Study Tour to Germany April 2023
Thai & Malaysian delegation visits Dortmund
From 24 to 28 April 2023, the TU Dortmund University project team welcomed a 16-member delegation from Thailand and Malaysia to Dortmund. The delegation included Thai representatives from the National Council for Higher Education Research and Innovation Policy (NXPO), the Vocational Education and Training Commission (OVEC), and three of our Thai partner technical universities (Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna (RMUTL), Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi (RMUTT) and King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB). In addition to two representatives from the Malaysian University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), the delegation included representatives of the Thai private sector from Michelin Siam and Betagro, who are also participants in the School in Factory Programme.
The Study Tour to Germany – a central project aspect
The study tour was – and is – an essential part of the ProWoThai project. TVET stakeholders (researchers, education policy makers, teachers and company representatives) from Thailand and Malaysia spent five days in Dortmund. The aim was to give them the opportunity to explore the German TVET system, its research institutions, such as the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), as well as the learning sites of companies, vocational schools and training centres of the German dual system. Throughout the study tour, the delegates were able to gain a deeper insight into the establishment of vocational education as a scientific discipline.
During visits to various places of learning, such as the Robert Bosch Vocational College and the Chamber of Skilled Crafts in Dortmund, there were lively discussions about school design and cooperation between places of learning in the dual system, complemented by useful insights into (practical) teaching.
In order to shed sufficient light on the entrepreneurial side and to offer the opportunity for exchange, the delegation was able to visit the Dortmund-based companies adesso and WILO. Of particular interest here was their role as training companies, focusing on the structure of vocational training and framework conditions within each company. Numerous educational offers at adesso were discussed and contacts were exchanged at the end of the discussion.
A visit to UNESCO/UNEVOC and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) in Bonn rounded off the study tour. Vocational education and training research as a scientific discipline dominated the agenda.