From Newfoundland to Vietnam: CNA readies job programs in Southeast Asia
Vietnamese college students are getting a head start in the job market thanks to the College of the North Atlantic.
For the past two years, the Newfoundland and Labrador-based community college has been working with the southeast Asian country to help match training programs to the job market.
Brent Howell, CNA's dean of engineering technology and natural resources, said one of the challenges is that while CNA's programs are balanced between theory and practice, Vietnam's colleges are heavily geared towards theory.
"If you train chefs, then they need to be able to do everything that a chef is able to do," he said.
"Or if you train, in our case in Binh Thuan, if you train tourism support workers and support staff for all parts of the tourism industry, they need to have some experience before they hit the job in dealing with customers, for example, other than from a theoretical perspective."
Vietnamese students get very little experience
In some cases, said Howell, culinary students in Vietnam don't get any experience with basic kitchen tools.
"We are very well equipped in Canada in a lab or shop environment, and that is not the case in most of the colleges in Vietnam," he said.
"So the opportunity for people to use the tools of the trade, if you like, are not always available, so there's a lot of gaps in that area."
The first step is setting up training centres in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, said Howell.
"If everything goes according to plan, these two training centres will be establishments that are designed to inform policy makers, leaders, and to better equip college managers and leaders in administering a college operation that is responsive and effective."
Designing programs in a communist country comes with a special set of challenges, he said.
"Any program that we work with our partners to develop will include components that we would not have in Canada, and those would be components that are specific to the communist government," he said.
"It's untouchable material because it's required by the government."
Good for reputation and bottom line
Howell said the benefits for CNA include professional development for its instructors, administrators and program developers.
"As the Vietnam folks learn, we will also learn. We will also get to experience the challenges and find interesting ways to use the back door to get things done," he said.
It's also a way for CNA to build its reputation outside the province.
"That's worth a lot," he said. "It's also a revenue-generating exercise, that's certainly a benefit as well."
