Of the curricula, eight are Malaysian, 12 are Australian and the rest are German, Do Van Giang, deputy head of the Formal Vocational Training Department, told a conference held in HCM City on Thursday to discuss vocational training for integrating into ASEAN.

Twenty two of them would be started next year or in 2017, he said.

A total of 2,750 students are expected to be trained, with their degrees to be issued by colleges in the three countries.

Viet Nam has 1,467 vocational training colleges, intermediate schools, and centres, which have enrolled 1.9 million students this year.

Next year they are expected to enrol 2.1 million. More vocational schools will be set up in the Central Highlands, north-western and south-western regions.

Dr Vu Xuan Hung, head of the Institute of Vocational Studies in Ha Noi, cited the 2014 Viet Nam Development Report by the World Bank as saying the country faces a shortage of workers with adequate skills.

According to the report, unlike many countries around the world, Viet Nam does not suffer from low labour demand: employers need workers but cannot find people with the skills they need.

In terms of labour quality, the country is in 11th place out of 12 Asian countries.

Trained workers account for just 20.6 per cent of the country's 53.7 million workforce, he said, adding that is one of the causes of low productivity.

According to the International Labour Organisation, in 2013 Viet Nam's productivity was a 15th of Singapore's, 20 per cent of Malaysia's and 40 per cent of Thailand's.

"The low productivity affects the country's economic competitiveness," Hung said.

"The ASEAN Community, which will come into being on December 31, is expected to bring opportunities for development in many fields, including vocational training".

Vocational training facilities would have the chance for collaborations, leading to an increase in the opportunities for students to get international standard training and jobs in the country and other ASEAN members, Hung said.

"However, the opportunities will only be on paper if the facilities do not know how to take advantage."

Unemployment among graduates rises in third quarter

The unemployment rate in Viet Nam fell in the third quarter of 2015, but joblessness among youths and graduates has risen compared to the second quarter.

This was announced at a conference on Viet Nam's labour market updates in the third quarter of 2015, held by the labour, invalids and social affairs ministry yesterday in Ha Noi.

There were about 1,128,700 working–age unemployed persons in the third quarter nationwide, nearly 16,000 less compared with the previous quarter. The unemployment rate in the third quarter was equivalent to 2.35 per cent of the total working-age population, while it was 2.42 per cent in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate among youths (15 to 24 years old) increased from 6.8 per cent to 7.3 per cent in the third quarter, three times more than the overall unemployment rate of 2.35 per cent.

The number of unemployed graduates was 342,800 nationwide, an increase of 50,200 people compared with the second quarter.

"Given that Q3 was the time when students graduated, the numbers seem to make sense. The numbers also show the competitiveness of the labour market when graduates fail to adapt to find jobs," head of Social and Labour Science Institute Nguyen Thi Lan Huong said.

While higher education has high value, the unemployment rate in this group is increasing. It was necessary that training programmes should be adapted in accordance with the demands of the labour market, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) Doan Mau Diep said.

"More attention should be given to vocational training and it is necessary to develop the labour force needed for the construction and industry sector, which is developing fast," a representative of the institute said.

MOLISA forecasts that employment will rise for sales positions, credit consultants and customer service employees towards the end of the year. — VNS