Area: Africa
Country: Ethiopia

Between March 5 and 22, members of the SKY project made a trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The field trip was initiated to accomplish two objectives.  First, to pretest survey instruments for use in the skill assessment, conduct follow-up survey. Second, to make logistical arrangements for the large-scale skill assessment that will be administered to TVET colleges and textile factories throughout various industrial parks.

Two assessment modules were pretested to measure numeracy and integrated skills. Team members verified the Amharic translation of the assessment modules with the local research assistant and our research partners at Addis Ababa University. Following the verification, we proceeded to conduct the pretest in three schools: Jerusalem Primary School, Dej Belay Zeleke No.1 Seconday School, and Misrak Polytechnic College. Our research partners recommended the primary and secondary schools and our team selected Misrak Polytechnic College based on our past collaboration. Our sample included 48 students from grades 5-8, 49 students from grades 9-10, and 54 TVET trainees from Levels 1-2.

The team also visited other TVET colleges to conduct a tracer study and class observation. The tracer study targeted trainees who took part in our 2017 interviews. During class observation, our team learned that a group of trainees would be sent to an industrial attachment as part of their practical training. Our team therefore extended the field visit to take advantage of this opportunity to follow-up on the group. One team member conducted a two-day on-site observational study to gain a deeper understanding of the functioning of cooperative training. The information obtained from the pretest and in-depth observational study were used to finalize the survey instruments.

The team’s last mission was to make arrangements for the large-scale skills assessment to be conducted at Bole Lemi I Industrial Park. In detailing our plans and strategies for the assessment, our team received support from the Bole Lemi – Industrial Park Development Cooperation and The Ethiopian Garment Manufacturing Association (ETGAMA). Our team also reiterated our commitment to the Federal MoE – TVET Agency of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute to ensure their continuing support of this project.