In the 7 years since it opened in Da Nang, the French Passerelles numériques Vietnam (PNV) has provided free IT training courses for over 200 poor pupils from throughout the central region.  Interestingly, many of their graduates have now found suitable jobs as IT engineers and programmers at companies both at home and abroad.

PNV’s trainees attending a course

PNV belongs to Passerelles numériques (PN), a French non-profit organisation operating in Cambodia, the Philippines and Viet Nam.  Its mission is to enable young, underprivileged people to improve their employability through education in the digital industry, and to increase their potential and willpower.  PN’s beneficiaries are typically underprivileged or disadvantaged, and in extremely precarious situations.

24-year-old Nguyen Thi La from Hoa Vang District said that she had to put aside her dream of pursuing higher education after graduating from the district’s Pham Phu Thu Senior High School because her family is very poor.  Luckily, in 2011 La had the chance to attend a PNV-funded IT training course free of charge.

Thanks to this, La is now a software tester at Da Nang Sioux Embedded Systems (DNSES).  She happily said, “Looking back on the past, I was very lucky.  Participating in the course marked a significant turning point in my life.”

According to Ms Vo Hoang Thuy Trang, PNV’s External Relations Manager, since 2010 PNV has provided 2-year international-standard IT training courses for poor rural students from across the central region with the aim of helping them to develop their potential and willpower.  Every year, representatives from PNV go to remote areas in the central region to enrol trainees for their free courses.  To be enrolled, a trainee must pass tests in Maths, English, and Logic, plus get through an admission interview. 

Unlike other specialised IT training institutes in the city, this international organisation is offering 2-year courses featuring theory with practice.  Trainees also have the opportunity to develop their teamwork, presentation and English skills.  Ms Trang added that 50% of the lessons taught at PNV focus on IT knowledge and skills, 25% are about soft skills, and the remaining 25% are English language classes. 

Although many of the trainees are unfamiliar with computers when they start their courses, they are proficient in IT after they graduate.  90% have found employment within a few months of graduating.

According to local IT businesses, most of PNV’s graduates have won the trust of their recruiters thanks to their good soft skills, professionalism, and English fluency, despite being trained for only 2 years.

Most notably, PNV and the Da Nang Junior College of Technology (DCT) last year entered into an agreement to provide degree-level IT training to underprivileged youths from the central region.  Under the agreement, teachers from PNV and DCT are cooperating together to increase their exchange activities and share their mutual professional experiences and effective teaching methods.  A total of 45 poor young people from 7 central localities are being given a 3-year international-standard IT training course by PNV. 

The course provides the students with the necessary skills to help them confidently enter into the domestic labour market and escape poverty in a sustainable manner. 

Currently, many graduates from PNV’s training courses are working for the city’s leading IT companies, including FPT Software Da Nang, Axon Active, MagRabbit, AsNet, Gameloft, Green Global and SeaDev. 

PNV has become a ‘dream house’ for underprivileged young adults who have a strong passion for IT.  It offers access to educational opportunities for passionate and proactive students.