Shaanxi Province of China unveils new initiative to support Ethiopia’s TVET sector

Addis Ababa, November 29, 2023 (FBC) – The 2023 China-Ethiopia Academic Exchange Seminar on Occupational Standards Revision and Development and TVET Exhibition took place in Addis Ababa on Wednesday.

Chinese and Ethiopian Government officials, the TVET sector leadership staff from Ethiopia and Shaanxi Province of China, researchers and scholars from both countries were in attendance of the high-level seminar.

In his opening remarks, Abraham Asrat, Advisor to Minister and CEO of Strategic Affairs at the Ministry of Labor and Skills, stated that the seminar took place at a time when the multifaceted collaboration between Ethiopia and China has reached the highest level based on the spirit of true friendship and shared vision of progress.

“One month prior, during the third “Belt and Read” International Cooperation Summit Forum, Prime Minister Abiy affirmed that this Initiative serves as a catalyst for Africa’s ascent. This seminar embodies that soaring spirit, convening expertise from institutions committed to advancing technical skills and unlocking human potential,” he noted.

“Since 1970, Ethiopia and China have cultivated a comprehensive strategic partnership rooted in mutual respect and cooperation. Ethiopia’s enthusiastic participation in jointly constructing the “Belt and Road” has made our collaboration a vanguard of China-Africa cooperation, achieving new milestones across various domains. Within this framework, connectivity enhancing rail and road projects have stimulated regional integration, livelihoods and cordial exchanges between our peoples,” Abraham said.

“With a commitment to equip youth with competitive skills for the jobs of tomorrow, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Labor and Skills envisions universal access to sustainable livelihoods. The “Belt and Road” aligns seamlessly with these strategic priorities. We eagerly strengthen cooperation within this framework to fully realize our shared vision, he noted, adding that the seminar embodies collective dedication to cementing unbreakable bonds between Ethiopia and China,” Abraham underscored.

Shen Xuefeng, Deputy Director-General of Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial Government, for his part, stated that the new TVET cooperation program under the framework of the “Belt and Road Initiative” denotes China’s unwavering commitment to support Ethiopia in realizing a sound economic development.

He added that the seminar would help identify the major cooperation areas between Shaanxi Province of China and Ethiopia in the TVET sector.

“We will support TVET institutions in Ethiopia in preparation of quality standards, guidelines, manuals and other needed outputs as per demand of the industrial sector in the country.”

He said the cooperating and mismatching between peer institutions will be set up at the national and institutional levels to address the

“At the national level, we will support development of occupational standards as per the demand of the industrial development sector in Ethiopia. And at the institutional level, we will make match-making between Ethiopian and Chinese institutions that are located particularly in Shaanxi Province,” he explained.

“We are now identifying common interests for future collaboration that would help capacitate the Ethiopian TVET sector based on the outcome based approaches,” he said.

“We will also facilitate increased enrollment of Ethiopia students to pursue technical and vocational training colleges and universities of our province,” he promised.

“Currently there are 68 Ethiopian students attending TVET trainings in our province, and we will maximize this number significantly,” he noted.

Mark Gong Zhiwu (PhD), Director General of China-Africa Vocational Education Alliance, said the seminar is believed explore crucial inputs for the initiative to support preparation of training materials and unveil months’ long capacity building training programs for Ethiopian trainees.

Joint training programs will be jointly implemented by Chinese and Ethiopian institutions so as to boost knowledge transfer for mutual benefits. And trainees will be granted with certificates authenticated by both sides, according to Mark Gong Zhiwu.

The major focus areas of the initiative are mechanical engineering, industrial development, electricity, ICT, Agriculture, textile, garment and leather sector.

Martha Woldu, Lead Executive Officer for Occupational Standards, Curriculum and Assessment Tool Development Department at the Ethiopia’s Ministry of Labor and Skills, the outputs gained from the seminar are crucial in bringing market-driven curricular revisions based on the objective realities in the Ethiopian industrial landscape.

The experiences we gain from the Chinese side through the seminar would help fill the skills mismatch between industries and TVET training institutions in Ethiopia so as to accelerating the industrial development in the country, Martha explained.

“The seminar would also enable us to garner best experiences from Chinese TVET institutions to ensure that the curriculum development and preparation of occupational standards as well us trainings are well led by demands of the industry.”

Almaz Minale, Head of Occupational Standards Desk at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Labor and Skills, highlighted the significance of the alliance in up scaling competence of Ethiopian trainees and trainers through knowledge transfer from the Chinese side.

Almaz stressed that the experiences to be taken from the Chinese side would help promote participation of the private sector in preparation of TVET curriculums and occupational standards, adding that this will in turn boost productivity of the industrial sector in a way that would help accelerating Ethiopia’s economic growth.

Wang Ping, Deputy Director General of the Belt and Road Vocational Education Alliance and Principal of the Shaanxi Technical and Vocational College, pointed out that we have already identified our best experiences in the TVET sector which are believed to help Ethiopia transform the sector as per the need from its flourishing investment climate.

“We will make joint assessments with Ethiopian professionals on how to ensure that the TVET sector is best fitted with industrial sector, and foster the engagement of the industry in the TVET curriculum development,” he said.

“I believe that the initiative would enable the TVET better serve the need from the industry based on the actual demand from the latter,” he said.

On the seminar, some 11 TVET colleges and polytechnics drawn from Shaanxi Province of China have shared their experiences to Ethiopian counterpart. A panel discussion was also held aiming at identifying potential areas of cooperation between Ethiopia and the Shaanxi Province of China in the TVET sector.

The China-Africa Belt and Road TVET alliance has 105 members from different countries of the world including industrial companies, TVET colleges and government institutions.

By Wondesen Aregahegn