Improving capacity of cultural heritage workforce

Khanh Hoa Province is home to 3 special national monuments, 28 national monuments, 241 provincial monuments, 3 intangible cultural heritages inscribed by UNESCO, 12 national intangible cultural heritages, and 5 national treasures. In order effectively preserve and promote the value of these monuments and cultural heritages, the Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has accelerated training, fostering and enhancing the capacity and expertise of the cultural heritage workforce.

Basically meeting requirements

Khanh Hoa Provincial Museum staff introducing artifacts to visitors

The Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism currently has three staff members responsible for the cultural heritage sector. Their work involves advising on the implementation of legal regulations, mobilizing and managing resources for the protection, preservation, and promotion of cultural heritage value. Additionally, the Provincial Museum and the Provincial Center for Heritage Preservation, the two units under the department, carry out work relating to cultural heritages. The Provincial Museum, with 20 staff members, performs specialized duties such as researching, collecting, and inventorying artifacts; organizing exhibitions and introductions; participating in the inventory and dossier preparation for monument ranking. The department’s specialized staff also implements scientific researches and projects relating to cultural heritages; cooperates with agencies, units and organizations in and outside the province to do researches and carry out activities relating to cultural heritages; organizes activities for visitors; and advises on and deploys plans and programs to promote cultural heritage value and develop local tourism sustainably.

The Provincial Center for Heritage Preservation has 28 staff members, including 17 dedicated heritage officers. This is the core team, playing an important role in inventorying, collecting and compiling scientific dossiers of cultural heritages; repairing, restoring and managing monuments; researching, preserving and promoting tangible and intangible cultural heritage value; providing professional guidance to local facilities; and coordinating with agencies, units and localities in managing, utilizing and promoting heritage value in alignment with sustainable tourism development.

As said by Le Van Hoa, deputy director of the Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Khanh Hoa cultural heritage personnel basically meet the required tasks. Most of them has university degrees or higher; some possessing postgraduate qualifications in relevant fields. Generally, they are highly responsible, dedicated and committed to the profession and have made many important contributions to the protection, preservation and promotion of cultural heritage value over the province.

Continuous need for training and knowledge updates

Given many historical-cultural monuments, scenic spots and intangible cultural heritages widely distributed throughout the province, continuous and regular management, preservation and promotion efforts are essential. In addition to regular on-the-spot training sessions, the Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has created favorable conditions for its staff to attend training courses to enhance their capacity. These training sessions combined theoretical learning with field experience at monuments, craft villages, communities, research institutes, and universities.

Despite the good results, the training and enhancing capacity for cultural heritage staff still faces limitations. Therefore, renewing the content and teaching methods for training courses is an urgent requirement.

"In order to meet the demands of the new situation, it requires boosting training the cultural heritage workforce; improve policies, benefits and incentives to attract high-quality human resources; changing the content and organizational methods of training programs; learning domestic and international laws on heritages; strengthening digital skills; equipping staff with knowledge of heritage management in alignment with sustainable tourism, creative economy and cultural industry; prioritizing foreign language skills, intercultural communication skills and project management,” said Le Van Hoa.

GIANG DINH
Translated by H.N