VPET International Conference 2020

The Vocational and Professional Education and Training (VPET) International Conference 2020 is a worldwide gathering for VPET leaders, policymakers, academics, industry representatives and practitioners and was held on 15^th May 2020 online. Themed "Skilling for the Future", the Conference address prominent issues in VPET head on, share best practices and tactics for advancing VPET and skills development for a new era. 

In the beginning, Mr. Kevin Yeung Yun Hung (Secretary for Education, Education Bureau, HKSAR) gave an opening keynote.

The first keynote speaker was Mr. Olli-Pekka Heinonen (Director General, Finnish National Agency for Education, Finland) and is topic named “Six Seismic Shifts in VPET”.  He mentioned six seismic shifts as follows.

i)                    Education System to Learning System

ii)                  Mass Education to Personalized Learning

iii)                Individual Professionalism to Shared and Dynamic Professionalism

iv)                Recruitment-based HR to Learning Organizations

v)                  Fixed Mindset to Growth Mindset

vi)                Map to Compass

Lastly, he introduced the new vocational education and training roadmap.

The second keynote speaker was Prof. Sir Chris Husbands (Vice-Chancellor, Sheffield Hallam University) and his topic entitled “Making Vocational Education Work in a Changing World”.  Firstly, he quoted Andreas Schleicher (OECD) statement to explain the strategic challenge for twenty-first century economies. The statement is “You have two choices. You can go into the race to the bottom, lowering wages for low-skill jobs. Or you can try to win in innovation and competitiveness. In the long run, if you don’t have natural resources to sell, skills are the only way of competing.”

Because work is changing faster than education.  Prof. Chris Husbands proposed four practice steps to gear education systems below:

i)                    Put the individual learner at the centre

ii)                  Create multiple ‘pathways to prosperity’

iii)                Build connections between governments, employers and education institutions

iv)                Ensure that accountability measures drive flexibilities

Finally, Prof. Chris Husbands discussed seven conditions for success VPET.

i)                    Understand that the future economy will be different

ii)                  Recognize that basic skills are essential

iii)                Co-design learning between employers and educational institutions

iv)                Flexibilities are required on all sides with strong partnerships, especially for small employers

v)                  Make mistakes and learn from them

vi)                Experience is not learning. Learning in the workplace needs to be actively planned and managed.

vii)              Put learners at the centre

After break, Plenary Session named “Applied Education & Future Skills in the Digital Era”.

Prof. Christina Hong (President, THEi, VTC) is Convenor, and Panel Members included Prof. Philipp Gonon (Director of the Institute of Education , University of Zurich, Switzerland), Dr. Sean Gallagher (Director, Centre for the New Workforce, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia) and Mr. Andrew Chong (Chairman, Institute of Technical Education, Singapore)

In Afternoon Session – Thematic Session entitled “Why Workplace Training Counts”, Mr. Eric Pang Yiu Hung (Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services, EMSD, HKSAR) was convenor and the panel members included Mr. Josh Williams (Principal International Consultant, Skills International, New Zealand), Mr. Kevin O’Brien (Chief Executive, The Jardine Engineering Corporation Limited, HK), Mr. Carl-Fredik Zachrisson (Managing Director, Scania (HK) Limited) and Mr. Patrick Wong (Executive General Manager, Operations Support, HAECO, HK).

Mr. Eric Pang Yiu Hung (Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services, EMSD, HKSAR) shared over 6000 graduates from EMSD’s Apprentice Training Scheme since 1955.  Then he mentioned their major parties including Education Providers, Consultants, Employers and Trainees.  

Mr. Josh Williams (Principal International Consultant, Skills International, New Zealand) shared their Skills Group including “Career Transitions & Outplacement Service”, “Leadership & Management Public & In-house Training”, “Learning Design, e-learning & LMS Support”, “Consultancy and Coaching”, “Technical Training”, “Employee Assistance Programmes/Wellness and Culture” and “Vocational Education Consultancy”.  

Mr. Patrick Wong (Executive General Manager, Operations Support, HAECO, HK) briefed HAECO Trainee Programme.  One of main features named C-Fu concept that using small class on-the-job training.  For example, Aircraft Maintenance Mechanic Trainee (Registered Apprentice Scheme) – part-time Higher Diploma or part-time Diploma in Vocational Education (DVE) course for 2-3 years.  For maintenance mechanic trainee programmes, it needed 2.5-month of classroom training, 2.5-month of workshop practical training and 7-month of on-the-job training (Airframe Services).

Mr. Carl-Fredik Zachrisson (Managing Director, Scania (HK) Limited) introduced their Apprenticeship Program for commercial vehicle training equipment from 15 months to 4 years.

Mr. Kevin O’Brien (Chief Executive, The Jardine Engineering Corporation Limited, HK) briefed the practical challenges as follows:

i)                    Tradeoff of Efficiency

ii)                  Aging Population

iii)                More Educated Population

iv)                Costly Training Facilities

v)                  Inadequate Adoption of Latest Industry Technology

However, he also mentioned opportunities below:

i)                    Age of Digital Transformation (youth are “tech ready”)

ii)                  Solid Hands-on Experience Backed Up by Theoretical Knowledge

He concluded that future proofing the “Trades” that not for “Trade + Tech” but “Trade Ready Tech” and “Theory + Experience + Technology” for JEC workplace training.

The second Thematic Session was “Skills Change Lives – Fostering Talent at Young Age”.  Mr. Jeff Streeter (Director, The British Council, HK) was convenor and panel members included Ms. Grace Shu (VP, Education, Corporate Social Responsibility, IBM Corporationi, USA), Ms. Low Khah Gek (CEO, Institute of Technical Education, Singapore), Mr. David Hoey (CEO, WorldSkills International), Mr. John Morrison (Principal, Lincoin University Technical College, UK) and Mr. Jerry Kwok (Principal, Youth College (International) VTC, HK).

In the beginning, Mr. Jeff Streeter (Director, The British Council, HK) showed the OECD future education video to us.

Ms. Grace Shu (VP, Education, Corporate Social Responsibility, IBM Corporationi, USA) shared her views on digital education.

Ms. Low Khah Gek (CEO, Institute of Technical Education, Singapore) discussed the impact of COVID-19 on Education and Training. Post-Covid-19 cause online learning increasing, virtual meetings more popular, Analytics and AI to customer learning but blurring lines of FT & PT students learning, as well as, growing teachers’ competencies.

Mr. John Morrison (Principal, Lincoin University Technical College, UK) introduced their training program using game. 

Mr. David Hoey (CEO, WorldSkills International) showed the video named “Skills Change Lives”.

Mr. Jerry Kwok (Principal, Youth College (International) VTC, HK) briefed their three steps to Progressive Approach of Learning.

i)                    Fundamental Skills & Knowledge (Step 1)

ii)                  Mini-projects covering Step 1, Project Management and Problem-solving Skills

iii)                Authentic Industry-related Project that integrating different Skills & Knowledge

The last Thematic Session named “AI, Data Analytics, Cybersecurity…Are Digital Skills Enough for Workplace?” and Mr. Tony Tai Chark-tong (Chairman, VTC, HK) was convenor.  Panel member included Ms. Sophia Leung (Managing Director, Head of Governance, Risk & Control for Cybersecurity & Technology Controls and Firmwide Technology Control Manager, JP Morgan Chase, HK), Mr. Thomas Leubner (Head of Global Learning and Education, Siemens, Germany), Mr. Ron Tam (Co-founder, Co-founder, ClinicOne, HK) and Mr. Peter Liu (Managing Director, Asianet Consultants Limited).

Mr. Thomas Leubner (Head of Global Learning and Education, Siemens, Germany) shared his topic “VPET – Are digital skills enough for the workplace”. Key skills identified in fields of “Fostering customer value creation”, “Applying digital technologies”, “Living entrepreneurship”, “Driving innovation and learning”, “Collaborating a new way” and “Business in a new age”. 

Ms. Sophia Leung (Managing Director, JP Morgan Chase, HK) briefed some analytic data about technologist, annual technology budget, etc. for predicting future education need.

Mr. Ron Tam (Co-founder, Co-founder, ClinicOne, HK) was alumni of VTC and then he continued study and got Computer Science degree in university.  He shared his startup experience to us.

The last session was Reflection Session named “Who’s Driving VPET 2020 and Beyond?” Dr. Carrie Yau (Executive Director, VTC, HK) chaired this session. Mr. Robo Yeung (R&D Engineer, ASM Technology HK Ltd.) and Ms. Pearl So Ka Yu (WorldSkills Champions Trust – Representative for Asia, WorldSkills International) shared their experience.

At the end, Dr. Carrie Yau (Executive Director, VTC, HK) concluded we all led VPET for future education in 2030.

Reference:

VPET 2020 - https://vpet2020.hk/