HCM CITY— Six lecturers at the College of Technology II and 17 workers at six wastewater companies have received certificates of German standard equivalence after completing a training programme for sewage engineering technicians.

The training programme titled “Vocational Training for Skilled Workers in the Wastewater Sector” is part of the Vietnamese-German “Reform Programme of Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Việt Nam” that is being implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

The involvement of six companies and the Việt Nam Water Supply and Sewerage Association ensures demand for the training and thus the employability of the graduates.

From 2014 to 2017, six lecturers and 17 in-company trainers of wastewater companies in HCM City, Cần Thơ City and Bình Dương, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, Đồng Nai, and Khánh Hòa provinces have been qualified to follow the intensive training that was conducted by German experts from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Dresden (IHK Dresden), the Dresden Sewage Company (SEED Dresden) and the Pirna Vocational Training Centre of Technology and Economy.

In September and October, after three years of receiving training, trainers took the final proficiency examination oriented to the German standard of sewerage engineering technicians.

All the trainers passed the exam, which means they have qualifications equivalent to those trained and recognised technicians in Germany.

The cooperative training programme for sewage engineering technicians is a cooperation model of a vocational college, an association and enterprises in the field of water supply and sewerage, said Ass. Prof. Lê Quân, Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

“The success of this model has proven that cooperative vocational training with the business sector is an indispensable, feasible and effective trend.”

Trainers receiving the Certificates of Equivalence to the German standard will be the core officials at vocational schools and businesses to contribute to the development of a skilled workforce in the wastewater sector in the future, he said at a graduation ceremony held last Saturday in HCM City.

Wastewater drainage and treatment is an important field of green economic development in Việt Nam.

In order to achieve the Vietnamese Government’s ambitious goal of increasing the share of treated wastewater to 60 per cent, a skilled workforce for the wastewater sector is needed.

By 2020, it is estimated that Việt Nam will need more than 8,000 qualified technicians to operate and maintain the infrastructure in the wastewater sector, according to a report released by GIZ. —VNS