Dr Craig Thomson, Principal of Adam Smith College, gave a warm welcome to a delegation of academics from the Vocational College of Agricultural Mechanics (VCAM) from the city of Hanoi, Vietnam, when they visited Scotland recently.
The purpose of the visit was to strengthen links between the organisations and explore where key areas of the Scottish curriculum could be made relevant to the needs of the Vietnamese economy.
The visit allowed Adam Smith College to demonstrate how it could share best practices of effectively introducing relevant training programmes, targeted within the framework of sustainability and current demands. The Vietnam College sector has a clear strategy to partner with International Educational Institutions around the world, to develop ‘World Class Training’ for the young people of Vietnam and South East Asia.
The delegation, consisted of Mr Nguyen, Rector, Mr Pham, Vice Rector, and Ms Bach, International Co-operation Officer, who are all from the VCAM and responsible for a major ‘Capacity Building Project’ in Automotives and Electrical Engineering curriculum, two important areas to meet the training needs of Vietnam.
This area was of particular interest to the delegates as Vietnam is very much a transitional economy, having just moved into being classed as a ‘Middle Income Country’, with strong aspirations for future growth.
Dr Craig Thomson, Principal of Adam Smith College, spoke of the key role that education and training plays within the social and economic framework of Scottish society and how the College works in partnership with businesses to maintain developments within the curriculum that keep abreast of the ever changing work place.