Internships: Advancing Ethiopian Engineering

The ancient proverb of Confucius says, “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember; I do and I understand” – a great piece of advice that most people would quickly agree with. When anyone learns only by listening to or watching instructors, the knowledge gained is insufficient. In order for a student to really grasp an idea, practical training through guided instruction or trial and error is a must.

For this reason, the engineering faculties of Ethiopian universities have begun to adopt a reformed curriculum, developed together with the Engineering Capacity Building Program (ecbp). This curriculum mandates that all students participate in an internship of one semester before they are permitted to graduate. This is known as the Qualified Internship System (QIS).

During their internships, students receive regular visits from one of their university instructors who serves as a mentor. In this way, the students get additional on the job training as can be seen here.

 

As Brook Abebe, an intern in the Addis Ababa Urban Planning and Information Institute, shows the results of his primary project – a 144 hectare regulation plan for a mixed industrial/residential zone in Kaliti – he talks about how much he has learned. This was his first major task in the department and it took him about 2 months to complete. He said that at first it seemed much too complex an assignment for him, but he quickly conquered his fears and can now be proud of his work.

Brook’s supervisor, Ephrem Bekele, had only good things to say about the experience of hosting interns. He acknowledged that all of his interns were prepared well academically and were able to capitalize on their theoretical knowledge with a little guidance from himself and his permanent staff. As the interns became more comfortable in their new setting and improved their capacities, they helped to ease the department’s shortage of staff and produce necessary outputs.

Students, seen here working in an architectural studio, were given - and accomplished - various tasks during their internships.

 

Fasil Giorghis, who runs his own architectural consulting firm as well as serving as an instructor at AAU, was very impressed with the work of his 3 interns. As an educator, he stressed the skills that exposure to the real working world brings to students. Fasil cited examples. Instead of creating projects that receive a grade and then get forgotten about, the interns now had to consider the needs of the clients – and they did. One even questioned a decision Fasil made in terms of what the client wanted. This type of confidence did not exist before the students had exposure to the work environment.

Examples of the work undertaken by interns while working at Fasil Giorghis' consulting firm.

 

In the coming September, almost 1,500 students from AAU, Bahir Dar, Mekelle, and Jimma Universities will begin their internships. As the interns gain valuable practical knowledge in their fields and, just as importantly, become familiar with working in an office environment everyone benefits. In the near future businesses and government offices will have a larger pool of exceptionally qualified graduates to select from; leading to more advanced engineering in Ethiopia.