Technical and Vocational Education and Training toward Sustainable Development of Japan’s Aid Effectiveness for Industrial Human Resource Development in Lower Mekong Basin Countries

The Official Development Assistance (ODA) is Japan’s salient foreign policy in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) Country, especially for industrial human resource development. Japan has established KOSEN, a Japanese engineering vocational education system in the region to promote the industrial acceleration agenda and the region’s economic, social development, and poverty reduction toward the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, ODA is about more than giving and receiving; it is about actors and administration, including the vis-à-vis mutual benefit for both donor and recipient country, which becomes a debatable issue. This research intends to shed light on the efficacy of Japanese ODA toward LMB by applying the principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005) and its impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) attainment. A qualitative technique with a deductive approach was used to analyze the efficiency of Japan’s aid for KOSEN, including an in-depth interview with a purposive sampling technique of three key informants in this study. The study showed that the donor country predominantly adheres to the assistance ownership concept. Nonetheless, developing the KOSEN system as an assistance program in the area can contribute to the SDGs as hard tool mechanisms and KOSEN values as a soft mechanism related to the 2012 Global Agenda for Greening TVET.


Introduction
After a long absence, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) returned to the international policy agenda in 2012, marking a significant milestone in re-directing donor countries' aid programs [1].The goal of TVET has been transformed to bolster life and education skills for Sustainable Development (ESD) and sustainability [2].Albeit fundamentally, TVET reinforces the attempts to create mid-level skilled labor demand in industrial, commercial, and other vocational fields' fulfillment productivity in the donor countries.As a result, TVET has been integrated into the mission of SDGs achievement, accentuating SDG Agenda 4: quality education; SDG Agenda 8: decent work and economic growth; SDG Agenda 12: responsible consumption and production; and SDG Agenda 13: climate action [3], along with three-pillar-principle of sustainability; people, planet, and profit [4].1306 (2024) 012032 IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1306/1/012032 2 KOSEN (Japan's Technical College) is well-known for its capacity to boost Japan's predicate of a top country for science and engineering.The institution has been recently established in the Lower Mekong Basin countries (LMB) to promote the industrialization acceleration and economic agenda of 3Cs (Connectivity, Competitiveness, and Community) under the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) and Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) platform [5].The establishment of KOSEN in the LMB is to boost engineering skills and cope with some dissatisfaction of Japanese companies on TVET graduates' performance in the region relating to a lack of basic engineering knowledge and technological problem [6].KOSEN is an abbreviation of the Japanese word "Koto-sermon gakko," meaning College of Technology, where "Koto" stands for high-level and "Senmon" stands for major (engineering).KOSEN has been accepting students since the 1960s in the form of 5-year Technical College for engineering education (upper secondary system for three years and two years of post-secondary) with its prominent slogan of "no one, left behind" and its prominent curriculum derived from the UN's Sustainable Development Goals [7].Henceforward the institutionalization of KOSEN under Japan's aid program is expected to improve TVET graduates' performance capacity in the GMS region and accelerate sustainable global goals for economic and social development.In Thailand, KOSEN was in 2018 continued to expand in other Lower Mekong Basin Countries, like Vietnam in 2019.
For a donor country like Japan, giving aid to support education in the Global South aligns with the program's continuity [8].Besides, human resource is evident as the most critical factor contributing to sustainable growth for achieving organizational objectives irrespective of the country's economic development status in today's global business environment [9].Human resources are perceived as modal capital to achieve sustainable development of the economy [10].Also, human resources recognize and reconcile multiple potentially ecological and social goals [11], where human resource development is provided through vocational education.Moreover, human resource development is a part of the national building [12].From this value, Japan puts higher education performing on the cultivation of human resources [13].Therefore, a salient aid program for Japan is highlighted in HRD.
Conceptually, aid is not merely about giving and receiving, but also about the actors and management.In the aid program, the principle of ownership is constantly debatable for practical implementation.The Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness in 2005 was enacted to reform the ownership principle, highlighting the recipient country's participation in leadership over their development policies and strategies and coordinating development action [14].In the case of Japan, ownership practice is emphasized self-help and self-reliance, which are considered more bottom-up and process-oriented, and inclusivity [15].For instance, Japan's ownership in Africa.Japan has presented a unique ownership representation of self-help and partnership, portraying the negotiation space as contributing to a 'trusted intermediary' [16]; as a result, the ownership in the prevalent humdrum is to empower equal leadership in managing aid programs.Referring to the introduction above, this article examines the practice of Japan's ODA under KOSEN in LMB.Furthermore, to elaborate on the HRD process under TVET or KOSEN for sustainable development, this article uses HRD paradigms from Challagan (2016), such as 1) performance indicator related to reliability toward labor market demand and employer's need and 2) learning indicator related to reflective learning, experiential learning, transformative learning, and social learning [17].This study elucidates Japan's aid ownership on vocational education in the Lower Mekong Basin Countries on embedding its salient Japanese education model of KOSEN toward SDGs achievement.

Methodology
The research utilized a qualitative method to highlight a case study of KOSEN establishment in Thailand and Vietnam as a deductive approach to discover the dynamics of the KOSEN system and implementation for the analysis of aid effectiveness.The researcher investigated how the leadership and management of KOSEN between donor and recipient countries, along with KOSEN's contribution toward SDGs achievement.An in-depth interview was taken to collect the data using a purposive snowball sampling technique from three key informants from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) officials in Bangkok Office and Vietnam Office, and an expert from KOSEN involving the multi-dimensional view cross-check data.Open-ended questions were used in the in-depth interview, while a descriptive approach also was used to record the results.
A structured interview protocol on the aid effectiveness using the principle of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005) and the human resources development effectiveness using Challagan (2016), especially the learning factor, was utilized to collect data.The three key informants were briefed before the interview individually to gain information about the purpose of the study.The data collected from the in-depth interview was coded and classified under the codebook using content analysis.
Before the in-depth interviews process, secondary data about Japan's aid to TVET in LMB and KOSEN was collected from document analysis of national reports, JICA's reports, and other relevant documents to industrial human resource development.The main method for gaining the primary data was through the interviews of three critical informants in charge of Japan's aid in TVET and the practice of KOSEN in the TVET system of Thailand and Vietnam.

KOSEN Program in Lower Mekong Basin Countries as Its Salient Aid Program
As aforementioned, Japan's aid accentuates HRD for the innovative industry.Inevitably, since the Meiji Era, Japan has been acclaimed for fully placating the nationwide demands for human resources in applied education, including civil engineering [18].Therefore, the industry development under technical college education in Japan is acknowledged as a good education practice.Since then, Japan has established KOSEN as a unique and integrated education between theory and practice to provide a niche for the regional market.In LMB, KOSEN is established in two countries, Thailand and Vietnam.The establishment of KOSEN in Thailand was firmly associated with the Ministry of Education with the formation of King Mongkut Institute of Technology Lad-Krabang (KMTIL) and other Technical Colleges in 2018, such as Chonburi and Suranaree Technical College, as part of Japan's pilot projects in LMB that possibly expanded to other countries.Meanwhile, KOSEN in Vietnam, associated with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, was started from 2013 to 2018 created pilot KOSEN schools at the Industrial University of HCM, Cao Thang Technical College (HCMC) Hue Industrial College, and Phuc Yen College of Industry (Vinh Phuc, now renamed to College of Industry and Trade).The loan on this Industrial Human Resource Development project provides up to JPY 9,434 billion with an annual interest rate of 0.5 percent for the project and 0.01 percent for consulting services [19].
In Thai-KOSEN, the Thai TVET applies the KOSEN system to Thai Universities and Technical Colleges, and it has two channels for student entrance.There are; 1) if students are from Upper Secondary Schools, they can directly enter the KOSEN in universities, for instance, KMITL, and 2) if students are from Vocational Schools, they can enter Technical College for 2 years and another two years transfer to KOSEN under universities to get level of the bachelor degree.Meanwhile, in Vietnam, The Vietnamese KOSEN model is defined as those institutions teaching technical knowledge and skills, proper mindset and creativity, and supporting students for internship and employment.JICA implemented a pilot project to introduce KOSEN to Vietnam from 2013 to 2018, not as a formal education system but as a model applied to existing universities, colleges, and TVET centers.However, to enhance the Japanese KAIZEN value (continuous improvement to provide exceptional quality and productivity), Japan established the KAIZEN Yoshida School in 2006 in Ho Chi Minh City.
In the KOSEN learning and performance process, the KOSEN is obstinately able to be a primary method to combine the participation between academic scholars and practitioners to develop skilled labor in aligning with the dynamic alteration.The learning process of KOSEN is known as nurturing practical engineers through its "spiral curriculum," consisting of a lecture phase, an experimental phase to build practical skills, and a practice phase to focus on real-world skills through close industry cooperation.It also provides two main subjects, such as Liberal Arts, the Japanese language, and a major subject of Professional knowledge and skills [20].Considering the KOSEN system, KOSEN is determined as the HRD booster institution, especially in industrial economic activity.As a result, KOSEN is recognized as Japan's salient ODA program for the Global South.

Aid Effectiveness Practice of KOSEN Program
Referring to its history, Japan has consistently provided aid assistance to the economic development of the Mekong Region since 1992 [21].Under regional economic development, several economic corridor models are being undertaken, such as the East-West Economic Corridor, North-East Economic Corridor, and Southern Economic Corridor Development [22].Moreover, one signature characteristic of Japan's aid is not only for hard infrastructure development, but also for soft infrastructure and institutional development to support the complex infrastructure with three types of assistance, such as 1) technical cooperation, 2) loan grants, and 3) aid -grants, which involved in the field of institutional and legal reforms, human resource development, and capacity building to reduce the development gap in the national and among regional level [23].
Japan has been considering KOSEN's establishment in two countries because, among other Mekong Region, Thailand has received direct investment from Japan for many years, which has led to achieving fast economic growth and followed by Vietnam [24].Both countries conduct the strategy plan of accelerating industrialization with TVET challenges and Japanese investment increase; the countries need to adapt to Japanese companies' needs.The aid for HRD is related to the plan of both countries, Thailand and Vietnam.For Thailand, it is relevant with The 12 th National Economic and Social Development Plan (2017-2021) to raise the country's current GDP per capita from 6,000 US dollars to 13,000 US dollars by 2036.The decrease of regional inequalities and the strengthening of competitiveness in the international market are seen as key to achieving this goal under Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), while Vietnam's "Industrialization Strategy and Action Plan Towards 2020" [25].The aid program of the KOSEN establishment is strongly acknowledged in avoiding the duplication of any other assistance as their uniqueness.The KOSEN establishment is incomparable with other assistance since Japan has always cultivated its way to generate its aid effectiveness.Here is Table 1.The findings of the study are classified under a codebook."The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is the coordinator of an aid program.""Every activity needs to be approved by JICA." "Japan's aid is emphasized on project-based with output-oriented.""Activity mostly dispatches the expert from Japan to a recipient country.""Japanese expert manages KOSEN.For example, Head of KOSEN Education Manager." Linking with the ownership principle, Japan has different practices from the Western perspective in that Japan is reluctant to cede control of development programs to local ownership due to the obligation's risk of being unable to be fulfilled [26].Nevertheless, Japan's aid is very project-oriented, pretty much exercising technical cooperation on a case-by-case basis to ensure its success and sustainability; while Western understanding is to put more focus on general improvement of partner country governance and development of institutions, the last is request-based aid and Yen Loans [27].The management led by mostly donor countries can influence the dynamic cooperation with recipient countries, for instance, KOSEN in Thailand and Vietnam managerial has a small part of managing the aid which they tend to receive the instruction from the donor country merely.Nevertheless, in the case of an engineering expert, it is understandable that Japan is a leading manager because both recipient countries have a limited number of experts.Moreover, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)'s responsibility as coordinator and advisor of the aid program, Japan's aid is projectbased emphasizing output-oriented, meaning that the dispatching activity with a short period as Japan's aid prominent agenda performs challenging if related to ensuring the skills enhancement for both lecturers and students.Since JICA has taken responsibility, the aid program is centered in JICA, which means activity under the aid program needs to be approved and known by JICA, including budgets, policies, and action plans.Those conventional practices are not compatible with achieving development goals meant by the recipient country, as it seems to be donor-centered [28].Even though the donor country has a central role in managing KOSEN, Japan's self-help value is recognized as encouragement or 'push from behind for aid recipients which can boost the skillful engineering labor availability to support Japanese companies in particular.Besides, the bottom-up approach is also acknowledged as an effective method to accommodate the recipient actor's need, although JICA becomes a leading actor to filter the proposed aid activity in the case of Japan.

Discovering the Process of Human Resource Development under KOSEN Program and Its
Relevance to Sustainable Development The mission of KOSEN is to foster creative, practical technical engineers; the graduates of KOSEN Technical College are expected to have Japanese technical standards with an understanding of Monozukuri (Innovation in Manufacturing) and KAIZEN (the practice of continuous improvement) [29].Under HRD analysis of its effectiveness from Challagan (2016), Monozukuri and KAIZEN are part of the learning system.In detail, the Monozukuri discourse is of relatively recent origin; its conceptual structure is based on a historical reinterpretation of robots and technology as part of national industrial plans to innovate Japanese society and invigorate the economy [30].KAIZEN is a Japanese word that has become a humdrum in numerous Western companies and indicates a continuous improvement of work standards that focuses on green practices [31].The performance process has been addressed in the phase of experiment and practice.For an example of the performance measures, the teaching staff should create files including detailed lecture contents (syllabus, lecture notes, handouts to students, question papers, list of student's performance and results, students' answer papers, and so forth) and conduct seminars to explain the level of KOSEN education and lecture contents to the university based on the files.Along with the research findings, the codebook of KOSEN Contributing to SDGs is explained in Table 2.In addition, the KOSEN system combines the participation between academic scholars and practitioners to develop skilled labor in aligning with the dynamic alteration and tied with the Japanese companies.The two significant values of Monozukuri (Innovation in Manufacturing) and KAIZEN (the practice of continuous improvement) give the students skills on the innovation of technology, emphasizing robot creation and usage, and skills of improvement and green practice through a teacher has taught on small things.Furthermore, both values can potentially indicate sustainable development contribution to SDGs 4 and SDGs 8.However, another two SDGs, number 12 (responsible consumption and production) and SDG number 13 (climate action) have not been set up under the KOSEN establishment, yet adding one more SDG number 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure) under Monozokuri for innovation.The analysis is explained as follows: It is relevant to SDG number 4 quality education target 4.4.Due to its curriculum suited to labor demand, especially FDI investors, KOSEN contributes to increasing the number of youth and adults with relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, employment, and decent jobs.KOSEN ensures the inclusiveness of "no one left behind" and increases the number of youth and adults with relevant skills with decent work.It reflects that the number of students' entrance to TVET in KOSEN Thailand has increased in these two years.The quota of 24 students in the first year was fulfilled.
KOSEN contributes its Monozukuri and KAIZEN to promote development-oriented policy (the 12th National Economic and Social Development Plan (2017-2021 from Thailand and for Vietnam of Industrialization Strategy and Action Plan Towards 2020) that enhances innovation relevant to the needs of labor demand and social innovation impact, especially FDI investors.Also, KOSEN contributes to raising the image of TVET and the attractiveness of youth to its clear picture and prospect of workforce absorption; therefore, KOSEN reduces youth not in employment, education, and or training.Those are relevant to SDGs number 8 decent work and economic growth targets 8.3 and 8.6.Furthermore, resulting in TVET is leveraged by Japanese value cultivation where many Japanese multinational companies are invested in Thailand and Vietnam, which means its Japanese companies absorb the TVET graduates.
KOSEN is designed to upgrade increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes.It is relevant to SDG 9 industry, innovation, and infrastructure under target 9.4.pointing to KAIZEN value, which leverages environmental sustainability practices due to its emphasis on an eco-friendly workplace.The teacher of KOSEN has taught students from small things.For instance, electricity is off if they do not use it, replacing paper with an electric platform, and reconsidering material usage.In addition, we encourage them to have a discipline by PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Action) template before they study or work.
Besides, students are cultured by attitude values, such as Hansei (self-reflection), respect, honesty, and public-interest consciousness.Therefore, graduates can perform their best engineering knowledge and sensible social problem.As a result, this study also found another point of Japan's aid.It has its uniqueness of enculturation or value cultivation to the recipient country in which it becomes the Japanese signature of their aid instead of assisting hard infrastructure.

Conclusion
Japan's aid to Lower Mekong Basin Countries has been established to develop human resource development as it becomes Japan's foreign policy prominently.In terms of aid effectiveness, Japan's aid through the TVET system of KOSEN style has been performed by the ownership principle.However, the ownership practice is different from the prevalent Western understanding highlighting 'self-help.' KOSEN style with its slogan of "no one left behind" has contributed to SDGs priority number 4 quality education, priority eight decent work, and economic growth and priority nine industry, infrastructure, and innovation.On the other hand, KOSEN can alter TVET's image of deprived quality, and insufficient connection with stakeholders, particularly the social stigma, industries, cultural barriers, and a lack of qualified and competent teachers.These contribute to the image of TVET.However, the presence of KOSEN entails both academics and practitioners equally, including green TVET cultivation from two significant values of Monozukuri and KAIZEN, as a catalyst of TVET'image.

Recommendation
Regarding value cultivation or enculturation, KOSEN has taught students a principal values Monozukuri (innovation) and KAIZEN (continuous improvement).Those lessons are acclaimed to create students with future-oriented thinking for development and environmental issue or, on the other hand, potentially enhance the sustainability that needs to embrace the empirical evidence for further research.As this research acknowledged, Japanese ownership does not entirely give the program's authority to the recipient country in balance; therefore, more studies on why Japan enculturates its value to the recipient country, whether for a political tool or other innuendos.

Table 1 .
Codebook of ownership for Japan's aid on vocational education in LMB.

Table 2 .
Codebook of KOSEN contributing to SDGs through Monozukuri and KAIZEN cultivation.