At the 2nd TVET International Conference held from July 29th to 31st, Dr. Christian Otchia participated as a panelist in the discussions entitled “Managing TVET Systems to Meet the Demand for Changing Skills and Trends” and “Financing TVET: Options and Challenges”.

In the panel discussion on TVET system management, opinions were exchanged on TVET management to bridge the skill gap. Challenges to Ethiopia’s TVET include a lack of teachers’ hands-on experience and an inadequate follow-up system for students’ factory training. It was pointed out that improving these two points will contribute to efficient TVET management that alleviates skill mismatches. Participants also discussed the fact that the occupational standard was designed by the government of Ethiopia and thus has a top-down composition. It was argued that it is important to create standards from the bottom-up demand side to clarify what kind of skills are required by the private sector. Therefore, the importance of private sector capacity development was emphasized.

In the panel discussion on TVET finance, participants mainly discussed the expansion and efficiency of contributions. Government contributions dominate Ethiopia’s TVET finances, but TVET accounts for only 6% of total education contributions even though the government attaches great importance to the TVET sector as it contributes to economic development and is key to national development. In that sense, increasing contributions to the TVET sector will promote further national development. Additionally, regarding the efficiency of the expenditures, some points cause inefficient expenses such as the existence of unused machines. Given these situations, it is crucial to consider how to spend expenditures efficiently.

Ethiopian TVET experts, aid agencies, government officials and TVET experts from other countries also attended the above panel discussions, and it was a valuable opportunity to exchange opinions on the future development of Ethiopian TVET.