Skills ecosystem
Mr. Nguyen Chi Truong, Head of the Skills Development Department, Department of Vocational Education and Continuing Education, Ministry of Education and Training, frankly pointed out a thought-provoking paradox in Vietnam's labor structure.
With a massive workforce of approximately 55 million people, only nearly 30% possess formal degrees or certificates. Notably, the workforce in businesses, while accounting for only 27% of the total workforce, contributes 65% of GDP and 75% of the state budget. According to Mr. Truong, more than 70% of the remaining workforce participates in the market based on self-experience, but remains "invisible" on the official qualification map.
His perspective serves as a warning against the waste of resources. He asserts that standardizing and recognizing the capabilities of this group of "skilled but unqualified" workers is key to unlocking their currently stifled productivity.
Mr. Truong argued that a multi-dimensional vocational skills ecosystem needs to be built. Instead of viewing training as an independent activity, it must be placed within an organic relationship between three entities: the State - workers - employers.
Within this ecosystem, he emphasized key pillars, from the Vietnam Qualifications Framework (VSQF) and occupational skills standards to the assessment and recruitment system.
Accordingly, businesses need profit and productivity, while workers need skills and income. A successful policy must be a "catalyst" to bring these two goals together. When businesses recruit based on practical skills rather than theoretical qualifications, that's when the labor market operates most efficiently and transparently.
Mr. Truong emphasized the issue of mutual recognition and acceptance. In reality, many Vietnamese workers abroad, even with university degrees, still have to do low-paying, unskilled jobs simply because of the lack of international agreements on skills.
Conversely, he also pointed out the injustice of foreign workers entering Vietnam sometimes being given excessive preferential treatment in terms of expert status, even though their actual skills are not superior.
Therefore, it is necessary to implement Article 22 of the Employment Law on mutual recognition with the international community. This is not just a technical issue, but a struggle to reclaim fairness and enhance the value of the Vietnamese labor "brand" on the global map. According to him, vocational skills are the "armor" that helps workers survive the wave of AI.
From the perspective of labor export, Mr. Nguyen Van Chien from the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences believes that the terminology and mindset need to change from "labor export" to "skill transfer." He emphasized the "circular migration" model, in which workers do not simply go to sell their labor but participate in a cycle: training-moving-accumulating-returning.
According to him, returning workers not only bring in remittances that contribute to GDP, but more importantly, they bring with them international skills, experience, and a professional work ethic. This is precisely the high-quality human resource needed for the development of domestic industries.
Mr. Chien emphasized the urgent need to build a closed ecosystem. In this ecosystem, the vocational education system should not only prepare workers to be qualified to go abroad but also design programs that allow them to reuse their skills upon their return. He was concerned about the devaluation of skills due to the discrepancy between domestic and international vocational certifications.
Therefore, establishing a cross-border skills recognition mechanism is key to ensuring the rights and maximizing the potential of workers.
Shifting from qualifications to competencies
Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, from the advanced program, Vocational Education Innovation Program III, and the Partnership Mechanism for Promoting Vocational Education and Development-Oriented Labor Migration, shared her perspective through the results of the PAM project - Partnership Mechanism for Promoting Vocational Education and Development-Oriented Labor Migration (a project focusing on building a systematic training roadmap, typically for the Metal Cutting profession at LILAMA2 school according to German standards).
Ms. Ngoc emphasized that, in order for Vietnamese workers to be able to go global , the vocational education system needs to be comprehensively internationalized. This includes developing training programs that closely align with international standards to achieve professional recognition in demanding countries like Germany. At the same time, specialized foreign language and cultural training should be integrated early on, rather than just being short-term supplementary courses.
When labor skills are considered a national asset and systematically invested in according to an ecosystem model, Vietnamese workers will possess a powerful passport to confidently enter the green era, not only to work for others but also to assert Vietnam's position and intelligence on the global workforce map.
Ms. Dang Thi Huyen, from the Center for Vocational Education Research (Vietnam Academy of Educational Sciences), argues that there needs to be a strong shift from prioritizing academic degrees to prioritizing actual competence. In reality, a large number of self-employed workers or those in traditional craft villages possess very high skills but lack qualifications. Ms. Huyen supports promoting a mechanism for recognizing non-formal and informal forms of education.
According to Ms. Huyen, the national vocational skills assessment brings multifaceted value: it helps workers improve their employment opportunities, promotes lifelong learning, and helps businesses maximize their human resource capabilities. However, she also frankly pointed out bottlenecks such as a weak assessment network and uneven public awareness.
"Information needs to be transparent and skills referencing standardized so that workers can see the tangible benefits of participating in assessments," Ms. Huyen emphasized. This is especially important for freelancers or those who have acquired skills through practical work experience but lack formal qualifications, giving them a "ticket" to enter the professional labor market.
Source: https://tienphong.vn/khoang-trong-ki-nang-nghe-post1836955.tpo
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