Status of training program management of part time courses of TUAF basis for mangement regulation policies

STATUS OF TRAINING PROGRAM MANAGEMENT OF PART-TIME COURSES OF TUAF: BASIS FOR MANAGEMENT REGULATION POLICIES ___________________________ A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the

STATUS OF TRAINING PROGRAM MANAGEMENT OF PART-TIME

COURSES OF TUAF: BASIS FOR MANAGEMENT

REGULATION POLICIES

_

A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines

in Collaboration with Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Writing a doctoral dissertation is a gratifying but difficult and sometimes nerve wrecking endeavor that only few engaged in because it requires a lot of sacrifices and hard work from the researcher However, at the end of the task, one experiences a wonderful feeling of joy, happiness, relief and fulfilment

The researcher would like to extend his sincerest gratitude and thanks

to the following people who were very instrumental in the fulfilment of this research study

Dr Cecilia N Gascon, President of the Southern Luzon State University in the Republic of the Philippines, for her untiring effort and belief that this collaboration is possible thus enabling us to pursue the PhD.EdM degree;

Dr Dang Kim Vui, President of Thai Nguyen University in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, for his untiring effort and belief that this collaboration is possible thus enabling us to pursue the PhD.EdM degree

Dr Nguyen Tuan Anh, Ph.D., former Director of the International Training Center, Thai Nguyen College of Agriculture and Forestry - Thai Nguyen University of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, for his enormous pursuit to provide the Vietnamese people an opportunity to grow through education;

Dr Apolonia A Espinosa, his adviser, for the guidance and endless support for the improvement of this study

Dr Cecilia N Gascon, Dr Teresita V de la Cruz, Dr Walberto A Macaraan, Dr Bella R Muello, and Dr Leonisa O Bernardo, who composed

the Oral Defense Committee, for their suggestions, comments and corrections

to improve this study;

ITC staff, for enthusiasm help and providing the necessary research

materials;

His family and friends, for the love and support in one way or the other;

And to all who have contributed to make this study a success

HVC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

TITLE PAGE ……… i

APPROVAL SHEET ……… ii

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ……… iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ……… iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……… vi

LIST OF TABLES ……… viii

LIST OF FIGURES ……… x

LIST OF APPENDICES ……… xi

ABSTRACT ……… xii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ……… 1

Background of the Study ……… 3

Objectives of the Study ……… 15

Hypothesis ……… 16

Significance of the Study ……… 16

Scope and Limitations of the Study ……… 19

Definition of Terms ……… 19

II REVIEW OF LITERATURE ……… 22

Research Paradigm ….……….… 66

III METHODOLOGY ……… 68

Locale of the Study……… 68

Research Design ……… ……… 68

Population, Sample Size and Sampling Technique …… 68

Research Instrument ……… 71

Data Gathering Procedure ……… 72

Statistical Treatment ……… …….…… 72

IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ……… 75

Status of Part-Time Training Programs of TUAF ……… 75

Curricula of Part-Time Training Programs ……… 81

Graduated Student’s Perceptions between Provinces… 84 Management Regulation Policy for Part-Time Training Program of Thai Nguyen University College of Agriculture and Forestry ……… …… 109

V SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ……… 113

Summary of Findings ……… 113

Conclusions ……… 116

Recommendations ……… 117

REFERENCES …….………… …… ……… 119

APPENDICES ……… 124

CURRICULUM VITAE ……… 141

LIST OF TABLES

1 Population of Graduate Students ……… 69

4 Weighted Mean of Students and Instructor’s Opinions

5 Weighted Mean of Student’s Opinions about Teaching

6 Weighted Mean of Instructor’s Opinions about Learning

7 Weighted Mean of Students, Instructors and Local

Leader’s Opinions about Curricula of Part-Time Training

8 Weighted Mean Distribution of Students’ Perceptions on

Part-time Training Programs by Provinces ……… 84

9 Anova Result in Graduated Student’s Perception by

10 Post Hoc Multiple Analyses of Student’s Perception of Ha

Giang Province with Other Nine Provinces on Training

11 Weighted Mean of Students’ Perceptions on Part-Time

Training Programs by Professional Majors ……… 89

12 Anova Results of Student Perceptions by Majors ………… 90

13 Post Hoc Multiple Analysis of Student’s Perception About

Training Facilities by Majors ……… 91

14 Weighted Mean of Instructor’s Perceptions by Professional

15 Anova Analyses of Instructor’s Perceptions by Majors …… 94

16 Post Hoc Multiple Analyses of Instructor’s Perception

TABLE PAGE

17 Post Hoc Multiple Analyses of Instructor’s Perception

About Learning Activities ……… 96

18 Post Hoc Multiple Analyses of Instructor’s Perception

21 Post Hoc Multiple Analyses of Local Leader’s Perception

22 Comparison on Students’ and Instructors’ Perceptions on

Part-Time Training Programs ……… 102

23 Chi-square Test of Homogeneity on Instructor’s and

24 Comparisons between Students’ and Leaders’ Opinions

about Curricula by Provinces ……… 105

25 Chi-Square of Student’s and Instructors’ Perception on

26 Chi-Square of Student’s, Instructor’s, and Local Leader’s

LIST OF FIGURE

LIST OF APPENDICES

A The Regulations and Policies Related to Part-Time

ABSTRACT

Title of Research : STATUS OF TRAINING PROGRAM

MANAGEMENT OF PART TIME COURSES OF TUAF: BASIS FOR MANAGEMENT REGULATION POLICIES

Degree Conferred : DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATIONAL

MANAGEMENT Name and Address

of Institution

: Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines and Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Adviser : Dr Apolonia A Espinosa

Year Written : 2013 - 2014

The study generally aims to investigate the current status of part-time training programs of TUAF to enhance the management regulation policies Specifically, it aims to: determine the present status on the management of the part-time training programs of TUAF as perceived by the respondents in terms of: training facilities, teaching and learning activities, and curricula; find out if there is any significant difference in the perception of the respondents by province on the current status of the part-time training programs of TUAF in terms of training facilities, teaching and learning activities, and curricula; and prepare a management regulation policy The descriptive survey method was used in conducting this study using questionnaire as the main instrument The respondents were selected by random sample method composed of 304 out

of 1,267 graduated student’s respondents were selected of 304 from 1,267

118 Instructors, 30 Local leaders per province from districts, and 300 from Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Department of Natural

Resource and Environment Management The researcher used the following instruments such as questionnaires, direct interview, and question list to gather the needed data Weighted mean, Chi-square test of homogeneity, and one way ANOVA were used to analyze data

Based on the findings, it was concluded that training facilities such as library and activity areas need improvement to meet social and economic development demands Most lecturers do not explain difficult matters, especially practical and problem solving knowledge and skills, and job’s direction for them The lecturers are also having difficulty in checking and testing student’s performance during their teaching activities Moreover, students do not have enough time to prepare for their lessons before going to classes because they have work and they are married The present curriculum of part-time training programs of TUAF are good and is closely related to socio-economic development demands in the regions, but requires more focus on group’s working and problem solving knowledge and skills, communication skills, and the opportunity of selecting subjects to supply specific training demands of students in different provinces The three sets of respondents’ answers were observed to have significant difference in certain areas and no difference in others for they come from three different provinces that have different needs and demands in the part-time training program of TUAF Finally, the management regulation policy constructed based on the results of the data gathered in this study is now ready for implementation

The conclusions drawn from the research results the dissertation suggests that authorized institutions should be concerned for the development

of these training programs by implementing the management regulation policy

created in this study so as to build up social support and encourage policies for students of part-time training programs, especially for students who are working in communes of remote, boarding, island, and ethnic people group’s regions Provincial leaders should support provincial training centers to improve their training infrastructure by determining exactly training majors to meet their specific socio-economic development demands in each truth development stage The Ministry of Education and Training may build up specific student’s affair regulation for part-time training programs by reviewing and innovating present management regulation policies for them to be more appropriate, concrete and easy to apply Finally, Universities in Vietnam should develop training curricula which are more flexible to meet specific demands of each province Among of that should improve practical and job’s knowledge and skills, enhancement of ability and responsibility of departments of controlling, checking and educational quality insurance They should likewise cooperate if they organize part-time courses in the same provincial training center

Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

For generations, Vietnam has been recognized as a country with thousands

of years of culture and of people who have a traditional fondness of learning Those who are knowledgeable and capable have always been praised and extolled through folk songs and allegories, from generation to generation to remind the future generations Those who achieved high grades were named in the rolls of honor in the Temple of Literature in Hanoi or the temples and communal houses in their motherlands to be worshiped and remembered forever

Vietnam is actively implementing modernization and industrialization strategy that requires high quality human resource Besides, since 2010 the Government of Vietnam has promoted the national goal program about new rural building program,

in which the training of qualified human resources is considered the most important Hence, the focus and investment is on the part-time training model, particularly in the fields that relate to agriculture, forestry and fisheries because more than 70% of the population are living and working in those fields

Particularly, along with the development of the market economy and international integration, Vietnam’s formal accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) with commitments to open the higher education market have put direct pressure to force us to change our thinking on education and training One of the obvious forms of evidence is that we need to understand the concept of the education market in its full meaning Therefore, Vietnam has defined the education innovation policy as a fundamental and comprehensive improvement

However, education and training in Vietnam today retains a large gap between training and application, between supply and demand for human resources,

or in other words, effectiveness of training is low This "disease" has been mentioned for tens of years, since the Government began referring to the policy of social education, but so far it has not been overcome, if not tending to worsen under the pressure of international integration The said “disease" is a dual result of an education system which not only is heavy on vainglory, formal examination competition and degree preference, as in feudal times but also reflects the retreat of education, separating education from community needs and practical business like a model practiced by the former Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Moreover, this

"disease" has caused a serious imbalance in the structure of educated human resources which has long been known as the state of "teacher redundancies and worker shortage” This refers to a circumstance where many university graduates cannot get jobs while business sectors severely lack workers trained in accordance with their needs, especially in the rural areas, mountainous areas, islands, and difficult areas, where most of the graduates do not want to work

Therefore, much importance has always been invested in education, by the leaders of Vietnam The 11th National Congress of Vietnamese Communist Party affirmed: "The development of education and training together with the development

of science and technology is a top national policy.", and emphasized:

"comprehensively innovate the basic education of Vietnam in the direction of standardization, modernization, socialization, democratization and international integration."

First of all, they need to identify training objectives, changing from "offer training on whatever we have” to "offer training on what society needs" to meet the demands of society, specifically, they should pay attention to the demands for development of high quality human resources for the rural, mountainous, island and

disadvantaged areas Together with full-time, part-time education is considered to be the most effective, influential and feasible because this form of training will enable the local staff to take classes while working at the same time to improve their qualifications

Background of the Study

Along with the development of Vietnam, the education system has several achievements However, there still exist some weaknesses and inadequacies The quality of education has not met the demands of society or encouraged self-study, creativeness and activeness of learners The current training programs do not meet the socio-economic development demands in the whole country

The Secretary General of Vietnam, Mr Nguyen Phu Trong said at the 6thmeeting of the 11th National Congress of Vietnamese Communist Party that “so far, the education and training of Vietnam has not been prioritized There even exist lots

of inadequacies and weaknesses, especially in educational quality, management activities, mechanism of creating human resources and development motivations” Some of the weaknesses and inadequacies mentioned in the 9th and 10th National Congresses of Vietnamese Communist Party include: the focus is on quantity rather than the quality of learners; that the curricula are inappropriate and methodologies are outdated and not practical; that quality assurance is ignored, especially the attitude, ethics and lifestyle of the learners; that the national education system is not synchronous and equal; that the education management at state level is still weak and the educational management mechanism is slowly innovated; that the educational managing staff and teachers have low ethics and capacity; that the role

of educational socialization and international cooperation in education are not fully understood; that the education innovation is slow and educational science has not been paid proper action to among others

The Resolution of the 11th National Congress of Vietnamese Communist Party determined points of view for basic and global reform of educational system as follows:

Firstly, education and training development being placed a top

national policy is an achievement of the Party, government and all of people Therefore, the leadership of the Party, mobility of all political system, and the promotion of contribution of all people to career education and training development must be improved

Secondly, education and training development should achieve the

objective to build education system having characteristics of nationality, modernization, to grasp thoroughly theory must go together with practice, to ground argument in fact, close combination between schools with families and society, to meet national human resource development, especially high quality human resource, to contribute in building learning society, to create opportunities for all people can take part in learning and long life learning

Thirdly, investment for education is investment for development;

diversifying investment resources for education and training and prioritizing it

in national fund allocation for education and training development in difficult regions, for compulsory education and high quality human resource training should be conducted The education and training development must have a strong attachment to socio-economic development, consolidation of national defense and security, progress of science and technology, and international integration

Fourthly, extend of international cooperation in education and training

should be based on national character’s conservation and promotion, to hold fast to independent, sovereignty, and socialist direction

There are basic strategy dimensions of education and training development in Vietnam that can be considered as educational policies also: 1- Improving quality, effectiveness of education and training; 2 - Extending educational scale; 3- Investment priority for education; 4- Implementing social justice in education; 5- Socializing educational career; 6- Enhancing international co-operation in education

Currently, more than 70% of the population lives in the countryside and their main incomes are from agricultural, forestry and fishery activities The gap between the income and economic status of those in the countryside and those in the city is warningly big In addition, recent research reveals that around 80%-90% of the students enrolled in regular programs stay and work in the cities after their graduation The rest of the graduates, who return to their motherland, are of course not enough, particularly in the remote and disadvantaged areas Continuing education is required in order to improve human resource in these regions

The part-time model of training now is very important as it provides students with more opportunities to enroll in academic programs where they do not have to travel or move to the cities, which are far away from their motherland This training more should be invested and focused more in order for it to significantly contribute to the development and success of the education system of Vietnam From 2008, Vietnam began implementing rural modernization and industrialization that caused concerns and supports to improve human resource for rural regions In 2010, Vietnam has begun implementing the New Rural Strategy according to Decision number 800, June 04th, 2010 justified by the Prime Minister This strategy has 19 criteria, and one of the most important criteria is human resource development for rural regions with priority for disadvantaged villages in remote zones With the current

conditions of Northern mountainous provinces, part-time training type plays a very important role for human resource development

TUAF is one of the members of Thai Nguyen University It started as the College of Agricultural Technology number 3 in 1970 In 1994, under the decision No 31/CP of the Prime Minister of Vietnamese government, it became Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry Since its foundation, TUAF has been distinguished by its ability to maintain a higher standard of education and outstanding research in the North of Vietnam The mission of the university includes offering higher education in agriculture, forestry, natural resource and environment management, agricultural economics and rural development in the Northern Mountainous Region of Vietnam; and conducting research and technology transfer in the fields of agriculture, forestry, natural resources and environment management in order to improve socio-economics in the region

Since its establishment day, the university has developed continuously and confirmed its important role to provide human resources with a high level of professional knowledge and skills for not only the Northern Mountainous region but also for other regions across the whole country Up to June 2013, the University has provided about 30,000 bachelors; 1,500 masters and over 40 doctoral students in the fields of agriculture, forestry, natural resources and environment management, agricultural economics and rural development Of the graduates, over 40% came from ethnic people groups and remote regions

At present, the university is delivering 21 professional majors at BSc level to 2,000 students per year, 7 professional majors at MSc level and 8 professional majors at PhD Level There are six professional faculties with a large number of teachers, and they are also managing five professional majors, which have the highest number of students of part-time training courses of the university The

Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science has 57 teachers and manages majors of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science Teacher’s numbers for the other faculties are: the Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment: 46; Faculty of Agronomy: 43; Faculty of Forestry: 43; Faculty of Economics and Rural Development: 37, and Faculty of Biology and Food Technology: 36 Besides, the university had got also the Faculty of Basic Science with staff of 44

In addition, TUAF is a center of research and technology transfer in the fields

of agriculture, forestry, natural resource and environment management In order to implement these duties, the university established the following research centers: Institute of Life Science, Center for Agricultural Experimentation and Practice, Agriculture and Forestry Research and Development Center for the Northern Mountainous Region, Center for Resources and Environment in the Mountainous Region, Northern Mountainous Forestry Research Center, Research Center for Temperate Fruit Crops, and Center for Foreign Language and Applied Informatics These centers provide experimental and practical opportunities for students to conduct scientific research and practical application The staff of TUAF comprises

518 officers, of which the teaching staff number 313

In order to develop international training programs, the university has an advanced education program This program in the field of Environment Science and Management has been imported from the University of California at Davis At the same time, the university has also improved international cooperation in education The International Training Center of the University has been established in 2008 At present, the Center has cooperation agreements with universities from China, the Philippines, Australia, and Korea

Together with full-time training programs, the part-time training programs play

an important role in training activities of the university

According to Decision No 42 of Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam, the provincial People Committees will determine professional majors for their province based on socio-economic development demands and investigated results about training needs After that they will offer training task for relative training foundations of the provinces, which has the right to cooperate with selected universities Thus, the selected universities have to have available training curricula and training outputs The TUAF have 32 training cooperative foundations in 19 provinces Among which there are 3 foundations being stopped with different reasons, and one new foundation is Agricultural and Industrial Technical School of Quang Binh province

According to the cooperation contracts, provincial People’s Committees choose training majors based on their socio-economic development demands, the provincial training centers provide the training infrastructure and prepare the needed teaching-learning requirements, while the TUAF develops the training curricula and appoints the teachers In order to provide comfortable conditions for learners who are working in communes and districts, most part-time training courses are located in their provinces

The total quantity of students in part-time training courses of TUAF is about 6,000 located in 32 cooperative training centers in 19 provinces There are 5 provinces having annual quantity of training students is over 400 namely Ha Giang, Phu Tho, Yen Bai, Cao Bang, and Son La All of these provinces are Northern mountainous provinces (to see the map) Meanwhile the quantity of students of full-time training courses at the University from each this province is about 100 - 150 That proves that the training needs in Northern mountainous region is high, and the Part-time training type is suitable and needed for these provinces That requires the Vietnamese Government and relative ministries to build up available support policies for learners from mountainous and difficult-to-reach provinces, because their salary is

too low Anyhow, the Ministry of Education and Training should improve management regulations policies for Part-time training type to be more flexible, suitable, and simple to meet training needs in these provinces

In Northern mountainous provinces, the agricultural and forestry sector comprise the largest component among all economic components The soil and climate conditions there favor agricultural and forestry production but income from this sector is still too low, so that all of the provinces that wish to develop agricultural and forestry production with focus on increasing its productivity and quality step by step to build up the production of commodities That requires high quality of human resources in this field, and it requires relative professional majors for selection such as: Agro-forestry, Land Management, Crop Science, and Silviculture

The training curricula of TUAF were built up basing on investigation results of socio-economic development needs and natural conditions of Northern Mountainous provinces So far all of Northern Mountainous provinces selected the TUAF for training cooperation in the field of agriculture, forestry, natural resource and environment management, agricultural economics and rural development That explains why the part-time training programs of TUAF are developing sustainably

In the agricultural and forestry sectors of the Northern mountainous provinces, the Agro-forestry major plays a centrally important role, because rice production areas are mainly located in the valleys of these mountains The soil and climate conditions are available for forest, fruit, and industrial tree plantations This ensures a stable quantity of training students for the Agro-forestry major With active implementation of the New Rural Strategy of provinces, the quantity of students who wish to take part in training courses of the Rural Development professional major is increasing year by year

In summary, the Part-time training programs are closely related to and necessary for socio-economic development in the Northern mountainous region, especially the five professional majors: Agro-forestry, Land Management, Crop Science, Silviculture, and Rural Development

At present, the quantity of students taking Part-time training courses in TUAF

is about 6,000 on the average The research data show that the annual quantity of enrolled students of TUAF is sustainable at about 1,250 students over 5 recent years, and about 83% of them graduated after 4.5 years

The part-time training programs of TUAF have opportunities and challenges

as follows:

Opportunity

The Part-time training programs are supported, concerned and helped actively from Directorate and functional departments of Thai Nguyen University, from Managing Board, professional faculties, functional departments, and especially all teaching staff of TUAF The TUAF has got teaching staff with high professional knowledge and skills, experience, enthusiasm, and high responsibility

TUAF has just established the Training Center for Social Demands with main task is management of Part-time courses So the training management of Part-time training programs of TUAF has become a special work Officer of the Center have experience and, knowledge in planning, training management and other related work

Many alumni of TUAF became local leaders from provincial to district levels That leads to good understanding and close relationships between the university and the provinces Thus the university usually receives the benefit of feedback information and advice from local leaders, especially for training curricula improvement

The clearest advantage is very good understanding of each other and engaging relationship between TUAF and cooperative foundations They always share any information and quickly resolve any problem arise during training organization

Provinces in the region have begun to implement “New Rural Strategy”,

“Rural Industrialization and Modernization” which requires enhancement of their human resources All of the Northern mountainous provinces focus on agricultural and forestry production, and environment These sectors closely related with the professional majors of TUAF so that mobilize improvement of Part-time training programs in their location Therefore, most of the local leaders of these provinces are actively concerned with and support the Part-time training programs of the university

Most of the selected training cooperative foundations receive the enthusiasm concern and help for investment from provincial leaders So the training infrastructure, teaching - learning facilities, pedagogy environment are enhanced day

by day

The cooperative foundations always concern to livelihood and learning conditions for all of learners At the same time, most teachers who take part in Part-time training programs usually are interested, close relative, share information with learner, especially learner having difficulties That draws learners to take part in Part-time training programs of the university

Challenges

The common disadvantage of the Vietnamese education system and the main disadvantage of Part-time training program is inflexible training curricula According to Decision No 36 of the Ministry of Education and Training, the training curricula for Part-time training programs are the same of Full-time training programs, while Part-time training programs are organized in different provinces having to

supply different socio-economic development demands of each province Cooperative foundations have inadequate laboratory, library, while the current training curricula have too large theory part, especially part of basic science subjects These curricula have a little job skills and practical knowledge, while provinces need graduate students to work directly in production sectors or in rural regions Thus, the current training curricula cannot fulfill the objective of these training programs and supply the socio-economic development demands of provinces

In provincial training cooperative foundations, there is inadequate infrastructure for making practices That requires teachers to bring practical equipment and materials whenever they go there to teach So, often, there are not enough practical equipment and materials, which leads to reduced practical knowledge and skills on the part of the learners

Professional faculties still do not initiatively take part in building up teaching plans resulting in an overlap with teaching plans of Full-time training programs Then teachers must to change teaching plans between subjects or change to next semester That orders students to be not satisfied, reduce their belief affecting to their academic records

There are some problems in learning checking, testing, examination, academic assessment such as questions are not available, the process of marking exams is too slow, academic assessment sometimes is not objective There are some teachers still require students to supply their own interests by different ways if they want to increase their academic records The feedback about teaching – learning activities is lacking, especially feedback about disadvantage of the teachers

so some negative problems are not solved in time

The student’s affairs has got problems also such as there is not specific regulation for Part-time courses, student’s attention during learning activity

assessment is not available, there is not encourage policy for students Some training cooperative foundations do not concern on student management

The New Rural Strategy and Rural Industrialization and Modernization require human resource with high quality, while the teacher’s knowledge and information about it is limited The information about socio-economic development of provinces is not updated at the university usually Then provided new updated information and knowledge of teachers for students are sometime not interested

Book, lecturing syllabus, reference document are provided often not enough, anyhow all teachers were asked to prepare these document usually Copy facilities of cooperative foundations are inadequate causing most learners to lack the required documents during their learning activity

There are some urgent problems which should be solved as soon as possible At present, almost all part-time training courses (PTC) are located in provincial training centers with inadequate training infrastructure That caused low training quality, difficulty of control, assessment and quality assurance system, student performance assessment, teaching and learning activities management Besides, part-time training programs apply the same training programs such as full- time training programs so that cannot supply fully concrete development needs of each province Almost students of part-time training programs are working officers or human resource of commune and district’s organizations, so that the present student affair regulation is not suitable The present training management regulation policies

do not meet the truth development conditions in rural and mountainous regions, especially social policies for students from ethnic people groups, remote, and difficulty regions

Thus, the purpose of this study was to find out the causes and solutions to solve these problems as soon as possible

Objectives of the Study

The study generally aims to investigate the current status of part-time training programs of TUAF to enhance the management regulation policies Specifically, it aims to address the following:

1 Determine the present status on the management of the part-time training programs of TUAF as perceived by the respondents in terms of:

Significance of the Study

The purpose of this study is to determine the advantages and disadvantages

in organizing TUAF Part-time training courses, focusing on preparation of teaching syllabi, teaching activities and training facilities for effective learning So this study will be beneficial to the following groups:

Students: The outcome of the study will successfully help students, firstly to

improve their performance, secondly to improve their problem solving skills, and thirdly to enhance their employability We hope that these results will bring harmonious relationships among the class and with other That will enable all students to solve their problems not only in learning but also in their lives, and enable them to work independently

The teachers of TUAF: In Vietnam, series universities have just established

in the past 10 years All universities actively go to the provinces to organize different training courses, including Northern mountainous provinces They consider these activities as a main income source So, if the training quality of TUAF can be assured then the university can confirm its standing in these regions This provides opportunities for the university to enroll students in the university not only for part-time training courses but also for full time training courses

TUAF has redesigning the training curricula with the aim of meeting the socio-economic development demands in the Northern mountainous regions Teachers can adapt the curricula to fit the individual needs of their own students Research helps teachers to share with colleagues Too often research looks backwards and there are lessons to learn So the outcome of the study will be a great basis for them in this work

On the other hand, that will be a foundation for the university to develop cooperative projects in the field of scientific research and technology transfer with these provinces Thus, this study will play an important role to increase the income for the university

The outcome of this study will help all teachers to re-examine their teaching methods, lectures, teaching documents, and so on In order to improve the effectiveness of their lectures they should research socio- economic development in each province, where training courses are provided That will help them to improve their professional knowledge, skills and experience In addition, we hope that the results of this study will encourage all teachers to concentrate more on their responsibility which will lead to enhancement of their performance

On the other hand, teachers are accountable The public must have faith in the profession – and attitudes to education vary across many social groups – so the performance of teachers can be demonstrated through the publication of these research findings

Teachers project their own personality upon learning experiences Sometimes this is intuitive and these decisions can either be successful or they can fail Research methodologies give teachers the tools to analyze and make informed decisions about their practice

Training managers of TUAF: The result of this study will help the Center to

determine the advantages and disadvantages of training management activities That

is the basis for developing management methodology, especially for training program management regulation policies The cooperative contract activities between the Center and local training centers will be changed effectively We hope that this study will help the training managers of TUAF to work more effectively in the future

Local leaders: Most of the students of part-time training courses are officers

of local offices So students’ improved performance, knowledge and skills will enhance the working effectiveness in their offices and leading to improved leadership styles That requires local leaders to not only improve their professional knowledge and skills but also their leadership power and management skills This plays an important role in socio-economic development, and will help local provinces to develop sustainably

Future researchers: This study could provide support for future researchers,

who would like to conduct similar studies, by providing a basis for research on quality assurance of training, and policy development for this training form

Scope and Limitation of the Study

The primary purpose of the study is to evaluate the current status of training program management of part-time training programs of TUAF which were organized

in 10 Northern mountainous provinces and 5 professional faculties of TUAF

The study was conducted in a limited period of time, so the study only focused on the study selected five professional majors for investigation, which were crop plantation, animal husbandry and veterinary, rural development, land management, and agro-forestry The respondents were limited as follows: 304 graduated student’s respondents, who were selected from 1,267 graduated students (following Slovin’s formula with margin of error set at 5%,); 118 instructors who directly took part in teaching activities for five selected professional majors of part-time training programs; and 30 local leaders per province from districts, Department

of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Department of Natural Resource and Environment Management As to research content, the study was limited on training facilities, teaching and learning activities, and training curricula

Definition of Terms

In order to clarify and provide better understanding of the study, the following terminologies are defined both conceptually and operationally:

Classroom climate is considered as secure places to learn and to succeed;

developing learner self-efficacy; challenging and increasing perceptions of competence and self-determination; and task comprehension and increasing perception of control and value (Fraser B., 2002) In this study this refers to training facilities, teaching and learning activities

Curriculum is prescriptive, and is based on more general syllabus which merely

specifies what topics must be understood and to what level to achieve a particular grade or standard (Pham Van Hung, Thai Nguyen University, 2013)

Infrastructure of an area is the sum of all relevant economic data such as rules,

stocks and measures with the function of mobilizing the economic potentialities of economic agents (OECD, 2011)

Learning activities, as the name suggests, are activities designed or deployed by

the teacher to bring about, or create the conditions for learning (Coherence and Through-line, 2011)

Management regulation policy is an administrative approach that is used to

simplify the management of a given endeavor by establishing policies to deal with situations that are likely to occur (Margaret Rouse, January 2011) In this study, this refers to regulation policies for training programs management

Part-time training courses: Training courses being organized for students, who

don’t have opportunities to take part in full-time (formal) training courses These courses provide opportunities for local leaders, public and private institutional officers, who are working full time (Jacoby, Jeff, May 2004)

Teaching activities are being observed and described because other research

methods, which search for what is "good" in teaching, have not yielded many discoveries or intellectually substantial information about a profession that is central in human affairs (Acigor, 2005)

Training facility is a part of training infrastructure such as classrooms and

equipment, as well as non-physical assets (McCawley, 2010)

Training infrastructure is analogous to the teaching laboratory in biology and is a

vital tool for educators and students Training infrastructure contents institutional, personal, and material type (McCawley, 2010)

Training program management recognized that offers a way of developing skills,

enhancing productivity and quality of work, and building loyalty to the firm (Dubinsky, 2001)

Chapter II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter will present the relevant readings and literature which bear significance and similarities with the study This chapter also includes the paradigm and required definitions to help the readers fully understand the context of this study

Training Program Management

Kleinman (2010) mentioned that management operates through various functions, often classified as planning, organizing, staffing, leading/directing, and controlling/monitoring and motivation Planning is deciding of what needs to happen

in the future (today, next week, next month, next year, over the next five years, etc.) and generating plans for action Organizing is pattern of relationships among workers, making optimum use of the resources required to enable the successful carrying out of plans Staffing is job’s analysis, recruitment and hiring for appropriate

jobs Leading/directing is determining what must be done in a situation and getting people to do it Controlling/monitoring is checking progress against plans Motivation

is also a kind of basic function of management, because without motivation, employees cannot work effectively If motivation does not take place in an organization, then employees may not contribute to the other functions (which are usually set by top-level management) These are in accordance with the lectures of

Prof Dang Quoc Bao (2012) in which he emphasized Education Management as

consisting of four functions: planning, organizing, leadership, and checking and assessment

Wasley (2001) determined that Effective Management should use the

following skills: Political: used to build a power base and establish connections; Conceptual: used to analyze complex situations; Interpersonal: used to

communicate, motivate, mentor and delegate; Diagnostic: ability to visualize most appropriate response to a situation; Technical: Expertise in one's particular functional

area

Prof Dang Quoc Bao summarized management activities by management

stages cycle, containing 16 stages as follows: Starting phase: 1- Situation analysis;

2- Needs determining; 3- Policy: to determine global objectives and solutions; 4-

Task: to make up local objectives and solutions - Hurdles overcoming phase: 5- Planning; 6- Strategy; 7- Standards; 8- Resources - Accelerating phase: 9- Mobilizing; 10- Organizing; 11- Allocating resources; 12- Implementing - Finishing phase: 13- Leading; 14- Controlling; 15- Evaluating; 16- Feedback

Education Management is interpreted as the impact of management subject

to active management in the field of education or in other words An Education

Management system is the intended impacts, plans, and rules of the management in

the education system (Edmonds, 2009)

People are constantly learning everywhere and at all times Not a single day goes by that does not lead to additional skills, knowledge and/or competences for all individuals For people outside the initial education and training system, adults in particular, it is very likely that this learning, taking place at home, at the workplace or elsewhere, is a lot more important, relevant and significant than the kind of learning that occurs in formal settings (Nguyen Canh Toan, 2011)

In 1996, The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

(OECD) and education ministers of the European Union (EU) agreed to develop strategies for “lifelong learning for all” The approach has been endorsed by ministers

of labor, ministers of social affairs and the OECD Council at ministerial level The concept of “cradle to grave” includes formal, non-formal, and informal learning It is

an approach whose importance may now be clearer than ever and non-formal and

informal learning outcomes are viewed as having significant value Policy-makers in many OECD countries, and beyond, are therefore trying to develop strategies to use all the skills, knowledge and competences – wherever they come from – individuals may have at a time when countries are striving to reap the benefits of economic growth, global competitiveness and population development They defined the main training type as:

Formal learning is always organized and structured, and has learning objectives From the learner’s standpoint, it is always intentional: i.e., the learner’s explicit objective is to gain knowledge, skills and/or competences Typical examples are learning that takes place within the initial education and training system or workplace training arranged by the employer One can also speak about formal education and/or training or, more accurately speaking, education and/or training in a formal setting This definition is rather consensual

Informal learning is never organized, has no set objective in terms of learning outcomes and is never intentional from the learner’s standpoint Often it is referred to

as learning by experience or just as experience The idea is that the simple fact of existing constantly exposes the individual to learning situations, at work, at home or during leisure time for instance This definition, with a few exceptions also meets with

a fair degree of consensus

Mid-way between the first two, non-formal learning is the concept on which there is the least consensus, which is not to say that there is consensus on the other two, simply that the wide variety of approaches in this case makes consensus even more difficult Nevertheless, for the majority of authors, it seems clear that non-formal learning is rather organized and can have learning objectives The advantage of the intermediate concept lies in the fact that such learning may occur at the initiative of the individual but also happens as a by-product of more organized activities, whether

or not the activities themselves have learning objectives In some countries, the entire sector of adult learning falls under non-formal learning; in others, most adult learning is formal Non-formal learning therefore gives some flexibility between formal and informal learning, which must be strictly defined to be operational, by being mutually exclusive, and avoid overlap

Although all definitions can be contested this article shall refer to the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) 2001 communication on “lifelong learning: formal, non-formal and informal learning” as the guideline for the differing definitions That was described as follows:

Formal Learning: Learning typically provided by an education or training

institution, structured (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support) and leading to certification Formal learning is intentional from the learner’s perspective (Cedefop 2001)

Informal Learning: Learning resulting from daily life activities related to work,

family or leisure It is not structured (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support) and typically does not lead to certification Informal learning may be intentional but in most cases it is not-intentional (or "incidental"/random) (Cedefop 2001))

Non-formal Learning: Broadly, learning outside the formal university system,

taking place through planned activities (e.g with goals and timelines) involving some form of learning support

Similarly, Hodkinson et al (2003), conclude after a significant literature analysis on the topics of formal, informal, and non-formal learning, that "the terms informal and non-formal appeared interchangeable, each being primarily defined in opposition to the dominant formal education system, and the largely individualist and inquisitional conceptualizations of learning developed in relation to such educational

contexts." (Hodkinson et al, 2003, p.314) Moreover, he states that "It is important not

to see informal and formal attributes as somehow separate, waiting to be integrated This is the dominant view in the literature, and it is mistaken Thus, the challenge is not to, somehow, combine informal and formal learning, for informal and formal attributes are present and inter-related, whether we will it so or not The challenge is

to recognize and identify them, and understand the implications For this reason, the concept of non-formal learning, at least when seen as middle state between formal and informal, is redundant."(p 314)

Eraut’s classification of learning into formal and non-formal concluded: This removes informal learning from the equation and states all learning outside of formal learning is non-formal Eraut equates informal with connotations of dress, language

or behavior that have no relation to learning Eraut defines formal learning as taking place within a learning framework; within a classroom or learning institution, with a designated teacher or trainer; the award of a qualification or credit; the external specification of outcomes Any learning that occurs outside of these parameters is non-formal (Ined 2002)

The European Commission (EC) (2001) Communication on Lifelong Learning: formal, non-formal and informal learning They placed non-formal learning in between formal and informal learning This has learning both in a formal setting with a learning framework and as an organized event but within a qualification They defined that:

"Non-formal learning: learning that is not provided by an education or training institution and typically does not lead to certification It is, however, structured (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support) Non-formal learning is intentional from the learner’s perspective." (Cedefop 2001)

Livingstone’s adults’ formal and informal education, non-formal and informal learning were described as: This focuses on the idea of adult non-formal education

This new mode, “informal education” is when teachers or mentors guide learners without reference to structured learning outcomes This informal education learning is gaining knowledge without an imposed framework, such as learning new job skills (Infed, 2002)

Billet’s definition states there is no such thing as non-formal and informal learning He states all human activity is learning, and that everything people do involves a process of learning "All learning takes place within social organizations or communities that have formalized structures." Moreover he states most learning in life takes place outside of formal education (Infed, 2002)

Cedefop has created European guidelines to provide validation to a broad range of learning experiences, thereby aiding transparency and comparability across its national borders The broad framework for achieving this certification across both non-formal and informal learning is outlined in the Cedefop European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning; Routes from learning to certification

European countries are increasingly emphasizing the need to recognize the full range of an individual’s knowledge, skills and competences – those acquired not only at school, university or other education and training institutions, but also outside the formal system

This requires new approaches to validate such learning experiences (i.e identify, document, assess and/or certify), making them usable for further studies or advancement in work Helping people in this way could also make a contribution to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth

In the Philippines, the mission of Non-formal Education (NFE) is to empower the Filipino with "desirable knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that will enable him/her to think critically and creatively, act innovatively and humanely in improving the quality of his/her life and that of his/her family, community and country." NFE

aims to reduce the number of illiterate out-of-school youth and adults with based literacy programs, plus continue education through basic development projects Activities that fall under these system of education ranges from vocational training to adult reading classes, from family planning sessions to cultural and leadership workshops for community leaders (Sevilla U.P., 2004)

need-This branch of education is governed by the DECS Bureau of Non-formal Education (BNFE) and its history can be traced as far back as 1908 when ACT No

1829 was created to provide for the delivery of civic educational lectures in towns and barrios Six years later the act was amended to assign teachers in public schools

to give the lectures The New Commonwealth government passed Act No 80 in 1936

to create the Office of Adult Education as part of the then Department of Instruction

A decade later, this branch was transformed into the Adult and Community Education Division of the Bureau of Public Schools After the declaration of Martial Law, the Marcos government's Philippine Constitution of 1973 created the position of the Undersecretary of Non-formal Education

In Vietnam, there are the following training types:

Formal or full time training types: Learning typically provided at the college or

university and leading to graduate degree All of the students undertake their learning activities full time at the college or university

Non-formal training types: Learning is provided at the college or university

outside the time of formal training courses or in cooperative training centers There are some non-formal training types such as: Distance training, part-time training, open training

Part-time training acts as the most important type of non-formal training types The intent of part-time training courses is: