ADDIS ABABA – Federal Technical and Vocational Education and Training Agency (FTVETA) said that it is planning to revise Occupational Standards (OS) of the textile to address the gaps witnessed in the sector and meet industries’ demand for skilled human power.
Abera Abate, Communication Director of the Agency said that because most of the contents are duplicated and irrelevant within the range of textile training levels, they are creating difficulty to complete courses in short period of time and challenging trainees to grasp tangible skill and knowledge.
Ethiopia’s textile and apparel industry is growing at an average rate of 51 percent, and more than 65 textile investment projects have been licensed for foreign investors in the last five to six years.
The sector is demanding skilled human power in the market for various reasons and the Agency has planned to review the OS as one of the remedies to undo the challenge.
Abera noted that nine OS had been well revised by senior textile experts drawn from the industry and pertinent stakeholders. The developed document will be enriched further to be implemented at respective TVETs.
The identified competences needed in the labour market should be the final benchmark of teaching, training and learning, and all institutions, rules and regulations of the TVET system will be re-defined so that they support citizens to become competent.
Noting that the current machineries and technologies in textile sector is computerized, the OS lacks to incorporate basic computer skills in the competency in each levels.
To do away the gaps, FTVETA and Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute with other pertinent stakeholders are working to revise the contents of the competencies in a manner to let TVETs produce skilled and competent human power.
Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute senior Textile Engineer Solomon Alebachew for his part said that the OS in service does not have specific self-employment textile skills like, hand loom and small scale dyeing as well small scale printing competency. Thus considering revision of the OS is instrumental to create competent and adaptable workforce..
The Ethiopian Herald February 19/2020
BY MENGISTEAB TESHOME
