Menschen für Menschen: New vocational education and training centre opens in Ethiopia

The aid organisation "Menschen für Menschen - Karlheinz Böhm Äthiopienhilfe" has created 600 new training positions as a result of the construction of a new vocational education training centre in Ethiopia.

The Technical and Vocational Education and Training Center (TVET) is located in the region of Hawariat Town, approximately 100 kilometres south west of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. In total, "Menschen für Menschen" has now built and fitted out six of these training centres.

The new TVET provides training opportunities in a range of different technical specialisms such as automotive and electrical engineering, engineering, wood processing, and information technology. Two classroom blocks, each with four classrooms, four workshops for practical training, an IT building and a library were constructed on the campus. This means that in the current academic year more than 600 young women and men are being given the opportunity to gain high-quality training in a skilled craft occupation. The cost of the construction and facilities was around €2 million.

The construction was financed by donors in Austria. An additional supply of training places is urgently required, particularly in the technical sector which is gaining importance in Ethiopia. The TVET which is now open in Hawariat Town is the sixth training institution which "Menschen für Menschen" has established in Ethiopia and fitted out with the latest machines to support practical teaching. "Menschen für Menschen" has also run the "Agro-Technical and Technology College" (ATTC) in Harar since 1992.

This is a full-time vocational school offering courses of study in engineering, electrical engineering, automotive engineering and agricultural science, and to date 1,792 students have graduated from here with a bachelor's degree.