Australia and Vietnam are collaborating to strengthen vocational education and training (VET) in Vietnam, especially in the logistics sector which is key to the country’s socioeconomic development. Through Aus4Skills, the two countries aim to improve capacity for trainers and management at VET colleges and enterprises, upgrade their industry skills and innovate approaches to VET. This will contribute to delivering a sustainable, industry-led model for VET to ensure graduates meet industry standards and needs.
As part of this collaboration, the recent Australia Awards Short Course (AASC) in Transformational Leadership and Design Thinking in VET delivered practical knowledge to Vietnamese partner VET colleges, government agencies, organisations for people with disabilities, and logistics companies.
The AASC in Transformational Leadership and Design Thinking was delivered by the University of Sunshine Coast for Aus4Skills.
The two-week course in Australia has equipped VET educators and employers with better understanding of the future trajectory and challenges facing Vietnam’s logistics sector, enabling them to explore systematic change management amid Industry 4.0.
Through exploring the future of logistics in Vietnam, participants learned ways to strengthen integrated education and encourage creativity and autonomy through AI applications. By improving work-study models, they can empower their students and employees to build personal development capacities. Broad applications of knowledge from this course across schools and workplaces were demonstrated in their return-to-work plans, presented at a final symposium in Hai Phong on 5 August.
A design thinking class at UniSC, Australia. Photo courtesy of Professor Richard Bawden.
Course participant Ho Nguyen Duy Nguyen, a lecturer from the Faculty of Business Administration, HCMC College of Economics, said: “Design thinking has helped me develop future readiness, a valuable insight that I will share with my students to prepare them for employment in logistics and all aspects of life.”
Ho Nguyen Duy Nguyen, Lecturer of Faculty of Business Administration, HCMC College of Economics, presents his group’s achievements from the course and application plan.
Trinh Xuan Dung, Vice Chair of Hanoi Association of People with Disabilities, said the course had influenced him to take different approaches to leading his organisation. “We are putting greater efforts in connecting with logistics businesses regarding labour recruitment requirements, so that people with disabilities can be recommended for suitable jobs.”
The symposium was also an opportunity to discuss with industry leaders a broader integration of transformational thinking and leadership in logistics development in Vietnam, which will guide not only industry-led vocational education but also inclusive employment. Representatives of the Logistic Industry Reference Council (LIRC), the Centre for Disability Research and Capacity Development (@DRD Vietnam), and Maritime College I shared invaluable insights from industry and educators’ perspectives.
“The ‘labelling’ of educational responsibilities belonging only to schools needs to transform. It’s important to encourage the role of businesses in logistics education, which will also benefit them in recruitment and human resource training” said Ms Bui Thi Ninh, LIRC Secretary.”
Industry leaders and VET educators discuss design thinking and transformational leadership in logistics VET.
The “Transformational Leadership and Design Thinking in VET” short course demonstrates Australia and Vietnam’s close collaboration to build links between industry, government and VET colleges. The collaboration has had real impact; the logistics industry, government and VET colleges have increased their mutual understanding, and logistics graduates are better able to meet industry standards and needs, providing a model for other sectors to strengthen VET across Vietnam.
