Tài liệu Assessment of capability, knowledge and skill of vocational school graduates a basis for enhanced industry-academe cooperation

Southern Luzon State University Republic of Philippines Thai Nguyen University Socialist Republic of Vietnam HA XUAN QUANG Assessment of capability, knowledge and skill of vocational school graduates: A basis for enhanced industry-academe cooperation DOCTORAL DISSERTATION Principal Supervisor: Dr. A. Walberto Macaraan From Southern Luzon State University July 2013 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT On completion of this study, the author has received significant support and collaboration from many organizations and individuals. First and foremost, I would like to thank the leader team and the staff of ten universities and colleges of MOIT, including Hanoi University of Industry, Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry, Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry, Hue Industrial College, Nam Dinh Industrial College, Vietnam-Germany Industrial College, Industrial Economic – Technology College, College of Industrial Techniques, Constructional and Industrial College, Vocational College of Commerce as well as Vocational College of Agricultural Mechanics (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) and Vietnam-Korea Vocational College of Engineering (Nghe An province) for sharing information and cooperating in the survey. I have to acknowledge the contributions of my colleagues and students at Hanoi University of Industry in the process of distributing and collecting questionnaires from over 230 enterprises. Without this support, I could not have gathered such huge database for research and analysis. I would like to express my appreciation to the support from the leaders of Hanoi University of Industry. The university has created necessary conditions including time, budget and other priorities for me to complete the DBA course and the final thesis on time. Thanks for the support and encouragement from the fellows and teachers at Hanoi University of Industry, especially comments on expertise from colleagues in Faculty of Business Administration. A special thanks goes to Thai Nguyen University and Southern Luzon State University for their cooperation in this training program which provides me with an opportunity to participate in and conduct the project that I have long cherished. I take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regards to my guide Dr. A. Walberto Macaraan from Southern Luzon State University for his exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement throughout the course of this thesis. Last but not least, many thanks go to my family. They are always beside me and encourage me through the duration of my studies. I am also indebted this achievement to my beloved wife and two daughters for their great help and support. Sincerely thank you. . July 2013 Ha Xuan Quang i DEED OF DECLARATION I, Quang HA XUAN., hereby submit my Dissertation for oral examination, entitled “Assessment of capability, knowledge and skill of vocational school graduates: A basis for enhanced industry-academe cooperation”, truthfully declare that the said paper is a product of my original research investigation. The data presented in the paper have clear origin. Dr. candidate Ha Xuan Quang ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT....................................................................................................... i DEED OF DECLARATION .................................................................................................. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ...........................................................................................................................v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................................. vii LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. viii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................x RATING SHEET .................................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................1 1.1. Background ................................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Problem Statement ...................................................................................................... 2 1.3. Reseach Objectives...................................................................................................... 3 1.4. Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 3 1.5. Hypotheses .................................................................................................................. 4 1.6. Scope and Limitation of the Study ............................................................................... 5 1.7. Reseach Definitions ..................................................................................................... 6 1.8. Significance of the Study............................................................................................. 6 1.9. Structure of the Study .................................................................................................. 7 1.10. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 8 CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES...............................................9 2.1. International related research ....................................................................................... 9 2.2. National related research ........................................................................................... 10 2.3. Theoretical and conceptual framework ...................................................................... 11 2.4. Analysing framework ................................................................................................ 22 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................... 24 3.1. Research design ......................................................................................................... 24 3.2. Determination of sample............................................................................................ 25 3.3. Research instrument .................................................................................................. 29 3.4. Data gathering procedure........................................................................................... 34 3.5. Data processing method............................................................................................. 34 3.6. Evaluation the reliability of scales ............................................................................. 42 3.7. Statistical treatment ................................................................................................... 43 CHAPTER IV: PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA ....... 46 4.1. Characteristics of the survey sample .......................................................................... 46 4.2. Enterprises’ assessment of the knowledge, skills and capabilities to work of graduates from vocational schools.................................................................................................... 48 4.3. Assessment of conditions ensuring the quality of vocational training in vocational schools ...... 56 iii 4.4. Forms of cooperating activities currently organized at vocational schools .................... 60 4.5. Benefits of cooperation according to the assessment of enterprises and vocational schools ...... 63 4.6. The influence of cooperating programs on the knowledge and skills of vocational school students........... 65 4.7. Cooperating programs that enterprises expect/desire to participate............................. 67 4.8. Factors hindering cooperation.................................................................................... 69 4.9. Accreditation of the relationship between the variables/factors .................................. 70 4. 10. Construction of regressional function to analyse the relationship between factors ... 73 CHAPTER V: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS75 5.1. Findings of study ....................................................................................................... 75 5.2. Accreditation of the hypotheses ................................................................................. 77 5.3. The relationship between factors and the development of school -enterprise cooperating programs ....................................................................................................... 78 5.4. Proposals for the development of programs collaboration school - industry ............. 78 5.5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 81 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 82 APPENDIXES ...................................................................................................................... 84 CURRICULUM VITAE ....................................................................................................... 85 APPENDIX A1..................................................................................................................... 89 APPENDIX A2..................................................................................................................... 94 APPENDIX B ....................................................................................................................... 97 APPENDIX C ..................................................................................................................... 126 APPENDIX D..................................................................................................................... 152 iv ABSTRACT In Vietnam, the quality of vocational training has not yet met the actual requirements of the enterprises. One of the causes of this situation goes to the lack of efficient and close cooperation between vocational schools and enterprises. With the use of interview, survey and collection of expert opinions, the author has conducted a study on a sample of 233 enterprises for their comments on the knowledge and skills of graduates (majoring either in Mechanics or Electrics/ Electronics). A sample of some vocational schools has also been on research about the conditions to ensure the quality of vocational training. The author has also studied some current school-industry cooperation programs and their impact on the knowledge and skills of vocational school graduates. On completion of the dissertation, the author has collected and analysed the opinions from both sides, schools and businesses, about the benefits of cooperation, the factors hindering the development of cooperation and the desire/willingness of the enterprises to cooperate with schools. From the research and analysis of the opinions of both sides, the author has also proposed some solutions to the development of cooperating programs in order to improve the quality of vocational training (in terms of the knowledge and skills of graduates). Followings are new findings of the dissertation through research: 1. The capability, knowledge and skills of graduates from vocational schools do not meet the requirements of the job. Businesses deliver the lowest assessment for such skills as organizing in production, communicating, team-working and problem-solving. This situation also applies for graduates’ knowledge and skills in statistics, English, CNC, PIC, PLC programming, electric/electronic circuit designing and modern equipment operating. 2. Current conditions at schools affecting capability, knowledge and skills of graduates include factors that insure quality of vocational training. Among these factors, the shortage of updated training content and teachers visiting business environment as well as the lack in quality and quantity of technology equipment are most concerned. 3. There are three (03) groups of cooperating program between vocational schools and businesses, namely information exchange, resources supply and exchange, and vocational training plan design. Arrangement of internship for students at businesses is the most popular and most regular industry-academy cooperating activity. Other activities are also done to encourage cooperation yet not often. v 4. Businesses and vocational schools share similar opinions about the benefits of cooperation in training. Cooperation has a positive impact on knowledge and skills of vocational students. Enterprises are willing to participate in cooperating programs with vocational schools. 5. Factors hindering industry-academy cooperation in vocational training include a weak mechanism to encourage/force the cooperation, the lack of information about partners and the fact that one party does not assure the interests of the partner. 6. On the basis of the research findings, dissertation proposes some solutions to enhance industry-academy cooperation and to improve the capability, knowledge and skills of vocational students. vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation GDVT GIZ Meaning General Department of Vocational Training German Society for International Cooperation, Ltd HaUI Hanoi University Of Industry HCM Ho Chi Minh IVT JICA MOARD Institute for Vocational Training Japan International Cooperation Agency Ministry Of Agriculture and Rual Development MOET Ministry Of Education and Training MOIT Ministry Of Industry and Trade MOLISA NVQs QCA Ministry Of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs National Vocational Qualifications Qualifications and Curriculum Authority SLSU Southern Luzon State University SMEs Small and Medium Enterprises TNU VCCI Thai Nguyen University Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1. B.Bloom’s taxonomy of knowledge and skills...................................................... 12 Table 3.1. List of MOIT’s schools and the number of students ............................................. 27 Table 3.2. The number of schools selected for the survey out of the MOIT’s schools ........... 28 Table 3.3. List of MOIT’s schools surveyed ......................................................................... 28 Table 3.4. List of schools out of MOIT ................................................................................. 28 Table 3.5. Number of questionnaires in vocational training schools ...................................... 29 Table 3.6. Structure of questionnaire for enterprises ............................................................. 30 Table 3.7. Structure of questionnaire for vocational schools ................................................. 31 Table 3.8. Scales in questionnaire for enterprises ..................................................................32 Table 3.9. Scales in questionnaire for vocational schools ...................................................... 33 Table 3.10. Encoding questionnaire data for vocational schools............................................ 35 Table 3.11. Encoding questionnaire data for enterprises ....................................................... 38 Table 3.12. The additional variables for enterprise database ................................................. 41 Table 3.13. The additional variables for school database ...................................................... 42 Table 3.14. Reliability rating scales by Cronbach Alpha of enterprise survey data. ............... 42 Table 3.15. Rating the reliability of scales by Cronbach Alpha of school survey data. ......... 43 Table 3.16. The quantities of descriptive statistics in enterprise survey data analysis ............ 43 Table 3.17. The quantities of descriptive statistics in vocational school survey data analysis ............. 44 Table 3.18. Method of accrediting enterprises data ............................................................... 45 Table 3.19. Compare the survey data of enterprises and of vocational schools ...................... 45 Table 4.1. Number of schools sorted by the managerial agency ............................................ 46 Table 4.2. Number of schools sorted by the highest level of training.....................................46 Table 4.3. Number of schools sorted by region .....................................................................46 Table 4.4. Number of schools sorted by number of students ................................................. 46 Table 4.5. Number of enterprises sorted by type of ownership .............................................. 47 Table 4.6. Number of enterprises sorted by industry ............................................................. 47 Table 4.7. Number of enterprises sorted by active years ....................................................... 47 Table 4.8. Number of enterprises sorted by size (number of employees) ............................... 47 Table 4.9. Enterprises’ assessment of attitude and capability to work of graduates from vocational schools..48 Table 4.10. Enterprises’ assessment of general knowledge of graduates from vocational schools .............. 50 Table 4.11. Assessment by enterprises of foundational knowledge and skills of graduates. ...52 viii Table 4.12. Assessment by enterprises on mechanical knowledge and skills of graduates .....53 Table 4.13. Assessment by enterprises on electric/electronic knowledge and skills of graduates ................ 54 Table 4.14. Respondents of conditions ensuring quality of vocational training sorted by position/title. ........ 56 Table 4.15. Respondents of conditions ensuring qualityof vocational training sorted by years of working experience..56 Table 4.16. Assessment of the vocational training programs ................................................. 57 Table 4.17. Assessment of vocational training teachers......................................................... 58 Table 4.18. Assessment of facilities and equipment for vocational training ........................... 59 Table 4.19. Program collaboration at vocational training schools .......................................... 60 Table 4.20. Assessment of benefits of cooperation by vocational schools and enterprises .....64 Table 4.21. Influence of cooperating activities on the knowledge and skill of graduates ....... 65 Table 4.22. Desire/willingness to cooperate of enterprises .................................................... 67 Table 4.23. Assessment by vocational schools of factors hindering cooperation ................... 69 Table 4.24. Assessment by enterprises of factors hindering cooperation ............................... 69 Table 4.25. Testing X2 two variables C1.4 & C6.13 .............................................................. 71 Table 4.26. Testing X2 two variables C1.4 & C6.14 .............................................................. 71 Table 4.27. ANOVA accreditation for the relationship between C1.4 and C2, C3, C4, C5, C7, C8 ....72 Table 4.28. ANOVA analysis ............................................................................................... 74 Table 4.29. Accreditation of regression coefficients.............................................................. 74 Table 5.1. The result of accreditation of hypotheses.............................................................. 77 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1. Training process and the external factors affecting the quality of training ........... 14 Figure 2.2. Factors affecting the quality of vocational training ............................................. 15 Figure 2.3. The factors influencing quality of graduates (Phan Chinh Thuc, 2003) ............... 16 Figure 2.4. The impact of school-business cooperation in vocational training quality ........... 20 Figure 2.5. A framework for analyzing collaboration between enterprises and vocational training schools ........ 23 Figure 2.6. A framework for analyzing collaboration in curriculum development ................. 23 Figure 3.1. Research Design .................................................................................................24 Figure 3.2. Research Process ................................................................................................ 25 Figure 4.1a. Enterprises’ assessment of attitude and capability to work of graduates ............ 48 Figure 4.1b. Enterprises’ assessment of attitude and capability to work of graduates by ownership....49 Figure 4.2a. Assessment by enterprises of general knowledge of graduates .......................... 50 Figure 4.2b. Assessment by enterprises of different ownerships of general knowledge of graduates ..51 Figure 4.2c. Assessment by enterprises of different industries of general knowledge of graduates .....51 Figure 4.3a. Assessment by enterprises of foundational knowledge and skills of graduates ..52 Figure 4.3b. Assessment by enterprises of different scales of foundational knowledge and skills of graduates....52 Figure 4.4. Assessment by enterprises of mechanical knowledge and skills of graduates ...... 54 Figure 4.5. Assessment by enterprises of electric/electronic knowledge and skills of graduates............... 55 Figure 4.6. Assessment of the vocational training program ................................................... 57 Figure 4.7. Assessment of vocational training teachers ......................................................... 58 Figure 4.8. Assessment of facilities and equipment for vocational training ........................... 59 Figure 4.9. Program collaboration at Vocational Training Schools ....................................... 61 Figure 4.10. Assessment of benefits of cooperation by schools and enterprises ..................... 64 Figure 4.11. Influence of cooperating programs on knowledge and skills of graduates ......... 66 Figure 4.12. Desire/willingness to cooperate of enterprises................................................... 68 x RATING SHEET xi CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background “Rapid development of human resources, especially high-quality human resources is the breakthrough of the country for 2011-2020” (Strategy of Vietnam socio-economic development from 2011 to 2020). “Human resources are the foundation and the most important advantage to develop the country in a sustainable way” (Strategy of Vietnam human resources development for 2011-2020). “Education and training is the determinant of human resources’ quality”. But “the quality of education is low in comparison with requirement of the country’s development in the new period....; professional capacity of graduates has not met job requirement” (Strategy for development of education and training for 2011-2020). “Attracting businesses to participate heavily in human resources development”, “Building regulations, mechanisms and policies to promote cohesion between training institution and businesses, expanding forms of training according to the orders of the business and attracting enterprises to participate more in human resources training, as well as institutionalizing the responsibility of businesses in human resources development” (Strategy of Vietnam human resources development for 2011-2020). “The current quality of training institutions has not really met the need of the labor market. There are many factors affecting training quality of schools. A major cause is the relationship between schools and businesses in the area of education has not been concerned in a highly effective way. The participation of enterprises in the training process is very limited” (MOIT, 2011). Although the recent development of the educational scale at vocational training levels better meets people’s learning needs, its quality does not satisfy the national socio-economic development requirements and is lower than that of many other countries in the region and over the world. Vocational training quality is still poor compared with the company demand in the new age (Thang & Huy, 2012). Vocational education does not receive appropriate attention. Specialization in the vocational training is not well implemented. For instance, the higher education size as well as the number of colleges and universities has developed rapidly while their human resources and physical facilities remain too limited to ensure high quality, making it impossible to meet social demand. 1 Therefore, a breakthrough in vocational education is needed to increase trained labor force. The vocational education system will be restructured and associated with real needs and practical labour use. It helps create local jobs, contributes to economic structure transfer, and labour restructuring in rural areas, thus contributing to poverty reduction. In other words, vocational training is closely connected to production and business labour use. Currently, there are 32 vocational schools under MOIT. Almost all of them supply many kinds of courses at many levels, from certificate to university degree. In 2012, with the total of 450,000 students, the number of newly-admitted students are 210,000, graduates are 150,000 (MOIT, 2012). However, training quality is very limited and can hardly enable trainees to handle new technology, national development demand and enterprises. According to survey results of JICA project in Vietnam with the enterprises’ feedbacks/comments on the graduates from some vocational schools under MOIT on such criteria as knowledge, technical skills, attitudes at work, it is recognized that there are many criteria that have not fully satisfied the expectations of enterprises (under 3 points – Using 5-point Likert’s Scale). One of the main reasons is that vocational schools and enterprises are not very well cooperated with each other. In fact, enterprises are seldom allowed to take part in some stages of vocational training such as indentifying the right jobs for training, designing curriculum, coordinating internship for trainees, etc. In this context, I have selected the topic: “Assessment of capability, knowledge and skill of vocational school graduates: A basis for enhanced industry-academe cooperation” as thesis topic for DBA course. As a vice rector of a professional university – Hanoi University of Industry, the author has recognized that research on the topic is realistic. The research results will not only help the university to overcome the above problem but also provide a basis for solutions for the improvements of vocational training quality in Vietnam.. To collect data for this study, I have implemented a survey with sample of vocational training colleges under Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade and an other ministry. In addition, I have also carried out another survey with sample of enterprises in order to get their feedbacks on quality of graduates from vocational training schools. 1.2. Problem Statement The current quality of graduates from vocational schools under MOIT has not really met the needs of the labor market. One of the major factors affecting the quality of graduates lies in an uneffective cooperation between schools and businesses and a limited participation of enterprises in the training process. 2 The objective of this research is to improve school – enterprise program collaboration in enhancing skills and knowledge of vocational school graduates. 1.3. Reseach Objectives This study explores the phenomena of collaboration between enterprises and vocational training schools in the context of economic and educational reforms in Vietnam. I analyse the phenomena of cooperation between enterprises and vocational training schools over recent years in Vietnam, particularly the issues and problems of training in vocational schools, and supplying quality human resourses for production in enterprises. I also propose some solutions to deal with problems happening in vocational schools in general and Hanoi University of Industry in specific. The result of this study provides more evidence for cooperation between enterprises and vocational training schools, and contributes to the growing literature in education, labor economics and human resources management by using the specific Vietnamese case. The study tries to fill the gap of research on cooperation between enterprises and vocational training schools in Vietnam. With these issues in mind, I conducted this research with four overall objectives: (1) to advance understanding of the cooperation between enterprises and vocational training schools and confirm the fact that the cooperation is very important for vocational schools in general and Hanoi University of Industry in specific; (2) to assess knowledge and skills of graduates from vocational schools and the impact of school-enterprise cooperation on knowledge and skills of graduates; (3) to indentify the major factors for developing program collaboration between enterprises and vocational training schools in order to improve vocational training quality; and (4) to propose some solutions for improving collaboration between enterprises and vocational training schools in the future. Moreover, the research results will contribute to the literature on education, labor economics and human resources management. 1.4. Research Questions With the above objectives, the following questions are addressed to meet the objectives of this dissertation: Q1. What are the problems encountered by the enterprises about the skills and knowledge of vocational school graduates in terms of (1) Desired skills for their position, (2) Knowledge required for their position, (3) Work attitude ? 3 Q2. What are the problems encountered by the schools about the skills and knowledge of vocational school graduates as needed by the industry in terms of (1) Curriculum Program, (2) Qualification of Faculty, (3) Machineries ? Q3. What is the existing collaboration prográm that exists between the school and industry in terms of (1) Internship, (2) Scholarship to students, (3) Donation/Grants for training, (4) Information exchange ? Q4. Which content of program collaboration affects the quality of graduates ? Q5. Is there any significant difference between the perception of different groups of respondent ? Q6. What program collaboration can be developed to improve the cooperation between school and industry ? Q7. How to improve the industry- academe cooperation? (solutions) To answer the above questions, I have collected published studies in various journals across a number of disciplines that have investigated the cooperation between vocational training schools and enterprises. By reviewing these studies, I have elaborated the advantages and disadvantages of the previous models. Furthermore, to get data for this study, survey questionnaires have been designed and implemented in 2012 with sample of vocational training schools under Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade and companies using graduates from these schools. The questionnaire concentrates on firm characteristics (e.g., ownership, industries), quality of graduates (e.g., knowledge and skills), and collaboration activities between vocational training schools and enterprises (e.g., designing curriculum, coordinating internship for trainees). 1.5. Hypotheses During the study and based on the research issues, the following hypotheses are outlined and tested by using statistical methods to answer the research questions and to orientate the survey and data collection. H1. Enterprises are not satisfied with the working capability, knowledge and skills of the graduates; H2. There are differences in the assessment of capability, knowledge and skills of graduates between different types of businesses (by ownership, by industry); H3. Enterprises are willing to cooperate with schools in training activities; H4. Vocational schools are not satisfied with the conditions to ensure the quality of vocational training; 4 H5. There is no differences between enterprises and schools in the assessment of the benefits of school-enterprise cooperation; H6. There is a link between the assessment of conditions to ensure training quality and school-enterprise cooperating activities. 1.6. Scope and Limitation of the Study Subjects of the study include vocational training schools of MOIT. Ministry of Industry and Trade is a specializing ministry that manages the most number of schools in Vietnam (except MOET, MOLISA which manage education and training, thus, they are directly in charge of some schools). The total number of schools under direct management of MOIT is 32 and that under the management of MOIT’s enterprises is 20. In the 2011-2012 school year, MOIT’s schools admitted a total of 42,000 official vocational students, accounting for 20% of all vocational students over the country (MOIT (2012), GDVT (2012)). The research instruments are mainly interviews and survey with questionnaires, along with in-depth research at a vocational training schools (Hanoi University of Industry) and interviews with a number of experts in training management of MOIT, GDVT. 10 large MOIT’s schools participate in the survey (accounting for 60% of the total number of students 202/363 thousands, 80% of all vocational students 32/41 thousands), including universities, colleges, vocational schools locating over of the country (in the North, Central and South) (Table 3.3). To compare the results, the author surveys 02 more vocational schools under the management of another ministry and another province (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Nghe An province) (Table 3.3). The study focuses on researching the development in cooperation between schools and enterprises to improve the quality of training (knowledge and skills of graduates). 233 enterprises in partnership with MOIT’s schools have been surveyed to assess the responsiveness to current production requirement of graduates from vocational schools and to receive their opinions about the cooperating program and the benefits of school-enterprise cooperation. In terms of graduates’ quality, their knowledge and skills (both foundational and professional one) play a part in the research. To obtain specific evaluation results from the enterprises, the author chooses to survey the knowledge and skills of graduates in Mechanics and Electrics/Electronics. These are 02 majors trained in all of 12 surveyed schools as well as most other vocational schools in Vietnam (GDVT, 2012). 5 The actual survey data (primary) are conducted during the period from 9/2012 to 3/2013. The secondary data are based on national statistics and reports made by the MOIT, MOET, MOLISA, GDVT between 2010-2012. Due to difficulties in identifying all enterprises using graduates from MOIT’s schools and other limitations, the sample of enterprises is mostly in the North of Vietnam so as to facilitate the process of data collection. Therefore, the representativeness of the sample will be limited. 1.7. Reseach Definitions - Quality of graduates: The level of knowledge, skills, attitudes (capability) of graduates to satisfy the employers. - Cooperation with enterprises: All activities that businesses participate (directly or indirectly) in the training cycle of schools from identification of training needs, design of training programs, preparation of training, recruitment, operation of training, training assessment, improvement in training and job assistance for students during studying and after graduation. - The vocational schools under the MOIT include: schools offering vocational courses (universitie, colleges, vocational colleges) under the direct management of MOIT. Schools under businesses of MOIT and schools which are under MOIT but do not provide vocational courses are not the subjects of this study. According to recent statistics, there have been 32 vocational schools under MOIT which are the subjects of this study. 1.8. Significance of the Study I have implemented this study in order to come closer to an appropriate linkage between training providers and companies of various sectors of the Vietnamese economy. One of the leading ideas is to examine the experiences of neighbouring countries and of such countries which have some cultural features in common with Vietnam as: Thailand, China and the Republic of Korea. Additionally, I have also referred to experiences from some other countries which are well-reputed for linking company-based and school-based technical and vocational education and training, namely Germany, France, and Great Britain. The results show how solutions and models adapted to the Vietnamese conditions might look like. More specifically, the significance of the research results will be addressed as followings: 6 (1) To advance understanding of the cooperation between enterprises and vocational training schools in order to help the colleges under MOIT to improve the quality of graduates; (2) To provide basis for improving cooperation with enterprises for other vocational training schools and colleges in Vietnam; (3) To provide reference documents for policy makers in issuing regulations, policies, and laws relating to vocational training in order to encourage enterprises to take part in vocational training; (4) To help enterprises understand their roles and responsibilities in vocational training and contribute to human resources development of Vietnam. In addition to that, the research results also show that enterprises might get more benefits if they participate in training process with vocational training schools and colleges; (5) To help students in vocational training schools and colleges recognize the necessity of practice and internship at enterprises. The acquired knowledge and skills at enterprises during the practice and internship duration are of great importance to students when they join in the labor market. The research results will contribute to the rapidly developing literature on vocational training and education, labor economics and human resources management. By examining and comparing different models of cooperation, the author has realized which models are more suitable for vocational training in Vietnam and other developing countries. The author also provides some key activities for the success of collaboration. Besides, a trend in cooperation between enterprises and vocational training schools in developing economies may be identified. For instance, foreign investment enterprises are often more active in cooperation with vocational training schools than other types of enterprise. 1.9. Structure of the Study The dissertation consists of five chapters. In chapter 1, the author introduces the research context, scope and objectives, research questions, significance of study, and provides the outline and the structure of the dissertation. Chapter 2 aims to advance understanding of the collaboration between enterprises and vocational training schools by reviewing the results of previous studies that have examined the cooperation between vocational training schools and firms. Major national and international journals, books (about Human resources management and Vocational education and training) and articles containing related 7 information and data have been scanned. After that, the author provides suggestions and recommendations for collaboration between enterprises and vocational training schools. Chapter 3 focuses on the methodology of this study. Sample of the study, research design, questionnaire design, data collection and treatment method have been addressed. I have implemented a survey with sample of ten vocational training schools under Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade and two other schools. Chapter 4 concentrates on presenting, analysing, interpreting the data and presenting the findings of this study. Finally, Chapter 5 has summarized key findings of the research, further explores and discusses an insight that is suggested for future research in chapter 2. This chapter provides a full picture of the collaboration between enterprises and vocational training schools. Then, the author draws some propositions that might happen for the collaboration between enterprises and vocational training schools in Vietnam in the future as well as presents the general conclusion of this dissertation based on the major findings. This chapter also summarizes the contributions of this dissertation to theoretical and managerial implications. Subsequently, this chapter discusses the limitations and presents directions and recommendations for future research. 1.10. Conclusion The purpose of this study is to indentify the major factors for developing industryacademe cooperations in order to improve knowledge and skills of graduates from vocational schools. This study has great practical significance for the development of human resources training. Its findings will be useful for not only schools under MOIT but other schools as well. Besides, this study provides scientific basis for management agencies in developing policies to encourage the development of relations between schools and businesses. A drawback of this study is that it focuses mainly on the issues from the perspective of the training schools but not from that of the businesses who will employ the graduates. This should be taken into consideration in future studies. 8