Ethiopia is to establish three institutes and develop Kombolcha Technology Institute to address the shortage of human resource in the textile and garment sector. It is expected that the institutes will commence operations in the next budget year.
The initiative to establish the institutions came from the Export Committee, which aims to support export-driven sectors by addressing challenges such as finance, electricity, land and human resources.
The Export Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, discussed means to address the need for at least 1.3 million trained personnel for the textile and garment sector with just 40,000 people currently engaged in these industries according to a study undertaken by experts from the Textile Development Institute.
The committee made the decision to set up textile engineering institutes in Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and Axum as well as upgrading the institute in Kombolcha explained sources. The sites for the institutes were selected for their proximity to existing textile and garment industries it was learned.The institutions will be put under the management of the schools of technology at universities in the various locations said a source. The training is expected to include practical as well as theoretical courses he added.
The curriculum will take into account the need of the market and the industry as established by a study noted the source.
The four universities administering the new program will offer five year courses in three phases. The first phase making the first three years will cover basic theoretical engineering and textile related courses while the second phase effective in the fourth year will allow practical internships.
The last phase which will take a year and a half will allow students to specialize in various focus areas with the textile and garments sectors.
Source: Addis Fortune
