Ethiopian engineers from Arba Minch, Haramaya, Hawassa, Mekelle, Jimma, and Bahir Dar Universities have been certified as educators able to teach using the most state of the art methods. The certification ceremony was carried out at Ghion Hotel on May 25, 2010 at 4:00pm. The training program was implemented by the Engineering Capacity Building Program (ecbp) together with IGIP, the International Society for Engineering Education which is responsible for the certification of engineering educator curricula as well as the individual educators.
The engineering pedagogy curriculum has been adapted from an international curriculum by ecbp in order to positively impact the quality of trained engineers in Ethiopia. The training was the first of its kind in Ethiopia and served as a pilot program which will now be scaled up throughout the country.
Signifying the importance of such certification in Ethiopia, H.E. Ato Wondwossen Kiflu, State Minister of Education and ecbp Strategic Director, Prof. Dr. Gudrun Kammasch, the President of the IGIP National Monitoring Committee of Germany, and Mrs. Sabine Becker and Dr. Mebrahtu Meles, Directors of ecbp were in attendance.
Following the certification ceremony the official foundation of the Ethiopian IGIP National Monitoring Committee took place. Having the National Monitoring Committee in Ethiopia will help to accelerate the accreditation of engineering training institutes, strengthen the ownership of the process, support sustainability and lower the costs of accreditation.
ecbp conducts an IGIP accredited training program to improve teaching and learning in the education of engineers as one of its major interventions in the University Reform. The reform is part of the Engineering Capacity Building Program which is improving the competitiveness of the private sector in Ethiopia through reforms in the engineering education at universities and technical schools as well as enhancing the quality infrastructure of the country.