Nay Pyi Taw [ACTED News] – Due to many years of conflict, the East-West corridor between Thailand and Myanmar has been particularly neglected: the local population needs more skills, to meet the job market needs and to participate in the economic boom. In this specific area, there is the potential to create one million jobs.
Thailand’s well developed technical education and vocational training system has the capacity and know-how to support its neighbour in this training process. Therefore, the Department of Technical and Vocational Education of the Ministry of Science and Technology in Myanmar, and the Office of the Vocational Education Commission under the Ministry of Education in Thailand, signed a framework of cooperation in the field of Technical Education and Vocational Training on May 22nd.
The two countries will cooperate in the medium and long-term on programs to promote the mobility of teaching staff and students. . They will also cooperate on technical education and vocational training curriculum development and the implementation of quality assurance processes and standards; on accreditation of Technical Education and Vocational Training certificates issued by the respective countries; on direct linkages between Technical Education and Vocational Training institutions along the Thailand-Myanmar border, in areas such as personnel and student exchanges, curriculum development and staff training; and, finally, they will cooperate on policy and systems innovation.
ACTED teams facilitated the development of the cooperation agreement between the countries with support from the European Union and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.