project • education

AID: 11764

Duration: 3 years

Total budget: € 10.800.000

€ 8.000.000 Soft Loan

€ 2.500.000 Grant

€ 300.000 AICS Direct Management

1 Education Expert on “Technical Assistance Fund AID 11713”

Beneficiary Country: Ethiopia

Intervention areas: Amhara, Oromia, SNNP e Tigray Regions

Intervention Sector: Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

Objective: The program aims at enhancing the TVET system through quality trainings and stronger linkages between the private sector working in the Agro-Industry and the TVET Colleges in the 4 target regions.

Description: The Program will be implemented by the Federal TVET Agency (FTVETA), which will be supported by the Regional TVET Bureaus (RTVETBs) of the 4 target regions (Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray) and by the 8 selected TVET Colleges (TVETCs), under the supervision of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE) and the Technical Assistance and Monitoring Unit (TAMU), composed of AICS staff. A Steering Committee and 4 Regional Technical Committees, responsible to manage activities at local level, will be established.

There will be a total contribution to the Ethiopian Government of 10.5 million Euros, out of which 8 million Euros will be a soft loan and 2.5 million Euros a grant. An amount of 300,000 Euros is also envisaged for Technical Assistance and logistical and administrative support at AICS Addis Ababa.

The soft loan component of the programme (8 M Euro) will be used for the procurement of equipment, tools and teaching materials for the TVETCs’ workshops and for the realization of minor constructions, renovation and sanitation and hygiene facilities for female students.

The grant component of the programme (2.5 M Euro) will instead be used for all technical assistance and capacity building activities. The link between the TVET Colleges and the agro-industry will be promoted and strengthened. The expected results of the programme include the signature of territorial framework agreements between the TVETCs and the Agro-Industrial Parks Corporation and producers' associations as well as the establishment of multi-stakeholders public-private platforms to facilitate the dialogue. Study tours and learning visits for academic staff and officials, at federal and regional level, will be organized, in order to share knowledge, learn from other experiences and establish networks nationally and internationally. Curricula and occupational standards for selected job profiles will be reviewed and adapted. Job counseling offices located within the TVETCs will also be strengthened to facilitate students’ access into the labour market. Scholarships to the best students will be offered to attend cooperative trainings.

Status: finalizing the Technical and Financial Agreements.

Added value: The programme supports the prevention of irregular migration in regions with a high migratory incidence, through skills development and promotion of decent job opportunities. Improving the TVET quality, providing demand-driven training courses and supporting the linkage between labour market offer and demand is of outmost importance to increase employment and employability opportunities.

Agriculture is one of the main sectors of Ethiopian economy (it represents 35% of GDP, 68% of national employment and 28% of exports). However, agro-processing still has a small share of GDP and exports. Despite the increase in global and domestic demand for processed agricultural products, many processors still work below full capacity due to structural and infrastructural problems in the value chains and to the significant mismatch between skills supply and labour market demand. This programme aims at improving the quality of training provided by TVETCs close to the Agro-Industrial Parks and surrounding productive agricultural areas, in order to offer demand-driven curricula, thus reducing the gap between skills supply and demand and contributing to increasing decent employment opportunities for young people and women in the target regions.