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UNESCO Liaison Office Addis Ababa provided financial support for the Ethiopian National Skills Competition, held, for the second time, from 20th to 26th April, 2021 in Addis Ababa. The competitions fall under the Better Education for Africa’s Rise (BEAR) II project which is a joint initiative between UNESCO and the Republic of Korea, to support the improvement of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems in Ethiopia in three result areas: TVET Relevance, TVET Quality and Perception of TVET, focusing on Agro-processing occupations. One of the planned activities in result area three was skills competition.

The 2021 National Skills Competition, Technology and Practical Research Symposium and Exhibition theme was “Skilled Citizen for Ethiopian Prosperity”. The main objectives of the skills competition were to enable young people to engage in skills training and be able to change and counter the wrong perceptions of the community regarding TVET in Ethiopia.

H.E. Dr. Samuel Urkato, Minister for the Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, officially opened the National Skills Competition and Show. The Minister underlined that; the skills competition will motivate young people in Ethiopia to create and invent new technologies to improve the development and prosperity of Ethiopia. Additionally, he appreciated the organizers, partners and stakeholders for their financial and technical support.

The National Skills competition was held in three competition teams and three competition skills. The three teams were; Trainers, Trainees and Small Scale Enterprises, while the three competition skills were; Skills, Technology and Practical Research and Development. The skills competition was held in 18 fields, which were: Automotive Engine Servicing, Automotive Electrical/Electronic Servicing, Instrumentation and Control Servicing, Masonry, Building and Electrical Installation, Sanitary Installation Work, Tilling, Food and Beverage Service, Foreign Dish Cooking, Welding, Mechanics, Machining, Conventional and CNC, Advanced Apparel, Textile Chemical Processing, Advanced Leather Production, Data Base Administration, Hardware and Network Servicing.

All TVET institutions, Trainers and Small-Scale Operators, from the various regions of the country, participated in the skills competition in the different levels. The winners from the various regions were selected to participate at the National level. Currently, Ethiopia has more than 766 government and more than 890 private TVET institutions, with a total of  313,000 trainees in the government training institutions, as of 2021. The winners nominated for the National Skills Competition and Skills Show were trainees from the government institutions. After a massive nomination, the best three performers from the 18 fields were awarded and rewarded, in the presence of government officials, regional representatives, representative stakeholders and partners.

Finally, after the finalization of competitions in the mentioned skills, the competition was officially closed on April 26, 2021 by rewarding the best three performers from the above 18 fields.

In the conclusion of the competition and rewarding of winners, H.E Dr. Samuel  mentioned that, the platform would allow the respective stakeholders to look at the current and future Ethiopian job market and examine the direction of the existing middle and low-level human development in the country. He further noted that this would positively enable TVET skills to receive the appreciation it deserves among the community, professionals, policy makers, partners, stakeholders and young people. The platform will also encourage young people to train according to their interests.

For more information, please contact  Demissew Lemma at d.lemma@unesco.org