S-57 Training, Hai Phong, Vietnam. Mr Ken Blagdon and Mr Keith Swan conducted the training on the 5 th floor of the new purpose built 14 floor VMS N offices in Hai Phong, mid way between Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, North Vietnam. The new VMS N offices in Hai Phong Twelve Students were expected on the course but on the day twenty five students arrived, consisting of various experts, lecturers, engineers, a Nautical Pilot, deputy directors and naval officers from VMS N, VMS S, Vietnamese Navy, Vietnam Maritime University and The Myanmar National Hydrographic Centre. The course started on Monday 12 th March, with an opening speech by Mr Le Ming Bang, Director of the International Cooperation Department, followed by a welcoming speech by Mr Luu Van Quang, Director General of VMS N. The entire proceedings were filmed for Vietnamese TV who also filmed an interview with Keith. Due to Vietnamese customs impounding our training materials some hasty (black & white) photocopying had taken place on Sunday of a spare copy of the workbook that we had brought along, this enabled the students to have something to work with during the course. The next problem to overcome was the fact that the hard copies of 5011, the S-57 catalogues, UKHO data capture specifications and the flash drives with the soft copies on had also been impounded, again we had soft copies on a spare flash drive that we had brought with us which we copied onto the PC s that had been made available to each student. Before we started the course, I had prepared an entry test for the students to complete, this consisted of 20 multiple choice questions which enabled us to judge the knowledge base of the students; the scores from this could then be compared with the scores from the same test given at the end of the course, hopefully we would see an increase in the overall scores (See table at annex A).
We got off to a slow start, there were problems with the language, we spoke slower and put people with a better understanding of English next to those with little understanding of English and asked them to explain what was being said during the power points, the students were very quiet and reserved but by the end of the first day they had started to open up and ask questions. The Training room Lunch each day was served in a room up on the 8 th floor, all food was cooked on site in a make shift kitchen and consisted of a selection of fresh local dishes which were different each day. By Wednesday the packages had been released from customs, however one copy of each book had been removed, all the flash drives were missing and the gifts intended for various people had been opened, one of the coasters from one of the gifts had also been removed. Now that we had some 5011 s to work with (1 copy between two students) it became apparent that most of the students had little knowledge of it and as a result were having difficulty interpreting the paper exercises we had set out for them, however after some extra explanation of how the book worked things improved. Generally once the students had got over their general reticence, we found them attentive and keen to learn. Some students were shy about asking questions in front of the others, therefore there was always a queue of people to ask questions during break and lunchtimes. The lecturers from the Maritime University wanted all of our training material, however I explained that this was not possible but gave them.pdf files of our power points, they were happy with this.
The two students from Myanmar were very interested in Dkart and as a result we gave them some extra tuition on its use back at the hotel before dinner one evening. They are trying to get us to agree to capture their ENCs for them; I told them that we were not in a position to agree to this but that we would forward this request through the proper channels once we got home. I have on my return emailed Tim Sewell with this request who is following it up. The closing ceremony took place at a local restaurant and karaoke bar, Mr Luu Van Quang, Director General of VMS N was unavailable but Mr Luu Van Thuan, Vice General Director attended instead, most of the students were present but some had already returned to Ho Chi Minh City in the south. Mr Bang opened the proceedings followed by Mr Luu Van Thuan. Keith gave a speech in reply which was partly in Vietnamese, this went down very well. Presentation of the certificates by Keith, myself and the Mr Luu Van Thuan then took place. Most evenings we were taken out by various people to different restaurants, local sights and bars where we were well looked after. Fish and sea food is the staple diet here and is very fresh; one evening we were taken to a local Bar-B-Q restaurant, which consisted of a make shift kitchen set up on the grass verge next to the road, tanks of live fish, crabs and shell fish were on display from which you would make your selection. This was then taken away and cooked before being being dished up to you while you were sat in tiny chairs at low tables beside the main road. Health and safety would have a field day in the UK. Roadside Bar - B - Q
There are not many western people in Hai Phong and we were a bit of a curiosity, children would run up to us and say hello or just stare and smile, people on mopeds would stop and say hello or pedestrians would want their photo taken with you. Everybody was very friendly and we did not feel threatened at any time during our stay even when we were out on our own or late at night. A Fan
Annex A Entry Test Exit Test Nguyen Van The 10 15 Do Van Lam 12 17 Le Nhu Ngoc absent 13 Vu (Nguyen) Thi Hai Cuc 5 15 Tran Duc Hau 8 attended 1st day only Nguyen Khac Hoang did not attend Dong Duy Manh 8 17 Nguyen Hai Nam 8 15 Mai Thanh Tung 2 13 Nguyen Thi Thuy 4 13 Nguyen Thi Hien absent 17 Dao Huy Hung 5 13 Nguyen Trong Thanh 12 14 Tran Minh Thuan Missed 1 st & last day Quang Thanh Nhien 9 12 Nguyen Xuan Quang 14 16 Tran Van Hieu 8 absent Le (Pham) Thi Nham 10 15 Do Hong Quan 11 16 Ho Sy Nam 8 absent Ye Htun Oo 11 15 Wai Zun Aung 9 17 Luong Tu Nam 7 16 Pham Minh Chau 5 17 Bui Duc Hiep 8 12 The table above clearly demonstrates that the students did in fact know more after the course than they did at the beginning. You would expect those students with low entry test marks to improve but the students with high marks in the entry test also improved with the exit test. Hopefully the students on this course will be given the opportunity to go away and use the knowledge they learned before it is lost through lack of use. Ken Blagdon 28 th March 2012.