Human-centered investment strategy in the era of national rise

Dong Nai province is standing before historic opportunities to achieve a major breakthrough in a new era. As key national projects take shape, the most urgent challenge is no longer transport infrastructure alone, but rather the “infrastructure” of high-quality workforce. To keep pace with rapid development, Dong Nai’s education sector is undergoing a decisive transformation, driven by a forward-thinking mindset and efforts to concretize resolutions into concrete action.

Students of Thong Nhat A High School during a STEM practice session. Photo: Thanh Nam.

Dong Nai is stepping into a new phase of development with strategic position and expanding capacity driven by major projects such as Long Thanh International Airport and the North–South high-speed railway. The Resolution of the first Dong Nai Provincial Party Congress, for the 2025–2030 term, identifies human resource development as a strategic breakthrough, requiring the education sector to shift its mindset from “providing what it has” to “delivering what the market needs.” This is an urgent political task, compelling the education system to move one step ahead in preparing a highly skilled  technical workforce to serve a modern industry.

Training to prepare the workforce for spearhead sectors

Amid a growing “thirst” for technical workers, vocational institutions such as Lilama 2 International Technology College are taking the lead in adopting Germany-standard dual training model. Nguyen Khanh Cuong, Principal of Lilama 2 International Technology College said that: The college is focusing fully on specialized modules in aircraft maintenance, railway engineering, and high-tech welding, developed in response to direct orders from foreign-invested enterprises. Close collaboration between the college and enterprises ensures that its graduates possess strong practical skills and are able to meet the stringent requirements of the international labor market.

In support of the efforts made by the educational institutions, Nguyen Tien Viet, Deputy General Director of Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) and Director of the Long Thanh Airport Project Management Board, conveyed a deeply humane message and a strong commitment: “When recruiting personnel to work at the airport, ACV will give priority to residents of Dong Nai, as we deeply understand the sacrifices many local families have made by giving up their land for building this key project.”

Viet further offered a message to students: “Opportunities are opening up right here in your homeland. Study hard and hone your skills so that, in the near future, it will be you who master the technology and take charge of operating this modern airport.”

At the university level, they are undertaking a “revolution” in restructuring their academic programs. Associate Professor Dr. Lam Thanh Hien, President of Lac Hong University, shared that the university has proactively launched new programs and made in-depth investments in spearhead sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductor chip design, automated mechanical engineering, and logistics.

“In the digital era, human resources cannot merely be technically proficient in their trades; they must be capable of mastering core technologies. That is why we have focused on building internationally standardized laboratories and partnering in training with major technology corporations, to enable students to gain early exposure to AI and semiconductor technologies. This preparation is essential to ensure that Dong Nai will not only have a modern airport, but also a technical workforce capable of operating and developing the accompanying high-tech services.” Associate Professor Dr. Lam Thanh Hien emphasized.

"Dong Nai’s education sector is determined to take concrete action to realize the province’s education development goals through 2030, as set out in the Resolution of the first Provincial Party Congress, 2025–2030 term. Implementation will begin in 2026, with a clear annual roadmap for completion.”

Alongside curriculum renewal, quality assurance has also been made a top priority. Many universities in the province have completed institutional accreditation under Vietnamese standards. Building on this foundation, they are pursuing training program accreditation in accordance with the stringent standards of the ASEAN University Network - Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) and moving toward US benchmarks such as ABET. These efforts clearly reflect a firm commitment to international-quality education, ensuring that degrees earned in Dong Nai are competitive in the global labor market.

To create room for breakthrough development, Dong Nai province is accelerating the realization of its planning vision and investment attraction to develop internationally standard education urban zones, or “university villages,” in the growth momentum drivers of Nhon Trach and Long Khanh. The aim is to attract leading domestic and international universities to establish branch campuses, training centers, and research facilities, thereby forming an integrated education ecosystem closely linked with logistics hubs and high-tech industrial centers. These will be “eagle nests” expected to become magnets for talent and provide a sustainable human capital foundation for the broader Southeast region.

Breakthrough mechanisms for human resource training

In recent years, the appeal of strategic infrastructure has turned Dong Nai into an increasingly attractive destination for educational investment. Several reputable institutions specializing in transportation and aviation training have expressed their interest in establishing branch campuses in Long Thanh, while providers of high-speed railway training are looking toward Long Khanh. Meanwhile, the International Secondary School Project in Long Hung Urban Area (Long Hung Ward) is being actively advanced. To translate these potential projects into reality, Dong Nai needs to urgently address “bottlenecks” related to land procedures, detailed planning, while creating the most transparent legal framework that enables investors to move quickly to groundbreaking rather than remaining at the survey stage.

Dr. Phan Ngoc Son, founder of Dong Nai Technology University, proposed that: the province needs to adopt stronger incentives in terms of clean land allocation and tax policies to encourage private-sector participation in the development of high-quality educational infrastructure.

Dr. Dang Anh Tuan, Vice President of Dong Nai University, affirmed that: “The university is prioritizing the attraction of lecturers holding doctoral degrees or higher, viewing this as a prerequisite for opening new academic programs and standardizing quality assurance. In particular, the expansion of its second branch campus in the former Binh Phuoc province area will address space constraints and create momentum for the university growth. According to Tuan, in the current context, teaching quality requires educators to be both virtuous and competent - highly skilled and deeply committed.

Investing in education in this new era requires decisive engagement of the entire political system, guided by a long-term vision and coordinated, substantive solutions. From infrastructure planning to human capital development, every policy decision made today serves as a foundational building block for Dong Nai’s future prosperity. By seizing opportunities and acting decisively, the province’s education sector is well positioned to fulfill its mission of supplying high-quality human resources for national development.

In the context of global integration, Truong Thi Kim Hue, Director of the Department of Education and Training, noted that: foreign language and digital skills are the “passports” of global citizens. Accordingly, the education sector is intensifying efforts to improve the quality of foreign language teaching, expand multilingual education right from the general education level. In addition, the Department encourages local schools to promote STEM education, apply information technology and AI, and accelerate digital transformation in teaching, learning, and educational management.

Notably, in implementing Conclusion No. 81-TB/TW dated July 18, 2025, of the Politburo on investment in building schools for border communes, Le Truong Son, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, said that: the Provincial People’s Council has approved a comprehensive education investment scheme for border communes, with total funding of up to VND 1 trillion. Comrade Le Truong Son emphasized: “In recent times, construction started simultaneously on many schools with solid, modern facilities, reflecting a vivid testament for the concretization of the Conclusion No. 81. We are determined to build the best possible educational environment, accompanied by tailored incentive policies to attract high-quality teachers, thereby contributing to raising educational attainment and firmly safeguarding national sovereignty and border security.”

By Thanh Nam – Translated by Thu Hien, Thu Ha