training education in the growing energy industry through the establishment of training programs in cooperation with a local education partner. Specifically the project targeted students from underprivileged backgrounds via a free basic training program in order to help students gain access to stable employment opportunities. It aims to establish training centers or laboratories, develop practice-oriented training curricula, establish training programs on Basic Electricity and Sustainable Energy Management and provide entrepreneurship training to young people to help them create their own businesses and ensure sustainable income generation. The project is also promoting vocational training opportunities in schools to increase awareness and interest through job fairs featuring electric companies.
The project was able to build two laboratories in Ly Tu Trong Technical College (LTTC) which instilled hands-on experience and trained fifteen local teachers who in turn, trained and disseminated knowledge to other training centers, produced three training programs and trained 1,400 students. The program is scheduled to conclude by the end of 2018 and project implementers seek to secure nationwide adaptation of the training programs in the long run.
