The Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Department of Education and Training of Australia have inked a memorandum of understanding in vocational education.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) and his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull met with the press following their talks.

The MoU was among a series of cooperation documents signed between the two countries’ relevant ministries and agencies during the ongoing official visit to Australia by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Under the MoU, Vietnam and Australia will prioritise promoting cooperation in four areas, namely policy, governance and testing on professional quality; improvement of teachers’ quality, curricula development and training activity organising; and collaboration among vocational education establishments, experience sharing; and promotion of student and teacher exchange programmes and scholarships.

On this occasion, Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung had a working session with Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills Karen Andrews. 

During the meeting, the Australian official affirmed Vietnam is becoming Australia’s important partner in international cooperation on vocational education. The two sides acknowledged potential and opportunities for cooperation in high-quality human resources training, while highlighting that Vietnam’s priorities are suitable to Australia’s vocational education and training system. They expressed their wish for further strengthened cooperation for mutual benefit.

Minister Dung visited several vocational education establishments in New South Wales and attended a round-table seminar on vocational education between the two countries.

Over the past years, cooperation between Vietnam and Australia in vocational education is increasingly developed through such forms as: joint training; vocational managers training; workshops, fact-find tours on vocational training; the implementation of the Australia Programme for Skills (Aus4skills). The freshly-signed MOU on cooperation in vocational education between the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs and Australia’s Department of Education and Training is expected to expand and strengthen bilateral collaboration in the field of vocational education in the time ahead. - VNA