State of the Art Engineering Education in Ethiopia

Since its inception, ecbp has worked towards a higher level of engineering education at Ethiopian universities as the importance of engineers in the industrial development of the country is seen as significant. In order to ensure the quality of education is increasing, ecbp teamed up with the International Society for Engineering Education (IGIP) to have curricula and engineering educators certified according to international standards.

On May 25th, 2010, thirty-one engineering educators who passed the modern engineering pedagogy curricula for International Engineering Education and whose education, training and professional experience met the IGIP standards were certified and registered as “International Engineering Educator ING-PAED IGIP”.

H.E. Mr. Wondwossen Kiflu, State Minister of Education and ecbp Director, applauds as Prof. Dr. Gudrun Kammasch, the President of the IGIP National Monitoring Committee of Germany, distributes certificates at the ceremony.

 

This training and certification was the first in Ethiopia. The year long curriculum was adapted by ecbp according to the local needs and then certified by IGIP. The educators who acquired state of the art knowledge and skills for teaching concepts of science, practical engineering pedagogy and international dimensions of engineering education will be able to streamline the methods of teaching and learning when they are delivering instruction to their respective students.

Prof. Dr. Gudrun Kammasch, the President of the IGIP National Monitoring Committee of Germany, stated in her opening speech that, “You, engineering pedagogue are the first multipliers of this way of learning and teaching pedagogy to strengthen and expand skills in the engineering education here in your country.” These educators are now expected to pass their knowledge on to colleagues and students at their universities.

Engineers are seen as vital to the development of the Ethiopian economy and with the new curricula and National Monitoring Committee in place, a higher level of engineers can be expected from Ethiopian universities.

 

In order to ensure the sustainability of training engineering educators to internationally accepted levels, a National Monitoring Committee (NMC) of IGIP was launched in Ethiopia to coincide with the certification of the first group of educators. Previously the certification of curricula and educators was being handled by the NMC of Germany. With an NMC now established in Ethiopia, the certification process can be conducted in a more timely and cost effective manner.