Bright Future in Agriculture teacher internships are moving ahead
As part of the Bright Future in Agriculture (BFA) project in Ethiopia the teachers of partner TVET's within the project are being trained and take part in internship apprenticeships to get in-depth field knowledge from agricultural businesses.
The end of August was an eventful one as on the 30th and 31st, the Internship-Apprenticeship experience visit for representatives of the beneficiary colleges was held in Addis Ababa at the Sapphire Addis Hotel.
On the morning of August 30th, a trip to Family Milk Processing Factory was organized for the beneficiary college representatives. The deputy manager, Mr. Abrham Mechal gave a tour of the factory and described the different stages in the milk production process. Discussions on the needs of the private sector from college students and graduates in regards to attitude and skills being taught in the colleges were conducted. In the afternoon presentations were given on the needs of the dairy and horticulture private sectors and their expectations from college interns and graduates. Mr. Wondirad Abraham from the Ethiopian Commercial Milk Processors Association and Mr. Tewodros Zewdie from the Ethiopian Horticulture Producers Exporters Association represented the two sectors and asserted their dedication to the goal of the project to create a strong link between the colleges and the private sector. The presentations were followed by a question and answer session and a briefing on the Internship-Apprenticeship report.
The event on August 31st started with a drive to Holeta where the group visited strawberry farm; AgriFlora PLC. General Manager of the farm, Mr. Gedion Demissie, showed the group the different green houses and explained the stages of production, collection, sorting, and packaging that take place on site. Similar to the previous day, the topics on expectations and the experience of the farm working with interns and graduates so far were discussed. Future collaborations and the willingness to work together with colleges was stated by Mr. Gedion and he explained the obvious need to equip students with practical skills in order for them to succeed in their future work environment. Following the farm visit, a planning session for the upcoming teacher’s internship took place at the Sapphire Addis Hotel. Tasks and activities such as preparation of orientation booklets, selection of teachers to participate in the internship, developing MoUs for host companies etc. to be carried out in the coming weeks and months were identified and each college took on the responsibility to implement these activities.
Overall, the event that comprised of the experience visit and the briefing planning sessions of the Internship-Apprenticeship program was a productive one. At the moment planned activities are being executed and the execution of the teacher’s internship can proceed in the coming weeks of October.
More field visits
The internship apprenticeships continued after the successful event in August, multiple activies have been planned and are being executed in October. The teachers of Bako ATVET, Merawi ATVET, Woreta ATVET, Bishoftu ATVET, Kombolcha ATVET, and Wolaita Soddo ATVET started their internships at different companies in the dairy farm industry and horticulture industry.
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Orange Knowledge Programme
This project is part of the Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) which is funded by the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by Nuffic. For more information click here.
