By Abraham Lebeza Alemu
Kombolcha Polytechnic College, as one of the beneficiaries of East Africa Skills for Transformation and Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP), is engaged in curriculum development for new demand driven programmes to be offered at the college. EASTRIP project objective it to increase access and improve the quality of TVET programs in selected Regional Flagship TVET Institutes and to support regional integration in East Africa.
To increase access and quality of TVET program, the EASTRIP Project Implementation Unit at Kombolcha Polytechnic College initiated the review of labor market assessments carried out at the national level and the regional level. To this end, the national TVET strategy in Ethiopia promotes the Ethiopian Occupational Standards (EOS) is an input for the outcome-based TVET system. The current and anticipated future demand of the economy and the labor market is streamlined through the national occupational standard on which the industries play a pivotal role.
National Occupational Standard The national occupational standard developed by Federal TVET Agency is an overarching document that encompasses the range of occupational standards aligned with the national strategic development plan and TVET colleges and regulatory TVET bodies adopt training programs from the national occupational standard. Kombolcha Polytechnic College (KPC), EASTRIP flagship institutes is engaged in priority sector called automotive technology (infrastructure/transport).
As a result, KPC in its plan to embark on new program developments, it uses the national occupational standard guiding framework. The national occupational standard hierarchically put the automotive technology as occupation, transport as sub-sector and infrastructure as economic sector up the tier.
New Program Development Kombolcha Polytechnic College to increase the current four training programs delivered at different level, it added an additional three automotive programs from the national occupational standard and developed curricula for each program that guides the training program.
The national occupational standard document for the three automotive programs which elaborates the unit of competencies under each program and the knowledge and skills required with in each competencies and the method and context of assessment for each unit of competencies was an essential input for the curriculum development. 2 Like the occupational standard which seeks the great involvement of individuals with hands on practical experience in the industry, the curriculum development for the three new programs congregates curriculum experts from TVET colleges and universities, technical experts on automotive technology and regulatory institutions from the regional and federal TVET bureau have been engaged to supervise the process.
Following the new program development, the regional TVET and Enterprise Development Bureau tasked to spearhead the accreditation of the program along with the regional transport bureau have and their own review of the new program development process and have accredited the three programs at Kombolcha Polytechnic College. KPC is engaging in the preparation of teachers training and learning materials (TTLM) to guide these programs.
The three programs developed are:-
- Vehicle Power Train and Under Chassis Overhauling, Level III
- Automotive Body Repair and Painting Supervision, Level IV and
- Automotive Electromechanical Analyzing and Modification Level V
Kombolcha Polytechnic College First-Move The national TVET strategy promotes the use of developed new programs across the TVET colleges in the country. This avoids the duplication of effort that wastes time and money which otherwise used for other productive purpose.
Kombolcha Polytechnic College as the first college to develop the three programs, it is coinciding to contribute the three new programs developed at the college level which can be further adopted by the national and regional TVET colleges. KPC can leverage on its efforts and its long reputation in the sub-sector to absorb more opportunity of partnership with industries, higher institutions and public office. This would further reinforce to build its reputable image to the outside world and attract more trainees in automotive sector.
The Writer is the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at Kombolcha Polytechnic College
