Vietnam's skill contests gradually approach world quality

ABO/VNA - With adjustments and changes, the national skills contest is coming closer to regional and world quality standards.
Nguyen Chi Truong, director of Department of Vocational Skills, and member of the Organizing Committee of the Vietnam Skills Competition, has pointed out notable new points of this year’s competition.
It is expected to be the largest ever contest, where participants will compete in 34 occupations (26 in 2018), including seven occupations appearing for the first time.
In previous years, the exam time lasted no more than eight hours. But in 2020, contestants will have 15 hours to fulfill their work.

“As such, the difficulty level will be higher, the workload will be bigger and the number of occupations will also be higher,” Truong said.
“The seven new occupations for the first time at the competition are the ones that even experts have never approached at regional and international competitions,” he added.
Thid year’s contest will have the presence of enterprises’ representatives on the organizing board. The exam evaluation process is commonly used elsewhere.
The specialists who are members of the sub-jury board and proctors must not be relatives of contestants, and chief experts must not be examiners.
Dong Van Ngoc, Principal of the Hanoi Electromechanical College, said the organizing board put emphasis on the fact that this year’s contest must approach ASEAN and world vocational qualifications and skill standards.
Ngoc, who was a member of the delegation which brought Vietnamese contestants to the world’s skills contest in Russia in 2019, commented that Vietnam has taken big steps to be closer to world standards.
“The content will be basically the same, but only some modules will be cut to fit Vietnam’s conditions,” he explained.
Regarding technological standards, this year’s contest will use machines and equipment like the ones at world contests. The software to be used, criteria for scoring and the way of organizing this year’s contest will be the same as the ones applied at the world skills contest in 2019.
Ngoc said the adjustments in this year’s contest and higher requirements have been applauded, because Vietnam has no other choice than ‘integrating with the world’.
Nguyen Thi Viet Huong, deputy general director of the Directorate General for Vocational Education, and deputy head of 2020 skill contest, said Vietnam has organized 10 national skill contests, and built a contingent of technique experts who select and train the national competition teams to attend 10 ASEAN skill contests, 7 world skill contests.

Le Ha (Source: VNA)