HCM CITY —  The Seeds of Hope programme that promotes sustainable professional integration for young Vietnamese in the fields of residential and industrial electricity and automotive maintenance was officially launched at a ceremony held in HCM City yesterday.

The programme operates in partnership with vocational training schools as well as a number of companies and agencies.

Seeds of Hope is being run on a trial basis under the European Institute for Development Cooperation (IECD) in Việt Nam at two sites: HCM City Technical and Economic College (HOTEC) and Thủ Đức College of Technology (TDC).

The programme not only helps create more opportunities for students in career development but also enhances domestic and international integration.

Việt Nam continues to have a high rate of unemployed young people, while vocational training remains unattractive to many students, creating a mismatch with the labour market despite strong demand, especially in the electricity sector.

Seeds of Hope targets people aged 15 to 25. The support includes either a three-year-long vocational training programme or short training modules on renewable energies and energy efficiency.

It aims to improve career prospects for about 1,400 young people by 2019.

IECD experts will help develop standards and content for teaching and training programmes.

Students at the two schools will be exposed to a quality learning environment that will allow them to develop occupational skills and life skills for integration into the labor market.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Phạm Ngọc Thanh, the deputy chairman of the city’s Department of Education and Training, said the city, which has 77.5 per cent of trained workers, has set a target to have at least 85 per cent of trained workers by 2020.

“Seeds of Hope will help meet the demand of the city’s plan on raising the quality of labourers,” he said.

He said the programme would significantly improve the quality of vocational training for Vietnamese students and help promote cooperation between schools and enterprises as well as contribute to reducing the unemployment rate of young people in the city.

Nguyễn Thị Lý from the TDC thanked the IECD, experts and companies for their contribution to the programme and said she hoped to receive more support from the  IECD, companies and authorities in the near future.

At the ceremony, partnership agreements in cooperation and development between IECD and two of the colleges were signed. — VNS