ADDIS ABABA- The engineering capacity building program, ecbp, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education is to conduct a millennium ethio skill competition that will be held through out the country, ecbp's deputy program director disclosed yesterday.
The contest, which the deputy director said was aimed at creating demand-driven reform orientations, is meant for students in the Technical and Vocational TVET, at 10+2 level.
"The end result of the reform focuses on generation highly skilled crafts men out of them and hence to enhance the competitiveness of the private sector in the global market in the long run," Anbesswondm Mamo said speaking to reporters at his office.
He said Technical and vocational schools are considered a second option for those students who are not able to join Universities.
"Curbing such approaches not only changes the attitudes of the society towards TEVT, it will also help to provide the market with highly skilled technicians," he added.
The contest will take place in all regions and contestants below the age of 25 who are screened and believed to be eligible for the final contest by the judges will travel to Addis for the final contest which will be held on the eve of the Millennium.
Ethio-skills competition was held for the first time last year, as a light project in which six regions managed to participate in the contest due to lack of time and lack of awareness about the contest.
For this year's competition, ecbp has called on all the regional competitors to observe the deadline and send contestants' name on time.
The idea of the Skills competition was adapted from a world skill contest that was started in Spain in 1953 with a motto to raise the status and standards of TEVT world wide.
Today, the contest takes place among 42 member countries – only three, (including Ethiopia) are from Africa.
According to Tibebu Tegegn, Technical and vocational education expert with the Ministry of Education, the contest is instrumental in implementing the ministry's educational system to the benefit of the students and the country at large.
The contest will enhance the motivation of the Nation's youth towards creating job opportunities and at the same time access to loans from micro-finance institutions to start their own jobs," he said and expressed gratefulness to ecbp for taking initiative.
Though Ethiopia has to work a lot to join this international contest, ecbp has laid the egg which the nation in general and the Ministry of Education in particular will hatch at some time in the future, he added.
TVET is one of the four components of ecbp, an Ethiopian program working to improve competitiveness and promote employment in the country. It is also working on university reform, quality infrastructure and private sector development, according to Anbesswondm Mamo.