About
Growing your future.
It all began with a training program.
With the success of the pilot training program opportunities to expand the horticulture training at Hau Giang Community College in the Mekong, will eventually broaden to offer other trade-based training in the region. This is important because formal vocational training is absent from South-East Asia, but it is very much needed.
Foundation meeting between Hau Giang Community College and Swinburne University of Technology
Vocational Training South-East Asia (VTSEA) was set up in 2018 as a charity foundation that brokers support from governments and education bodies, to deliver trade-based training to disadvantaged students and to seek out employment opportunities for these students. VTSEA was set up on the back of a successful pilot training program in Horticulture at the Social Support Centre in Da Nang, Vietnam.
This training program was pioneered by the highly acclaimed Landscape Architect Don Thomson with support from Swinburne University of Technology. The success of the pilot training program has opened opportunities to expand the horticulture training at Hau Giang Community College in the Mekong, and to broaden the offer to other trade-based training in the region. This is important because formal vocational training is absent from South-East Asia, but it is very much needed.
The pilot training program currently teaches 8 disadvantaged students from Da Nang in Horticulture. The course was derived from the Australian Certificate 2 in Horticulture which has been modified to suit the Vietnamese landscape and translated into Vietnamese. The course is taught once a fortnight from Swinburne Wantirna Campus via Skype into a classroom set up at the Social Support Centre in Da Nang. It is expected that the 8 students will complete the course by the end of 2022 and then progress with further Horticulture studies and ultimately gain employment in the horticulture industry.
Our Pilot program students with VTSEA Founder Don Thomson
The burgeoning tourism industry along the South China Sea promises to provide strong employment opportunities for these students. Some of these students may also become the future teachers in horticulture in this part of the world.
The pilot training program caught the attention of the heads of the Hau Giang Community College in 2019 and they expressed a keen interest in starting horticulture training at their college in partnership with Swinburne University of Technology and VTSEA. In this partnership Hau Giang Community College would provide classrooms, computers and student accommodation, and Swinburne University of Technology would provide the teachers and the teaching resources to deliver a horticulture course equivalent to the Australian Certificate 2. VTSEA is working hard to broker the right partnership between the two education bodies, and the Australian and Vietnamese governments.
Swinburnes Stewart Detez and HGCC Dean Mr Nguyen Huu Van
VTSEA looks forward to delivering a successful non accredited horticulture course at Hau Giang College from 2023 which will provide an excellent training template for other trade-based training in this region.
VTSEA will be working with the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) and the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in Vietnam as well as SUT and HGCC to gain accreditation for the horticulture course.
VTSEA will look to broaden its training network to deliver non accredited training in carpentry, plumbing, electrical and hospitality. VTSEA has a clear goal to gain accreditation for these courses in the future.
Our Mission
To alleviate poverty by educating disadvantaged people across South-East Asia in trade-based skills including horticulture, and then to find them employment.
Meet Our Board
Stewart Detez
Manager of Horticulture and Environmental Technologies at Swinburne University of Technology.
Trinh Nguyen Thi Mai
International Collaboration and Science Research Office at Hau Giang Community College.
Publicity.
For further information about the VTSEA, please contact Don Thomson on +61 419 544 376
Don Thomson and Stewart Detez discuss Horticulture in Vietnam on THE FRONT GARDEN
With a course currently being taught to a class of 8 students at the DaNang Social Support Centre by Swinburne’s Stewart Detez (delivered via Skype fortnightly), the students are currently on course to complete their studies by the end of 2021. Following the success of this course, Don and Stewart have met with Hau Giang College to introduce a course in Horticulture.