The Recruitment and Training Programme (RTP) is a joint project between the UeBZO, BHS Corrugated machine and plant engineering Co. Ltd. and the state vocational school Lao-German Technical College (LGTC) in order to train skilled workers in Lao PDR. The project was funded from 2016 until 2018 by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development as part of the develoPPP program.
BHS Corrugated is strongly committed to support education. In 2003 Ingrid Engel started the foundation “Angels for Children” together with her late husband and former BHS general manger and their sons and current general managers of BHS Corrugated, Christian and Lars Engel. Angels for Children supports school education in three governmental schools in Ban Sikeud and Ban Phang Heng, two villages on the outskirts of the Lao capital Vientiane.
Following the foundation’s commitment to schools, BHS Corrugated decided to support vocational training in Lao PDR together with the UeBZO in order to break the vicious circle of poor education and unemployment, and to recruit future skilled workers for the ASEAN region.
Within the RTP, Lao public secondary school graduates can receive vocational scholarships for a triennial vocational training free of charge to become industrial electricians or machine and plant operators. The training programs consist of combined German and Lao curricula. Apprentices gather general technical skills and theoretical knowledge in the LGTC and gather specific technical skills during in-company training in local and international partner companies. The RTP currently consists of 95 young adults, 22% of them are female.
Since 2016, trainers of the UeBZO have been supporting the adaption process of dual vocational training structures in Lao PDR by offering training courses for vocational school teachers, taking part in the training programs at the school, providing administrative support and by further developing the cooperation network. In addition, ten vocational school teachers and apprentices of the LGTC have taken part in further training courses at the UeBZO in Germany.
As part of the international business model adaption, the UEBZO aims to set up an inter-company training subsidiary in Lao PDR, which shall be focused on inter-company training in the electrical and mechanical field. By doing so, the UEBZO wants to become a service provider towards companies in Lao PDR and the ASEAN for recruiting skilled workers and the further training of employees.
BHS Corrugated aims to establish the project in Lao PDR as a long-term recruiting site of skilled workers for the service business in the ASEAN region and to ensure safe working conditions for all trainees together with local partner companies.
The LGTC aims to further adapt parts of the German dual vocational training system. By doing so the LGTC wants to develop its’ status as a lighthouse vocational school in Lao PDR on behalf of the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports, transferring best practice experiences also into other vocational schools throughout the country.
