Godwin Bonge Muhwezi
The East African Skills for Transformation and Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP) is currently undergoing mid-term review to assess the project performance among implementing agencies towards attaining Project Development Objectives.
EASTRIP is a five-year project funded by the World Bank and the governments of Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania to increase the access and improve the quality of TVET programmes in selected Regional Flagship TVET Institutes and to support regional integration in East Africa. The project implementation commenced in 2019 following the signing of financing agreements between the World Bank and the governments of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania.
The project is currently being implemented the three East African countries among 16 Regional Flagship TVET Institutes (RFTIs) selected through a transparent and competitive process. In addition, the project’s institutional beneficiaries include the ministries of education and national TVET agencies, more specifically, the Ministry of Skills and Labour and the Federal TVET Agency in Ethiopia; the Ministry of Education (MoE), TVET Authority, and Curriculum Development Assessment and Certification Council (TVET CDACC) in Kenya; and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST), National Council for Technical Education (NACTE), Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA), and Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) in Tanzania. The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), is the regional facilitation unit (RFU) for the project and it is responsible for coordinating at a regional level and ensuring that all RFTI and other implementing agencies meet their targets.
The project evaluation team has already held consultative meetings with different stakeholders in the three participating countries. The evaluation exercise provides an opportunity to identify any issues affecting the project and discuss amendments or modifications of the project if required. Preliminary findings show that majority of the implanting institutions and agencies have surpassed or are on course to meet their midterm targets.
Overall, the project aims to benefit the following groups of beneficiaries:
- Students enrolled in selected Regional Flagship TVET Institutes and their partner institutions (non-project TVET institutes) in the country and across the region.
- Employers and targeted industries who will have access to a skilled workforce matched with their needs and standards.
- Faculty and staff from the selected Regional Flagship TVET Institutes whose academic, technical, management, and pedagogical skills will be upgraded and who will function in an improved teaching environment with upgraded facilities and can exchange knowledge and staff with other EASTRIP flagship TVET institutes and countries.
- Students, faculty, and staff in non-project TVET institutes partnering with the selected flagship TVET institutes who will benefit from knowledge sharing in good TVET management, program development, and instructional practices and from sharing of standards, curriculum, and training facilities.
- Public and private TVET institutes within the East Africa region that will have access to a network of specialized trainers, a framework of core curricular competencies, quality assurance standards, and state-of-the-art facilities for up-to-date training of the workforce in priority sectors in the region.
The Writer Is the Project Communication Officer for EASTRIP at Inter University Council for East Africa (IUCEA).