Perception on the quality of vocational education training in VietNam Basis to improve VietNam education training quality

PERCEPTION ON THE QUALITY OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
TRAINING IN VIETNAM: BASIS TO IMPROVE VIETNAM
EDUCATION TRAINING QUALITY

___________________________

A DISSERTATION
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School
Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines
in Collaboration with
Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

___________________________

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Business Administration

___________________________

By
NGUYEN CHI TRUONG (BUSH)
December 2013
i


APPROVAL SHEET

The Dissertation of

NGUYEN CHI TRUONG

entitled
PERCEPTION ON THE QUALITY OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
TRAINING IN VIETNAM: BASIS TO IMPROVE VIETNAM
EDUCATION TRAINING QUALITY
Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
A program offered by Southern Luzon State University,
Republic of the Philippines in collaboration with
Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
has been approved by Oral Examination Committee

JOANNA PAULA A. ELLAGA, DBA
Expert

NELLY I. MENDOZA, DBA
Expert

EDWIN P. BERNAL, DBA
Expert

ALICE T. VALERIO, PhD
External Panel

CECILIA N. GASCON, PhD
Chairman
Endorsed by:

Recommended by:

CONRADO L. ABRAHAM, PhD

Adviser

APOLONIA A. ESPINOSA, PhD
Dean

Accepted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Business Administration

_____________________
Date

WALBERTO A. MACARAAN, EdD
Vice President for Academic Affairs
ii


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

iii


ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Grateful acknowledgment is hereby given to the following individuals who in
one way or another, made this DBA study more bearable and meaningful in the midst
of academic pressures; and because of their presence and inspiring assistance, the
researcher was able to transcend human weaknesses into strength and was able to
respond to the challenges of achieving creativity and success:
Dr. Conrado L. Abraham (SLSU), his first adviser, who gave him the strength
and the encouragement to believe in his capacities, and taught him not to be afraid

and to keep holding on and be steadfast in achieving his vision/mission. In addition,
he patiently “listened” to him in his “down” moments and guided him with his wisdom
in the completion of this dissertation;
Dr. Cecilia N. Gascon (SLSU), Dr. Tran Chi Thien (TNU), Dr. Walberto A.
Macaraan, Dr. Joanna Paula A. Ellaga, Dr. Nelly I. Mendoza and Dr. Eduardo T.
Bagtang, the panel of examiners, for their invaluable and constructive comments in
improving the manuscript;
Prof. Dr. Duong Duc Lan, Director General, General Directorate of Vocational
Training, his external panelist and seasoned expert and also a high ranking policy
leader in Vietnam Vocational Technical Education Training system as the Director
General, General Directorate of Vocational Training, who shared his precious time in
giving him commendable advice which are valuable in developing the dissertation
framework;
All his mentors/professors in the DBA class who provided him with leadership
and managerial skills combined with the “IQ and EQ” formations so that he can be
one of those humble yet synergized souls who believe that the community and
people-centered development is achievable in our midst;

iv


Colleagues from the General Directorate of Vocational Training who helped
him in the collection of data and information;
The Staff of the International Training Center (ITC), Thai Nguyen University
and the staff of the University of Labor and Social Affairs, for all the services they
have extended to him especially with regards to facilitating his schedules, providing
him the convenience and good environment for studying;
His classmates for the stimulating and effective learning discussions on case
studies and adding more value to his life during his study in DBA class;
Special mention is extended to Do Thi Hoa, Hoang Van Hung, Le Ngoc

Quang, who never failed to support him in times of difficulty;
Nguyen Phuc Huong and Tran Xuan Ngoc (Ronaldo), Nguyen Xuan Phuc
(Clinton), his roommates during his study time at Thai Nguyen University for being
good friends, sharing with him joys and sorrows, happiness and tiredness during the
time of studying in Hanoi and Thai Nguyen City;
His mother, sisters and friends and collaborative partners, who had always
been with him and never ceased to support him through their patience;
Most especially, to his wife, Tong Thi Thu Hang, for her love, patience, and
belief in his abilities; for her sacrifices and understanding of leaving their home every
Saturday, Sunday and often coming home late after official working time to attend the
DBA class, especially during the conduct of his dissertation, and most importantly for
taking care of their home and their family;
And to his daughter Nguyen Huong Giang and his son Nguyen Chi Truong
Son, for giving him the reason to finish this dissertation and for their smiles that bring
him energy and inspiration.

Nguyen Chi Truong

v


DEDICATION

To my ever loving mother, all my sisters, my wife, my children who gave me
the energy and strength to withstand the tests of the ‘unknown’
and the entirely new and unique experiences during my
study and in completing my dissertation, this
piece of work is lovingly dedicated.

NCT

vi


TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………..

i

APPROVAL SHEET ……………………………………………………….

ii

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ………………………………………..

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT …………………………………………………..

iv

DEDICATION ………………………………………………………………

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………..

vii

LIST OF TABLES ………………………………………………………….

ix

LIST OF FIGURES ………………………………………………………...

xii

ABBREVIATIONS ………………………………………………………….

xiii

LIST OF APPENDICES …………………………………………………...

xiv

ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………

xvi

CHAPTER
I

II

III

INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………

1

Background of the Study …………………………………..

3

Statement of the Problem ………………………………….

6

Objectives of the Study …………………………………….

7

Hypothesis of the Study ……………………………………

8

Significance of the Study …………………………………..

9

Scope and Limitations of the Study ………………………

10

Definition of Terms ………………………………………….

11

REVIEW OF LITERATURE ……………………………….

13

Theoretical Framework ………………………………….…

53

Conceptual Framework ………………………………….…

54

METHODOLOGY …………………………………………..

55

Locale of the Study …………………………………………

55

Research Design ……………………………………………

55

Population and Sampling …………………………………..

56

Research Instrument ……………………………………….

56

vii


Data Gathering Procedure …………………………………

58

Statistical Treatment ………………………........…….……

59

IV

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ………………………….

61

V

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS ……………………………………

111

Summary of Findings ………………………………………

111

Conclusions …………………………………………………

114

Recommendations …………………………………………

114

BIBLIOGRAPHY ….…………………...…………………………………..

124

APPENDICES ……………………………………………………………...

127

CURRICULUM VITAE …………………………………………………….

147

viii


LIST OF TABLES
TABLE
1

PAGE
Number of Professional Technical Education and Training
Institutions, Teachers and Students (2009~10)

35

2

2013 Status on Approved NOSS in Vietnam

47

3

Vietnamese Legislation & Regulation on Certification
System

52

4

Questionnaires’ Point Range

57

5

Demographic Information of the Respondents

62

6

Reliability Statistics on Individual Characteristics

64

7

Mean Distribution of Respondents Perception in Terms of
Individual Characteristics

65

8

Reliability Statistics on Qualification of Lectures

66

9

Item – Total Statistics of Qualification of Lecturers’
Variable

66

Mean Distribution of Respondents Perception in Terms of
Qualifications of Lecturers

67

11

Reliability Statistics on Physical Facilities

68

12

Item – Total Statistics of the Physical Facilities

68

13

Mean Distribution of Respondents’ Perception in Terms of
Physical Facilities

69

14

Reliability Statistics on Management Capacity

70

15

Item – Total Statistics of Management Capacity’s Variable

70

16

Mean Distribution of Respondents’ Perception in terms of
Management Capacity

71

17

Reliability Statistics on Job Opportunities

72

18

Item – Total Statistics of Job Opportunities

72

19

Mean Distribution of Respondents’ Perception in terms of
Job Opportunities

73

10

ix

TABLE

PAGE

20

Reliability Statistics on Labor Market Information

74

21

Item – Total Statistics of Information on Labor Market’s
Variable

74

Mean Distribution of Respondents’ Perception in terms of
Information on Labor Market

75

23

Reliability Statistics on Support Policies

76

24

Item – Total Statistics of Support Policies

76

25

Mean Distribution of Respondents’ Perception in terms of
Support Policies

77

26

Average Evaluation

78

27

Descriptive Statistics

79

28

Model Summary

80

29

ANOVA

81

30

Result of Linear Regression Analysis

81

31

Test of Homogeneity of Age Variance

83

32

Comparison between the Respondents’ Perception in
Terms of Age

84

33

Test of Homogeneity of Gender Variance

85

34

Comparison between the Respondents’ Perception in
Terms of Gender

86

35

Test of Homogeneity of Marital Status Variance

87

36

Comparison between the Respondents’ Perception in
terms of Marital Status

88

37

Test of Homogeneity of Income Variance

89

38

Comparison between the Respondents’ Perception in
Terms of Income

90

22

x


TABLE

PAGE

39

Test of Homogeneity of Educational Level Variance

91

40

Comparison between the Respondents’ Perception in
terms of Educational Level

92

Comparison between the Respondents’ Perception when
they are Grouped following Related Profile

93

Number of Meister Schools and their Students in Korea

100

41

42

xi


LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE

PAGE

1

Types of VET Benefits

16

2

National Education Training System and Relationship
between General Education and VET in Viet Nam

36

3

Problem Tree of VET in Viet Nam

38

4

NOSS is a Key Factor for Development of VET

43

5

Importance of NOSS and Relations among NOSS,
Certification and VET

44

6

Theoretical Framework

53

7

Conceptual Framework

54

8

Objectives Tree to Solve Current Problems for Improving
Quality of the VET

105

xii


ABBREVIATIONS

ADB

Asia Development Bank

ANOVA

Analysis of Variance

AQTF

Australian Quality Training Framework

BOG

Board of Governors

CPSISC

Construction and Property Services Industry Skills Council

CVET

Continuous Education Training

DEEWR

Department of Education, Employment and Workforce Relations

DETB

District Education and Technical Board

DSD

Development Skills Department

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

GDVT

General Directorate of Vocational Training

IAC

Industry Advisory Council

ILO

International Labor Organization

ISC

Industry Skills Council

ITI

Industrial Training Institutes

IVET

Initial Educational Training

KCSE

Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education

KNEC

Kenya National Examination Council

KOICA

Korean International Cooperation Agency

KRIVET

Korea Institute of Vocational Education Training

MOET

Ministry of Education and Training

MOLISA

Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs

MPE

Master Plan on Education

NOSAC

National Occupational Skill Assessment Center

NOSS

National Occupational Skills Standard
xiii


NOSTC

National Occupational Skills Testing Centers

NQF

National Qualification Framework

NQF

National Qualification Framework

NSDC

National Skill Development Corporation

NSSC

National Skills Standards Council

NSTCS

National Skills Testing and Certification System

NSTMA

National Skills Testing Management Agency

NTIS

National Training Information Service

OLS

Ordinary Least Squares

OSD

Occupational Skills Department

RTO

Registered Training Organization

SCOTESE

Standing Council on Tertiary Education Skills and Employment

SDF

Skill Development Fund

SPSS

Statistical Package for Social Sciences

SSC

Sector Skills Council

STC

Skills Testing Center

SWOT

Strengths Weakness Opportunities Threats

TAFE

Technical and Further Education

TEP

Technical Education Program

TESDA

Technical Education and Skills Development Authority

TIQET

Totally Integrated Quality Education and Training

UK

United Kingdom;

UNEVOC:

UNESCO – Vocational Education
(International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training)

VET

Vocational Education and Training

VIF

Variance Inflation Factor

xiv


LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX
A
B

PAGE
Regulation Principles, Procedures of Developing and
Issuing National Skills Standards

128

Questionnaire

144

`

xv


ABSTRACT
Title of Research

: PERCEPTION ON THE QUALITY OF
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION TRAINING IN
VIETNAM: BASIS TO IMPROVE VIETNAM
EDUCATION TRAINING QUALITY

Researcher

: NGUYEN CHI TRUONG (BUSH)

Degree Conferred

: DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Name and Address
of Institution

: Southern Luzon State University Lucban, Quezon,
Philippines and Thai Nguyen University, Socialist
Republic of Vietnam

Adviser

: Dr. Conrado L. Abraham

Year Written
: 2013
______________________________________________________________
Vocational education and training play a key role in raising skill levels
and improving the society’s productivity. The demand for skilled workers has

increased job specifications in the use of technology. Vocational Education
Training helps people in improving their performances in their jobs as they
acquire a great learning experience. Working professionals get a chance to
hone their skills while increasing their income. On May 2012, Vietnam
government has approved and issued two important national strategies that
have the general objective to develop an education vocational training system
to support the development of socio-economy for our country’s mission “will
basically become a developed country by 2020”. These policies assert that
vocational education training is essential for Vietnam’s development. In this
context, the dissertation proposed a system of a set of criteria to evaluate the
quality of Vocational Education Training and analyze the status of VET in
Vietnam, especially its weak points. In addition, the study introduces modern
models and value experiences from developed countries in improving
xvi


Vocational Education Training. Further, the dissertation used multivariate
regression equation to evaluate fully factors affecting the quality of Vocational
Education Training in Vietnam. Based on these analyses, the dissertation
proposed highly value recommendations to improve Vocational Education
Training in meeting the demands of industries and government’s vision.

Keywords: Vocational Education Training, Labor Quality, National
Qualification Framework, National Occupational Skills Standard, Industry
Skills Council

xvii


Chapter I

INTRODUCTION
Since “innovation” policy started in 1986, Vietnam Vocational
Educational Training (VET) has concentrated for development in 1998, when
the Government established the General Directorate of vocational training that
belongs to the Ministry of Labor, Wars invalid and Social affairs (MOLISA). At
this particular time, Vietnam has been implementing “innovation” policy for
over 10 years and has gained success in terms of socio-economic
development. Foreign investors have directly increased investment, industries
contribute higher rate to the GDP, economic structure has strongly shifted
from agriculture to industry and also labor force has moved from agriculture
sector to industry sector.
Since the start of its establishment, the General Directorate of
vocational training has developed policies for vocational training development
to meet the needs of industries in terms of skilled workforce, however, the
quality and quantity as well as productivity were low. Nonetheless, the mission
of vocational education training is to produce skilled labor force for country’s
vision to become a modern and developed country by 2020.
Considering the above mission, from 1998 to present, the General
Directorate of vocational training has been developing many positive policies
to develop vocational education training system. According to GDVT, the
number of vocational training schools has been increasing each year. In 2008,
there were 129 vocational training schools, but in 2012, there were only a total
of 455 vocational training schools, in which there are 155 vocational training


2

colleges, 305 secondary vocational training schools, 900 vocational training
centers and about 1,000 related vocational training institutions nationwide.
With regards to the entries of vocational training system, according to GDVT,

it has been increasing in quantity’s entries: from 526,600 in 1998 to 1,538,000
in 2008 and to 1,790,000 in 2012, thus, giving remarkable contributions for the
country’s industrialization and modernization processes.
In terms of law and policy development, one of its remarkable
achievement is that the Government has issued the law on vocational training
in 2005 for the first time, which formalized VET system with 3 levels training in
3 vocational training institutions/vocational training colleges/ secondary
schools for vocational training and primary vocational training schools. These
three kinds of vocational training institutions system have produced a
considerable number of skilled workforce for labor market and serve the
industry needs, thus, contributing to the socio-economic development in the
past years.
However, the existing VET system still has limitations in terms of
producing skilled labor force to fit the industry needs. According to VCCI’s
survey in 2011, indicator in satisfaction of industries about quality of VET was
only 34% and this is a low indicator. The quality of Vietnam labor force is still
low; it was placed in the 11th position among 12 Asian countries which have
been ranked in 2008. Vietnam’s productivity in comparison with some
countries in 2007 is as follows: lower than Japan 50.4 times; Korea 18.6 times;
Malaysia 7.8 times; Thailand 1.96 times; and Indonesia 1.5 times. In addition,
Vietnam has insufficient skilled labor and low competitiveness (according to


3

the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) for the 2013-2014 periods, Vietnam
placed on the 70th positions among 148 economies in the world.
The limitation of VET may come from limitations of factors influencing
its quality such as capacity of teachers/instructors, management capacity,
physical facilities, and information on labor market, graduates employability;

support policies; connection with industries, etc

Background of the Study
At present, new technology in almost industries has been changing
very fast. In this process, it is necessary to request for the upgrading of skilled
workforce including existing skill areas and new skill areas that arise to meet
the demands for socio-economic development in the new era.

This will

challenge the Vietnamese Vocational Education Training (VET) on how it can
be flexible in terms of changing the industry needs. In order to solve these
problems, VET should improve and strengthen its training capacity to meet
the requirements of high skilled human resources in the new context. Thus, it
should develop policies, strategies, plans and curricula, training programs that
are scientific and advanced enough, and suitable and fit with existing industry
needs.
In fact, in order to have a flexible VET system, other countries like the
United Kingdom has the Sector Skills Councils (SSCs); and Australia has the
Industry Skills Councils (ISCs). In two these countries, the model of SSC or
ISC could play as a bridge to connect between industry, VET and government.
In Japan and Korea, they developed the testing and certification systems


4

separately from the training side (VET) to supply skilled labor for labor market.
This model also has strong engagement of industry to Vocational Education
Training. In Vietnam, in 2008, Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs
(MoLISA) has introduced a new frame work to develop a National

Occupational Skills Standards (NOSS) under Decision No. 09/2008/QĐBLĐTBXH dated 28th March 2008 in regulating the principles and procedures
for development and issuance of NOSS. Under this framework, the ministries
will develop the national occupational skills standards for each occupational
under ministry’s management and collaboration for approval and issuance of
NOSS by MoLISA.
The advantages of the NOSS is it serves as a foundation for: General
Directorate of Vocational training (GDVT) as an agency that is authorized by
MoLISA to manage the development of NOSS to manage the national skills
testing and certification systems and help MoLISA to issue other related
policies in terms of skilled workforce development; for VET institutes to
develop the curricular and training program; for employers to develop the
employee recruitment, wage payment plans and to identify the training needs
and arrange working position for employees; for the laborers to identify these
skills gaps and improve for themselves to seek for the job. However, NOSS
only has real value as the above mentioned advantages, the procedure and
process to develop NOSS should be strongly engaged by industries. On the
other hand, industries must be involved to identity the skills needed in each
area since these are the requirements for manufacturing and should be
developed through training. Unfortunately, there is a lack of participation of
industries in this process. Therefore, NOSS seems not functional any more as


5

to government expectation and socials needs in terms of human resources
development, especially in training program or curricular development.
Towards 2020, Vietnam’s strategy for socio-economic development
stage 2011-2020 has formulated one of three pillars for socio-economic
development that is “human resource development”. The strategy for human
resource development stage 2011 – 2020 has formulated “development of

regulations, mechanisms, policies to speed up training towards social needs
driven,

engagement

of

enterprise

in

training”

and

“basically

and

comprehensive innovation of education and training to meet the demands for
social development”.
On May, 2012, Vietnam government has approved and issued two
important national strategies: (1) strategy for development of education stage
2011- 2020, and (2) strategy for the development of Vocational Education
Training stage 2011 – 2020. These two strategies have the objectives that
aims to find solutions to “comprehensive and basic innovation of education
and training for social development needs; improve the training quality as
requirements in terms of standardization, modernization, socialization, and
international integration to efficiently serve the development of and defend
motherland” that has been approved by the government as strategy for

human resources development period 2010 – 2020 and contribute to the
country’s mission “to become a developed country by 2020”.

Thus, this

dissertation discussed the “Perception on the Quality of Vocational
Education Training in Vietnam: Basis to Improve Vietnam Education
Training Quality ”


6

Statement of the Problem
International economic integration makes the national economies of the
region and the world increasingly closely linked. Technology changes so fast
and industries of each country have to constantly upgrade new technology for
improving their productivity. Vocational training sector plays an important role
for this process to upgrade the skilled workforce to fit with the industry needs,
which is a key factor for improving country’s competitiveness in the integration
process. One of the requirements for socio-economic development in stage
2012-2020 is to improve the skilled workforce and to meet the industry needs.
In connection with this, the Vietnam Government has approved a strategy for
the development of vocational education training stage 2011–2020 to
innovate basically the comprehensive vocational education training. Therefore,
this paper discussed on policies, models and development of those policies
and models from the perspective of policy makers in order to engage
industries more in VET process in Vietnam. On the other hand, based on the
new strategies for development of educational and vocational trainings just
approved by Government, this paper discussed how to develop a policy and
introduce a model for developing a national occupational skills standards

(NOSS) with the strong participation from industry side and other related sides,
including professional associations, training sides, researchers, policy makers,
employer’s representatives, worker’s representatives etc. The revised NOSS
will be an important factor for training (vocational training institutes) to develop
curriculum, training program (training packages) based on industry needs.
Also, NOSS will be a place for the industry to meet the skills needs of their
manufacturing process and for vocational training sector that can produce


7

skilled workforce. What are the policies and models that can effectively
support Vietnam vocational training in Vietnamese context towards 2020?
Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions:
1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of age, gender,
educational level, civil status and income?
2. What is the perception of respondents in terms of individual
characteristics, training quality, physical facilities, management
capacity, job opportunities, information on labor market, support
policies?
3. What are the factors influencing vocational education training?
4. What are the problems of Vocational Education Training of Vietnam
and experiences from developed countries?

Objectives of the Study
The study aimed to evaluate the status of vocational education training
in Viet Nam and determine the factors that influence the quality of vocational
education training.
Specifically, this study aimed:
1. To describe the profile of the respondents in terms of:

1.1 Age
1.2 Gender
1.3 Educational level


8

1.4 Marital status
1.5 Income
2. To compare vocational education training as perceived by training
staff, learners and managers in VET sector in terms of:
2.1 Individual Characteristics
2.2 Training Quality
2.3 Physical Facilities
2.4 Management Capacity
2.5 Job Opportunities
2.6 Information on Labor Market
2.7 Support Policies
3. To compare the quality of VET and determine factors influencing
the quality of vocational education training.
4. To compare the perceived quality of VET when they are grouped in
terms of selected personal characteristics and responses.

Hypotheses of the Study
1. There is a significant difference between perceptions of respondents
and respondent’s profile in terms of age, gender, educational level,
marital status, income.
2. There is no significant difference in the perception of respondents in
terms of individual characteristics, training quality, physical facilities,