Kampala, January 17, 2020 – Three Regional Centres of Excellence in Ethiopia have received USD16.4 million as part of the World Bank-supported initiative to promote skills development in key priority sectors of the economy, including Manufacturing, Energy, Transport and Infrastructure.
The three Institutes, which include Dire Dawa Polytechnic College, General Wingate Polytechnic College, and the Federal TVET Institute, among others were selected as Regional Centres of Excellence in transport and infrastructure, electricity and energy as well as manufacturing and leather respectively.
The support is part of the East Africa Skills for Transformation and Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP), an initiative of African Governments and the World Bank to increase access and improve the quality of TVET programs in East Africa and to support regional integration.
Ms. Kalkidan Tadesse, the EASTRIP National Coordinator, said, “The financing is a Milestone in the implementation of EASTRIP project in Ethiopia. It will support the Institutes to begin implementing programs to increase access and improve the quality of TVET programs in Ethiopia and further support regional integration in East Africa”.
EASTRIP is designed to address shortage of technical skills by providing technical, financial and industry partnership to increase access and improve the relevance and quality of training programs in selected regional centres of excellence. It also facilitates regional integration by providing a regional platform to promote exchanges of policies and practices, students and faculty mobility and harmonization of standards and qualifications.
The Project is currently being implemented in 16 selected regional centres of excellence in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
Notes to Editors.
- EASTRIP is project funded by the governments of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania and the World Bank to increase access and improve the quality of TVET programs in 16 regional flagship TVET Centres of Excellence and to support regional integration.
- The World Bank is financing the project with USD293 both in grants and credit for the period of five years.
- The project supports the development of highly specialized TVET programs at diploma and degree levels for training of technicians and TVET faculty, as well as industry recognized short-term training, targeting regional priority sectors in transport, energy, manufacturing, agro processing and ICT.
- Three East African countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, are participating in the first round of the project.
For further information, please contact
Godwin Bonge Muhwezi at: gmuhwezi@iucea.org