Ovec unveils tri-nation trades course

The Office of the Vocational Education Commission (Ovec) has started a tri-nation vocational-education venture, helping to prepare Thai vocational graduates for the Asean Economic Community (AEC) which launches at the end of this year.

Chaipreuk Sereerak, Ovec’s secretarygeneral, said the co-vocational programme, a joint venture between Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, will help prepare vocational graduates to work anywhere in the single Asean market, which will usher in freedom of movement for workers, when the AEC takes effect.

The project is called Academic Cooperation between Thailand, Vietnam and Laos PDR in Readiness for the Asean Economic Community. It aims to include Cambodia as the programme expands in future.

The students who join the programme will receive three degrees from each country, he said.

There are 27 students joining the programme: 12 Thai, eight Vietnamese and seven Laotian, said Mr Chaipreuk, adding Ovec hoped to increase the number of Thai students next term.

However, Thai students will need to improve their English skills first because students have to study in each country for a year, he said.

The secretary-general said students from the programme are likely to get highpaid jobs as soon as they acquire their degrees, thanks to growing economies in Asean, and growing demand for vocational workers.

Meanwhile, Ovec has assigned vocational colleges in border areas to form a partnership with colleges from neighbouring countries such as Kampong Chheuteal College in Cambodia, Dawei Technical College in Myanmar, and Vinh University of Technology Education in Vietnam.

Mr Chaipreuk said a shortage of bluecollar workers was a problem common to member countries as vocational education isn’t popular among young students, despite demand for such positions in the labour market. Thailand was now in a better position than others in terms of labour skills, he said.

Recently, Ovec sent more than 60 technical students from Nan Technical College and Lampang Technical College to work with the subcontractor of the Hongsa power plant in Laos under a one-year contract.

Nouphanh Outsa, head of the Laos Department of Technical and Vocational Education, said that Laos faces a shortage of skilled workers and needs to bring in foreign labour to supply the market. He thinks the cooperative venture could help Laos to turn out more skilled workers.