Vocational Training in the Informal Sector

Transcription

1 Agence Française de Développement Working Paper November Vocational Training in the Informal Sector Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey Research financed by GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit) Richard Walther, ITG Consultant Translation: Adam Ffoulkes Roberts DEPARTEMENT DE LA RECHERCHE Agence Française de Développement Direction de la Stratégie Département de la Recherche 5 rue Roland Barthes Paris - France

2 Foreword This report is an integral part of the survey and analysis work launched by the Research Department of the French Development Agency (Agence Française de Développement, AFD) on training in the informal sector in five African countries (South Africa, Benin, Cameroon, Morocco and Senegal). It was commissioned by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and uses the same working assumptions as those applied to the other countries studied. It is also complementary to the report on Ethiopia, which was produced on behalf of the German technical co-operation agency (GTZ) and also used the methodological framework developed by the AFD. The Angola field survey was carried out with extensive support from the French Embassy. However, the objectives could not have been met without assistance from Emilio Ferreira and Fernando Madeira, experts with the firm HRD (Human Resources Development) who helped the field survey mission to interpret the subtleties embedded in certain situations and accounts of different experiences. Above all, they were able to convince certain people with little availability that they should provide the survey team with information and analysis coming under their area of authority. The survey benefited from the expertise of Anna Sofia Manzoni., who helped to identify the most legitimate Angolan representatives in the area studied and also provided her support in identifying documentary sources on the subject. The survey also benefited from the extremely useful help of Abel Piqueras Candela, of the European Commission, who agreed to make a critical appraisal of the final report and notably checked that the sources quoted really do reflect the most recent changes in the country s education and vocational training policies. Lastly, this report was also able to draw on extensive and very useful documentation, notably thanks to the representatives of the European Commission Delegation, the UNDP, the DW, USAID and IDIA. They are very warmly thanked for their contributions. Working Paper N 15 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Concept Note. Working Paper N 16 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector Report on the Morocco Field Survey. Working Paper N 17 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector Report on the Cameroon Field Survey. Working Paper N 19 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector Report on the Benin Field Survey. Working Paper N 21 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector Report on the Senegal Field Survey. Working Paper N 30 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector Report on the South Africa Field Survey. Working Paper N 34 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey. Working Paper N 35 : Vocational Training in the Informal Sector Report on the Angola Field Survey. The Ethiopian case study has been produced by the GTZ in partnership with the AFD as a part of efforts to align the action of French and German development agencies. Disclaimer The analysis and conclusions of this document are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the official position of the AFD or its partner institutions. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 2

3 Table of contents 1. Introduction: Ethiopia, a country waking up to the reality of the informal sector How the survey was carried out The contribution of existing reports and studies 5 2. The country s economic and social challenges Growth is strong, but vulnerable to climatic and political conditions Persistent poverty Major educational needs An essentially rural and informal labour force A strong contrast between rural and urban activities Difficulties in appraising the informal sector as a whole Vocational training reform geared to the economic and social challenges Current state of TVET Towards a reform focusing on those concerned in the informal economy The main thrust of the reform The reform implementation process The challenges of reform: moving from an institutional to a grassroots approach Current training initiatives in the informal sector The reality of traditional apprenticeship a difficult issue Public policies targeting the creation of micro activities FEMSEDA entrepreneur training The Dire Dawa REMSEDA s integration and support role The Addis Ababa weavers training project (ILO) On-site training for MSEs in the building sector (GTZ) The strategic role of women in the informal sector The ILO survey and the profile of women entrepreneurs Dire Dawa Women Entrepreneurs Association (DDWEA) Dire Dawa Women s Association (DDWA) A training programme for empowering women Varied experiences from the world of agriculture The highly informal nature of employment in rural areas 33 AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 3

4 Table of contents Training farmers and agricultural development officials Training the rural population in community skills training centres (CSTC) The innovative activities of the Harar technical and agricultural training centre NGO actions Future developments and actions TVET reform and the opportunities for the informal sector Training institutions can ensure that training becomes an effective aspect of social and economic development The TVET system: skills assessment and certification for informal sector workers The outreach of reform in the informal sector The low impact of the training system on the informal sector TVET reform and the lack of recognition of skills development processes in the informal economy A paradigm shift with limited effects The challenge of revitalising the informal sector Looking closely at the real potential of traditional apprenticeship and self-learning methods The need for a qualitative analysis of informal economy occupations The need to go through with plans to recognise skills acquired in the informal sector The need to strengthen sectoral, territorial and institutional dynamics How to have informal sector workers take on responsibility for their own training and skills 46 In conclusion: the need to refocus the reform on grassroots initiatives 48 Appendix: recommendations and proposals for action 49 List of acronyms and abbreviations 51 References 52 AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 4

5 1. Introduction: Ethiopia, a country waking up to the reality of the informal sector The Ethiopian government is undertaking a complete reform of its education and vocational training system and wants the informal sector to be included in any changes. This is an ambitious strategy, which will entail a complete overhaul of the education and training system, focusing on outcomes and responding to the economy s needs, thus contributing to the country s development. It will also mean integrating the different kinds of training systems (formal, non-formal, informal) into an overall approach focusing on skills that have previously acquired, through whichever means. This shift from a unified system to a flexible and modular one, and from a qualification-based paradigm to one based on acquired vocational skills, offers a real opportunity for those working in the informal sector to obtain recognised qualifications. The reform notably includes plans for Centres of Competence whose purpose will be to acknowledge not only skills acquired through experience and work, but also those obtained through the various existing types of training. However, the inclusion of informal sector workers among the beneficiaries of the reform is not as easy as it sounds. The various officials met during the survey will have to acknowledge the reality of the informal sector and economy. This will not come easily. During our interviews, for example, it was difficult, if not impossible, to obtain precise figures concerning the informal sector s role in the labour market or its contribution to national wealth. It was even more difficult to gain any idea of the real situation concerning production and service activities in the informal sector, or to identify the traditional methods used for acquiring knowledge and know-how. Differing opinions were expressed and there was much debate as to the existence or otherwise of traditional forms of apprenticeship. It was as if the informal sector was viewed in terms of the role assigned to it by the reform, rather than by taking account of the actual situation and trends. In this respect, Ethiopia is at a crossroads. Domestic workers, women involved in income-generating activities, street vendors, small-holders vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather and all the micro-enterprises involved in production and service activities will not see any lasting improvement in their situation unless the reform acknowledges the reality of this situation and take steps to improve it. Moreover, the reform will not succeed in achieving its aim of training all those involved in economic production unless it takes account of the sector as it exists, and, more importantly, unless it involves and exploits the potential of existing stakeholders, partners and trends. The operational success of the current reform will undoubtedly enable Ethiopia s informal sector to shift from a paradigm of mere survival to one of growth and development. However, this will only happen if the reform, which is designed to facilitate the recognition and accreditation of the sector s human and vocational capital, first of all helps to develop and enhance what already exists instead of pursuing its own training agenda. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 5

6 1. Introduction: Ethiopia, a country waking up to the reality of the informal sector 1.1. How the survey was carried out The Ethiopia field survey differs from those carried out in the other countries in that it is the result of a fruitful partnership between German and French development agencies, namely the German Technical Co-operation Agency (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit - GTZ), which provides technical assistance to the Ethiopian authorities in the design and delivery of the reform of technical and vocational education and training (TVET), and the French development agency (Agence Française de Développement AFD), which has overall responsibility for the study on vocational training in the informal sector. The Ethiopia survey reflects the desire of the German and French agencies to align their thinking and efforts in the education and training field. It was funded under the Ethio- German TVET project, which started in 1999, and was organised further to a joint agreement between the Ethiopian education authorities and German technical assistance providers. The various German development aid agencies constitute the largest donor and support provider in the current process of vocational training reform. 1 The survey was carried out between 5 and 16 September It started in Addis Ababa, where meetings were held with the various officials responsible at federal and regional levels in the various ministries involved in vocational training. Meetings took place with the major international organisations involved in this field, as well as with national employers and trade union federations. It was also possible to meet some of the actors working closely with those economically and professionally active in the informal sector. After the interviews in the capital, the survey was completed by a field trip to the Dire Dawa region, where it was possible to interview project leaders working with micro-enterprises and production and service units, as well as some of the workers who actually benefited from the training and skills development activities. These meetings were particularly useful in that they shed light on the real situation in the informal economy and the way in which those working in it are trying to raise themselves above subsistence level The contribution of existing reports and studies Unlike Morocco and Cameroon, Ethiopia has not undertaken any specific national surveys on the informal economy. Neither has Addis Ababa been the subject of a specific survey such as those carried out for the major capital cities of West Africa. 2 However, the 2005 Labour Force Survey carried out by the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) of Ethiopia 3 provides some data which can be used to make an objective appraisal of the significance and role of those working in the informal sector. However, current data and forecast trends concerning the economic, social and educational situation are widely available. The Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP), 4 published in October 2005, follows on from the Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program (SDPRP). 5 It describes in detail the progress made since 2000 and sets out the major policies and means required to enable Ethiopia to achieve economic growth and reduce poverty. It also includes useful data for this study, notably regarding what is happening in the education and training area and how efforts to boost micro and small enterprises (MSEs) can improve national economic growth and reduce unemployment, and on the strategic sectors and market niches which have job growth potential. This plan thus combines economic strategy, a skills devel- 1 German technical assistance in the reform of TVET is being supported by most institutions or organisations specialised in international development aid: the Centre for International Migration (Center für Internationale Migration - CIM), the German Development Service (Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst - DED), Capacity Building International (Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung ggmbh - InWEnt) and Senior Expert Service (SES). The GTZ, which is the technical cooperation agency, is responsible for coordinating all of the partners involved. The German Development Bank KfW also provides financial support for some parts of the reform programme. 2 STATECO, (2005), Méthodes statistiques et économiques pour le développement et la transition, No Central Statistical Agency, (2006), The 2005 Labour Force Survey. 4 Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED), (2005), Ethiopia: Building on Progress: A Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) (2005/6-2009/10). 5 The Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program (SDPRP) covered the years 2000/ /04. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 6

7 1. Introduction: Ethiopia, a country waking up to the reality of the informal sector opment strategy, and the inclusion of informal sector workers in the vision of the country s future. The third phase of the Education Sector Development Program (ESDP-III), 6 which follows on from a programme initially launched by the Ethiopian Government in 1997, gives an overview of the education system and explains in detail how training and education policies are contributing to the overall strategy for boosting growth and reducing poverty. Information on the current TVET reform may be found in a number of reports, the most important of which is the National Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Strategy. 7 The latest version of this report was being completed during our survey. The document sets out and explains the reform s key guidelines and the various phases of its development. The reform s implementation framework, notably regarding the inclusion of non-formal training in the future TVET system, is dealt with in a separate document which has been produced by the Education Ministry with German technical assistance. 8 All of these documents, which are constantly being updated, clearly show that the inclusion of vocational training in the country s development strategy, and notably efforts to recognise the informal sector s role and skills needs, is at the heart of the political agenda. The only things missing from this comprehensive bibliography are a very detailed analysis of the informal sector/economy, and an objective picture of its contribution to the country s growth and poverty-reduction policy. 6 Ministry of Education, (2005), Education Sector Development Program (ESDP-III), 2005/ , Program Action Plan (PAP). 7 Ministry of Education (September 2006), National Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Strategy. 8 Engineering Capacity Building Program (ECPB, July 2006), Non-Formal TVET Implementation Framework, Building Ethiopia. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 7

8 2. The country s economic and social challenges Ethiopia s informal sector is part of an economy that remains heavily dependent on the primary sector, although a noticeable shift towards services and production activities is under way. It has also been fully included in the policy to combat poverty and reduce illiteracy and under-education rates among the population Growth is strong, but vulnerable to climatic and political conditions Since the Federal State was established in 1994, Ethiopia has enjoyed a relatively sustained rate of growth, significantly above that of Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. However, this rate suddenly fell from 8.8% to 2.7% in 2002, and there was negative growth in 2003 (-3.7%). This was due to the drought that afflicted the country in 2002/2003. Economic growth then peaked at an unprecedented 13.1% in 2004, mainly due to the quick recovery of agricultural production. According to the OECD, the Ethiopian economy should continue to show good results following the 2004 peak. Economic growth for 2004/2005 was 6.8% and a rate of 5.8% has been forecast for 2005/2006. Table 1. GDP growth: Ethiopia and Sub-Saharan Africa CGDP (current prices, in billions of dollars), Ethiopia GDP (current prices, in billions of dollars) Sub-Saharan Africa Annual GDP growth, Ethiopia (%) Annual GDP growth, Sub-Saharan Africa (%) L GDP per capita (in constant 2000 dollars), Ethiopia Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, Ethiopia Source: World Bank (2005), World Development Indicators. The Ethiopian economy is heavily driven by the agricultural sector, which represented 42.1% of GDP in 2004, 9 employs 80% of the population (89% in 2001 according to World Bank figures) and provides around 90% of export revenue. The estimated increase in agricultural production is 6.6% in 2004/2005, and 7.4% in 2005/2006 and 2006/2007. Agriculture receives support from public aid programmes such as the national food security programme, and benefits from the extension of public services to rural areas and the protection of farmers rights. However, given the constraints affecting agricultural markets (partially due to the lack of roads), low levels of productivity (due to the limited use of pesticides and fertilisers, irregular rainfall, poor soil fertility, and environmental degradation) 10 as well as chronic shortages of foodstuffs, the OECD estimates that approximately 5 million Ethiopians continue to depend on food aid. Services represented 46.5% of GDP in This sector grew by approximately 7% between 2004 and 2005, chiefly 9 OECD (2006), African Economic Outlook 2005/2006 Country Studies: Ethiopia. 10 World Food Programme (2006), Draft County Programme - Ethiopia ( ). AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 8

9 2. The country s economic and social challenges as a result of the growth in the health and education sectors, as well as in transport and communications. Industry, which represented 11.4% of GDP in 2004, showed real growth of approximately 7% over the 2004/2005 period. This was mainly generated by a high level of household and business demand for construction services, and the development of the mining and quarrying industries. Growth in service activities and a genuinely modern industry appears to be constrained by the fact that Ethiopia has a predominantly public sector economy and is finding it difficult to introduce effective privatisation policies. The country has considerable unexploited resources (hydroelectricity, minerals, tourism, etc.) There are a num- Table 2. GDP in 2004, by sector As a % of Ethiopia s GDP Agriculture 42.1 Manufacturing industries 4.6 Other industries 6.8 Trade, hotels and restaurants 8.6 Transport, storage and communications 7.0 Public services 14.7 Other services 16.2 Source: AfDB/OECD ber of growth niches just waiting to be exploited saw the rapid emergence of a horticultural sector, which continued to show strong signs of growth in Ethiopia s balance of trade has a structural deficit. Exports are essentially generated by coffee (Ethiopia is the world s sixth largest producer), where the downward trend in prices is likely to continue in view of the global surplus. Conversely, the increase in import prices, in particular of oil and steel, has worsened the country s trade deficit, which reached 20.4% of GDP in 2003/2004. Ethiopia relies on multilateral and bilateral international funding to cover its budget deficit and also to finance part of its investment programme. The present economic situation is however threatened by recent political developments. The violence that broke out as a result of the contested election results in May 2005, and the ensuing brutal repression of the opposition, jeopardised political stability and led to the freezing of part of the international aid budget ($375 million in December 2005, which is equivalent to 10% of the country s revenue). 12 The growing risk of conflict with Eritrea should also be stressed; there has been a constant increase in tension between the two countries in recent years, despite the peace agreement signed in December Persistent poverty Table 3. Growth of GDP per capita (estimated) (anticipated) GDP per capita, in dollars GDP per capita in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) Source: International Monetary Fund (IMF). Apart from the 2002/2003 period when Ethiopia faced a general economic slowdown, GDP per capita has been gradually and consistently increasing over recent years. However, in spite of this encouraging economic performance, Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the world. It was ranked 170th out of 177 countries in the UNDP s Human Development Index (HDI) in Despite the constant increase in Ethiopia s HDI, a large section of the population continues to live in poverty. In 2000, 77.8% of Ethiopians lived on less than $2 a day, and 23% were living under the absolute poverty level ($1 a day). 11 Mission économique d Addis-Abeba (2006), Fiche pays Ethiopie, MINEFI-DGTPE. 12 OECD, op. cit. 13 UNDP, (2005), Human Development Report. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 9

10 2. The country s economic and social challenges Studies carried out under the PASDEP show that average growth of 4% over the coming years would not be enough to reduce the level of absolute poverty. At this rate of growth, more than 20 million Ethiopians will still be living in poverty in An annual growth of at least 8% would be needed to achieve the Millennium Goals to cut current poverty levels by half. Ethiopia is thus one of Africa s chief recipients of World Bank and EU development aid. In 2004, Ethiopia received aid worth a total of $1.2 billion, which is approximately equivalent to 16% of its GDP 14. Under the PASDEP s current phase ( ), it should be possible to improve the current situation thanks to increased productivity growth in agriculture, improved management of natural resources, food security and diversification of the means of subsistence. 15 Ethiopia also benefits from the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. It completed the process on 20 April 2004, thus opening the way for cancellation of multilateral debt. This has permitted rescheduling which has resulted in a reduction of nearly 80% of Ethiopia s foreign debt Major educational needs According to data from the National Population Office (2005), Ethiopia has a population of 73 million. The country has had an annual demographic growth rate of nearly 2.5% over the last decade, which has now settled at 1.9% (World Bank, 2006). This means that Ethiopia has a young population (45.4% of the population in other words about 31.2 million people was aged under 14 in 2003), and that considerable investment is thus needed in the education system. In view of this situation, the Ethiopian government adopted an education and training policy, from 1994 onwards. With UNESCO s help, it drew up a ten-year Education Sector Development Programme (ESDP). The country is currently in the third phase of this programme (ESDP III), which runs from 2005 to The main aim of the programme is to achieve the Millennium Goals through improved access to Table 4. Literacy rates, Ethiopia compared with Sub-Saharan Africa Ethiopia Sub-Saharan Africa Literacy rate (% of people aged 15 and over) ( ) Female literacy rate (% of women aged 15 and over) ( ) Male literacy rate (% of men aged 15 and over) ( ) Youth literacy rate (% of 15- to 24-year olds) (2001) Literacy rate of young women (% of 15- to 24-year old young women) (2001) Literacy rate of young men (% of 15- to 24-year old young men) (2001) Source: UNESCO, Institute of Statistics. education and better quality teaching. There are considerable challenges to be met in terms of literacy. According to UNDP data, Ethiopia s illiteracy rates were among the highest in the world until the mid-1970s. UNESCO data for shows that adult literacy rates remain 12.6 points lower than the average for Sub- Saharan Africa, and that there is a gap of nearly 20 points between male and female literacy rates. They also show however that literacy among young people aged between 15 and 24 is clearly on the increase, and that the disparities between Ethiopia and the other countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, and between young men and young women in Ethiopia, are gradually being reduced thanks to the efforts 14 Mission économique d Addis-Abeba, Fiche pays Ethiopie, MINEFI-DGTPE. 15 World Food Programme (2006), op.cit. 16 Mission économique, op. cit. 17 UNESCO s data are more encouraging than those in the PASDEP (Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty), which indicates that in 2004, 62% of Ethiopians were illiterate. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 10

11 2. The country s economic and social challenges the country is making in order to develop its education sector. However, there are still significant disparities between rural and urban areas, and these also need to be reduced. UNESCO s analysis of the net enrolment ratio 18 shows that, despite progress made in the area of literacy, education levels in Ethiopia remain below those for Sub-Saharan Africa. This net enrolment ratio is low for primary education compared to other countries, remaining at under 50% of children of school age. The repetition rate in primary education is rel- Table 5. Progression and achievements in the education system (2004) Ethiopia Average number of years education ISCED years 6 (UIS estimate) Repetition rate, primary education (%) 11 Survival rate into the grade for 10- to 11-year-olds (%) ( ) Rate of transition from primary to secondary education (%) 85 Source: UNESCO, Institute of Statistics. atively low (11%) and the survival rate is 62% of children. 19 However, in secondary education the net enrolment ratio is around 25% of the age range concerned. This puts Ethiopia at the same level as the average for Sub-Saharan Africa. One of the reasons for this situation is the relatively high transition rate from primary to secondary education; this Table 6. Primary and secondary school net enrolment ratios (2004) Ethiopia Sub-Saharan Africa Net enrolment ratio, primary school (%) Net enrolment ratio of girls, primary school (%) Net enrolment ratio of boys, primary school (%) Net enrolment ratio, secondary school (UIS estimate, 22 %) Net enrolment ratio of girls, secondary school (UIS estimate, %) Net enrolment ratio of boys, secondary school (UIS estimate, %) Source: UNESCO, Institute of Statistics. was 85% in The data provided by the PASDEP reinforce those provided by UNESCO. 23 They show a gross enrolment ratio 24 of 79.2% in 2004/05 (70.9% for girls and 87.3% for boys). They also highlight extremely wide inter-regional disparities, with a rate of 125% for Addis Ababa compared with a rate of 75 to 80% for the regions of Amhara and Dire Dawa, and only 15 to 17% for the regions of Afar and Somalia. Lastly, they show that between 1997 (the year the first ESDP was launched) and the current phase of ESDP III, the number of primary schools in Ethiopia rose from 10,394 to 16,078. This increase has however been coupled with a rise in the teacher/pupil ratio. This stood at 57 in 1997 and has risen to 69 in 2005 (compared to an average of 44 in Sub-Saharan Africa), despite the aims of the successive programmes to bring it down to 50. Although Ethiopia spends an average of 4.6% of its GDP on 18 The net enrolment ratio is the percentage of enrolled children of the official age for the education level indicated to the total population of that age. Net enrolment ratios exceeding 100% reflect discrepancies between these two data sets (UNDP, (2003), Human Development Report). 19 According to 2006 World Bank data, the survival rate is only 51%, which would considerably weaken the efficiency of the Ethiopian education system. 20 International Standard Classification of Education. 21 UNICEF. 22 UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 23 Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) (2005), Ethiopia: Building on Progress: A Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) (2005/6-2009/10). 24 The gross enrolment ratio is the percentage of total number of children enrolled in primary education, irrespective of age, and the population of the age group of those officially eligible for primary education in any given year. This indicator is widely used to assess the overall level of participation in primary education and the capacity of the education system to satisfy primary education needs (UNESCO). AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 11

12 2. The country s economic and social challenges education, a figure that puts the country in the higher bracket in terms of education spending across the region, considerable efforts are still needed. However, the number of teachers is appallingly low in relation to the number of children of school age. According to the Ministry of Education, the lack of teachers is the main factor hindering the increase in primary education enrolment. This is why there are plans, under ESDP III, to recruit 294,760 teachers with a view to educating a maximum number of children and reducing the teacher/pupil ratio to acceptable levels An essentially rural and informal labour force The Labour Force Survey (LFS), carried out in 2005 by the CSA, 25 indicates a participation rate of the economically active population (including all those over 10 years old) of 76.7% over the twelve months preceding the survey. However, this figure varies widely according to gender and areas of activity. For example, the participation rate is only 50.2% in urban areas, whereas it reaches 82% in rural areas. The rate for men is 84.7% compared to 69% for women. Similar differences can be seen as far as unemployment is concerned. 26 The rate of unemployment is 20.6% in cities, but only 2.6% in rural areas. There is barely any male unemployment in rural areas (0.9%), although it is high in urban areas (13.7%). Female unemployment is very high in urban areas (27.2%), but low in rural areas (4.6%) A strong contrast between rural and urban activities Analysis of the economically active population by categories of employment highlights differences between sectors, in particular agriculture/fishing and services, as well as between the kinds of jobs held by those working in these sectors. These include skilled workers, workers doing elementary jobs (mainly in manufacturing), craftworkers and Table 7. Breakdown of the economically active population by categories of workers Categories of workers Overall participation rate Participation rate in urban areas Participation rate in rural areas Those working in services or trade Qualified workers in agriculture and fishing Elementary jobs Crafts and related activities Technicians and similar workers Others Source: National Labour Force Survey, technicians. The breakdown by categories of activity/types of jobs confirms the fact that Ethiopia s economy is heavily dependent on the rural and agricultural sector (which employs more than 25 million people out of a total economically active population of 35 million). It also indicates that non-agricultural service and production activities are mainly concentrated in urban areas. From this we can infer that the growing urbanisation of Ethiopia, which currently has one of the highest rural population rates in the whole of Africa (85% of total population and 90% of the population living under the poverty level currently live in rural areas) 28 will have a significant impact on the type of work done by the economically active population. Service, crafts and technical activities are also likely to grow. 25 Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (2006), The 2005 National Labour Force Survey. 26 According to the person in charge of the LFS, the concept of unemployment used in Ethiopia is that of flexible unemployment. This defines the unemployed as those who are available for work whereas the strict definition used by the ILO is unemployed people available for work and looking for work. 27 The survey defines elementary activities as those carried out by day labourers in agriculture, mining or building. 28 ECPB (2006), National Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Strategy. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 12

13 2. The country s economic and social challenges According to the survey, the distinction between skilled and elementary activities does not appear to correspond to the usual skills levels. It rather suggests that skilled workers in agriculture and fishing have a fixed professional activity, whereas workers classed in the elementary jobs category are day labourers who change jobs depending on the work available mainly in manufacturing. According to the survey on the informal urban sector published in 2003, 29 the term elementary job refers to routine tasks that are usually of a manual nature and require physical effort. Examples given in the survey include street, market or door-to-door sales, various kinds of washing and cleaning activities, cleaning and maintenance in houses, hotels and offices, portering, etc Difficulties in appraising the informal sector as a whole The statistical data available (LFS 2005 and Informal Sector Survey 2003) provide a detailed overview of Ethiopia s labour market, given that the two surveys furnish significant data on the breakdown of the workforce and the respective shares of types of activity according to a large number of criteria. A major problem still remains, however, concerning the identification of those working in the informal sector. The concept used by the CSA only applies to urban areas, and it is only possible to gain an overall view of the non-structured economy by analogy, in other words by applying the Agency s indicators for urban areas to the rural sector. A labour market dominated by domestic jobs and selfemployment The Labour Force Survey gives a detailed analysis of employment status in Ethiopia, indicating in particular that the majority of the economically active population is either unpaid family workers (50.3%) or self-employees/own account workers (40.9%). Although the available data does not enable any precise classification of these workers, there is no doubt that most of the activities covered here are informal, in that they are above all based on occasional employment (according to the term day labourer used to define elementary activities), family, personal or social links (unpaid family workers) rather than jobs covered by a proper employment agreement including guarantees. 30 The table on the breakdown of the economically active population according to employment status shows that at most 8.8% have salaried employee status and thus the possibility of a formal employment contract. On the basis of these data, it is impossible to say that all jobs outside public administration and private enterprises are in the informal economy, although there are strong grounds for presuming this to be the case. The results of the 2003 Informal Sector Survey 31 make it easier to give an Table 8. Breakdown of the economically active population according to type of employment Employee status As a % of overall As a % of urban As a % of rural participation/activity rate participation/activity rate participation/activity rate Government employees Self-employees/own account workers Unpaid family workers Private organisation Others Source: National Labour Force Survey, accurate interpretation of the 2005 survey on the real situation in the overall labour market. a specific context (urban areas only). It also uses multiple criteria that are much wider than simply a business with no Those working in the informal sector do so by necessity, are left to themselves, and are mainly self-taught In its introduction to the Informal Sector Survey, the Statistical Agency defines the informal sector as existing in 29 Central Statistical Agency (2003), Report on Urban Informal Sector, Sample Survey. 30 See the definition of informal employment in R. Walther, (2006), La formation en secteur informel, Note de problématique, AFD Working Paper No Central Statistical Agency (2003), Op.cit. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 13

14 2. The country s economic and social challenges specific accounting system: the definition used in the surveys identified in the other countries visited. The basic definition used is that the informal sector refers to activities which are carried out in the home or in a single-person enterprise by the owner alone or by the owner and a very small number of employees. The wider definition includes the following criteria: the informal enterprise is not usually officially registered and has a low level of organisation, productivity, and profitability; it has limited access to the market, to credit agencies, to formal training and to public services; it has very small or no fixed premises, and is usually located in the family s home; it is not recognised, supported or regulated by the public authorities and does not comply with social protection regulations, employment legislation or health and safety provisions. Results of the 2003 survey on the informal sector are the following: cases. Although the survey states that co-operatives and associations are on the increase, these presently represent only a very small percentage of informal enterprises; the capital of informal enterprises is made up of 90% personal or family capital. 0.12% have obtained a bank loan, 0.74% have received funding from micro-credit organisations, and 1.04% receive support/funding from public authorities and/or NGOs; 63% of the value-added of the sector is generated by trade and hotel and catering, and 25% by manufacturing. Next by order of importance are personal services, urban agriculture, and transport; people choose to work in the informal sector mainly because they have no other alternative (41.73%) and/or because little investment is required (36.73%). For only 4.54% is it a deliberate choice; workers in this sector acquire their skills through being self-taught (67.86%), via their family (26.88%) or through apprenticeship or on-the-job training (3.54%). Only a very small percentage (0.09%) has received any formal training. informal enterprises employ 50.6% of the urban economically active population; out of the 799,352 people interviewed as part of the survey, 43.29% work in manufacturing and 37.78% in the trade or hotel and catering sectors; 99.09% of enterprises have a single owner. Ownership is based on a structured partnership in only 0.56% of An analysis of informal sector workers education levels and the different methods of skills acquisition shows that only 46.95% are literate (compared with the national average of 49.9% for the same period), that 42.74% have completed primary education (compared with 46% at national level) and that only 13.01% of male workers have been through secondary education, compared with 31% at national level. Table 9. Analysis of the level of education of informal sector workers by gender (in %) Total workforce and share by gender Illiterate Intermittent Years Years Years Over 12 Total school illiterate Men Women Total Source: Survey of the urban informal sector, These figures show that the informal sector employs the least educated men, and especially women, and that workers with a higher level of education are more likely to be able to find alternative employment to the informal sector. They also show that only a very tiny number of workers have taken part in TVET. It can be said therefore that, in 2003, TVET had almost no effect on the skills existing in the informal sector. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 14

15 2. The country s economic and social challenges A dominant and fast-growing informal sector If the informal unit term used for urban areas is applied to rural areas, it can be said that all of the jobs recorded in 2005 under the headings of self-employment, own-account workers and unpaid family workers do, by analogy, come under the informal sector. The percentage of informal workers out of the total economically active population is thus 91.2%. This places Ethiopia alongside Cameroon, Benin and Senegal as countries with a huge informal-type economy employing at least 90% of the economically active population. This analysis is confirmed by the non-formal TVET implementation framework programme drawn up by German development aid agencies in co-operation with all the Ethiopian authorities and training providers concerned. It clearly indicates that the vast majority of employment opportunities lie in the informal sector. 32 The programme also underlines that the creation and consolidation of employment in Ethiopia cannot come from major public or private companies, or from public administration, but necessarily relies on the development of MSEs, especially in the informal sector, and the promotion of viable forms of self-employment. The statistical study on the informal sector also indicates that the informal economy is growing rather than declining. According to the study, the economic recession, structural adjustment policies, increasing urbanisation and high population growth have led to the unanticipated and unprecedented growth of the informal sector in a number of developing countries. This is all the more so as modern enterprises and especially public companies have had to make workers redundant or make large cuts in salaries. This partly explains the importance of the informal sector in Ethiopia. 32 ECBP (Engineering Capacity Building Program) (2006), Non-formal TVET implementation framework, Building Ethiopia. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 15

16 3. Vocational training reform geared to the economic and social challenges The TVET system is currently the focus of an in-depth strategic rethinking and a reform intended to provide the Ethiopian economy with the skills it needs in order to grow. This rethinking and reform process is part and parcel of an overarching policy entitled Building Ethiopia, which is being implemented by the Ethiopian Government under the supervision of the Ministry of Capacity Building and in partnership with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the private sector. The Engineering Capacity Building Program (ECBP) 33 is responsible for the policy s overall implementation. It is funded by the German Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ), and operates with assistance from various German aid agencies under the co-ordination of the largest such agency, the GTZ. The purpose of the overall programme is to reform vocational training and engineering courses. It is also designed to introduce a national framework for qualifications and standards, to develop the private sector and to encourage it to contribute to the various types of action being taken. The reform of the TVET system is a key component in the programme. This reform, which is just getting under way, is being implemented as part of the ECBP by the Ministry of Education with technical assistance from German aid agencies, in conjunction with local and regional authorities and with the co-operation of all the economic and social partners concerned Current state of TVET According to the Ethiopian Ministry, technical and vocational education and training comprises three main types of training: formal training schemes run by accredited public or private vocational training centres and leading to recognised technician-level certification; non-formal training courses, 34 which do not meet recognised standards relating to content and the necessary length of training in order to obtain certification. They are delivered by public or private institutions such as NGOs, community training centres, religious agencies and private profit-making bodies. Non-formal training focuses primarily on helping people obtain employment. It is aimed at school leavers, school dropouts, young and adult workers and groups excluded from the labour market; informal training, which refers to the acquisition of knowledge and skills in a non-structured environment. It consists primarily of on-the-job training that is not currently recognised or validated and traditional apprenticeships in MSEs, particularly in the craft sector. 33 As the term ECBP is commonly used in Ethiopia, it seems logical for this report to refer to the Ethiopian capacity building programme in this way. 34 The definition of non-formal training given in the reference documents is taken from CEDEFOP s 2003 Glossary on Transparency and Validation of Non-Formal and Informal Training. It defines non-formal training as learning which is embedded in planned activities that are not explicitly designated as learning (in terms of objectives, time or support), but which contain an important learning element. Non-formal learning is intentional from the learner s perspective. The strategic and operational papers mentioned define the concept of informal training along the same lines as CEDEFOP (learning resulting from everyday activities related to work, family or leisure, which in most cases is unintentional from the learner s perspective), while incorporating it into the overarching concept of non-formal training. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 16

17 3. Vocational training reform geared to the economic and social challenges Training is also available in the agricultural sector, but the Ministry of Education is not responsible for it. The following table outlines the structure of the formal TVET system organised by the Ministry of Education. In order to increase the availability of training for young excluded people and school dropouts, over ten years ago, the Government decided to expand the formal TVET system. Thus the number of non-agricultural education and training institutions rose from 17 to 199 between 1996/1997 and 2004/2005, and the number of pupils from 3,000 to 106,300, 35 31% of whom are trained in private establishments. In addition, approximately 42,000 young people were enrolled in agricultural courses in 2004/2005. However, notwithstanding the efforts made to extend TVET in recent years, it caters for just 3% of the relevant age group. Table 10. The Education and TVET system in Ethiopia Age Grade 19 Higher Education Diploma Level Upper Secondary School Certificate Level II Certificate Level I General Secondary Education Junior Level TVET Primary Education Basic Level Vocational Source: Ethio-German TVET Programme (2003), The Ethiopian TVET Qualification System, Addis Ababa. Despite these investments, and although it is difficult to estimate the number of Ethiopians with access to TVET, demand still far exceeds supply and most of the population does not have access to such training particularly school dropouts, the unemployed, company employees, the selfemployed and workers employed in MSEs. In addition, the system has a number of obvious weaknesses. In recent years, for instance, many employers have lamented the poor quality of teaching, trainees lack of practical skills and the unsuitability of training programmes. Moreover, it has not been possible until now for people having acquired vocational skills outside the formal TVET system (through traditional apprenticeships, non-formal training, exercising an occupation and so on) to obtain recognised certification, resulting inter alia in a lack of labour market transparency. 35 According to ESDP (Education Sector Development Programme) III. The first ESDP programme (ESDP I) was launched in 1997 as an integral part of the Civil Service Reform Programme (CSRP). In fact, the purpose of the ESDP is to help the Ethiopian Government harness the full range of national and international resources in order to enhance the quality and efficiency of the education system as a whole, and to report on the efforts made in this area. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 17

18 3. Vocational training reform geared to the economic and social challenges 3.2. Towards a reform focusing on those concerned in the informal economy The strategic thrust of the reform was defined as part of the implementation of the PASDEP and in the context of the various national and sector-specific economic development plans. The public authorities responsible for overseeing it with technical assistance from German aid agencies have the task of training a skilled, motivated and competent work force. The aim is to develop the private sector and introduce education and training schemes geared to demand and tailored to the economic and social needs of the labour market, particularly with a view to creating self-employment opportunities. The current reform thus directly focuses on upgrading the skills of those employed in the informal economy The main thrust of the reform The main thrust of the reform may be described as follows: broadly, it seeks to change the vocational training paradigm by moving from a supply-driven approach to one driven by demand and, more importantly, by the accreditation of existing skills, irrespective of how they have been acquired; by turning the system around, it will improve access to training among people who are usually excluded (young people and adults who have dropped out of school, have a low level of education or are illiterate, entrepreneurs and workers in the formal and informal economy who need to upgrade their skills and obtain recognised qualifications, farmers and agricultural workers, unemployed people seeking skills in order to enter the labour market, and so on); it is designed to gear training to MSEs, to encourage training centres to concentrate on the informal economy s skills needs, to introduce incentives aimed at encouraging business start-ups at local level and in particular linking the acquisition of skills to access to microcredit so as to create self-employment opportunities, and, lastly, to enable the various training institutions to develop training courses tailored to the needs of their target groups. At a more structural level, the current reform is intended to ensure that non-formal training becomes an integral part of the training system. This means that the new system must explicitly define the objectives and content of such training and specify operational procedures, and that all the relevant partners must be involved in the planning, management and assessment phases when it comes to developing non-formal training provision. It also means that the existing distinction between formal training leading to specific qualifications and non-formal training leading to unvalidated, unrecognised competencies and skills must be abandoned. To this end, the reform proposes that the entire training system be based on occupational standards as well as a single format for accrediting all different types of courses. It also proposes that training be assessed and certified on the basis of outcomes, that is, the competencies actually acquired as a result of formal or informal training and validated using a uniform certification method and system. Figure 1 shows how the reform makes the transition from supply-driven training to demand-led training, notably taking account of labour market needs. These needs are reflected in, and organised into occupational standards serving as a basis for the design of training curricula and various modes of formal, non-formal, workplace, on-the-job training and self-learning. If the system is to be successful, a quality-management approach should be adopted during the labour market analysis to ensure this is used effectively to draw up occupational standards, and to incorporate various forms of training into a service geared to the skills development needs of individuals and businesses. ` According to the strategic and operational reference documents, delivery of the reform clearly calls for an overhaul of all existing training schemes so as to tailor them to the competencies and skills needed by the market, particularly in the micro- and small enterprise sector. These schemes also require institutional changes in line with the objectives to be achieved. In particular, all private and public, economic and social, and national and local partners must be involved both in developing new training content and modes of training and in managing the overall training, assessment and certification system. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 18

19 3. Vocational training reform geared to the economic and social challenges Figure 1. Outcome-based organisation of TVET system Labour Markett Quality Management Occupational Standards Occupational Testing/ Certification regulated by TVET authorities (with participation of stakeholders) Helping Hand Support to curriculum development: curriculum guides, model curricula, etc TVET Delivery Formal TVET delivered by public and non-public providers, enterprises, as cooperative training, etc. Long and short term non-formal TVET programmes delivered by public and non-public providers, in enterprises, etc. Informal TVET, i.e. on the job-training, self-learning, traditional apprenticeship and all other modes of TVET Source: Ministry of Education diagram, Draft Revised Strategy, The reform implementation process Various strategic papers published since 2002 have gradually refined the reform process to be implemented, and outlined the main thrust of an operational scenario now being developed. Various initial tangible outcomes were identified during the field survey. The decision to adopt a uniform approach to the reform Various ministries are currently involved in Ethiopia s TVET sector on account of the institutions they are in charge of: the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Labour. The paper setting out the National Technical and Vocational Education and Training Strategy, 36 the latest version of which has recently been completed (in September 2006), has the distinctive feature of covering all forms of technical and vocational training, apart from higher education, irrespective of which particular ministry they come under. The application of this acrossthe-board strategy to all forms of training is innovative in that it unites all the partners around a common vision of what needs to be done in order for Ethiopia to ensure a more competent and skilled work force, thereby improving its chances of development and economic growth. Previous field surveys carried out as part of the study on Vocational Training in the Informal Sector, particularly the one on Benin, showed that without such a common vision none of the reforms instituted had any chance of being completed within a reasonable timeframe. The field survey demonstrated that such a common vision exists in Ethiopia as regards the broad thrust of reform, but not necessarily in relation to the specific means of delivery. The issue of consultative or deliberative management of the reform process The strategy paper calls for a wide range of stakeholders at all levels to be involved in implementing the different components and phases of the reform process. 36 ECBP (2006), op.cit. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 19

20 3. Vocational training reform geared to the economic and social challenges The public authorities have opted for the greatest possible representation of stakeholders. The partners normally involved in consultation forums in other countries (ministries, employers, trade unions and sector bodies) are included, but so are representatives of teachers, parents, local authorities, the beneficiaries and leading national communication agencies. As a result, some of the organisations met with during the survey, particularly employers organisations and trade unions, feel that their voices cannot be heard properly. The key consultation forums identified in the strategic paper are the national and regional committees responsible for helping the authorities introduce the reform according to the main guidelines set. A number of those met mentioned the current debate over the proper nature of these committees: will they continue to serve as mere forums for expression and information sharing, or will they, as many seem to hope, be given genuine decisionmaking authority? It appears that employers, who have trouble finding the time and motivation to take part in these committees, will play an active role in them only if their function is deliberative rather than purely consultative. The crucial need for a uniform approach to reorganising demand, supply and certification The fact that the reform focuses on outcomes (i.e. the competencies acquired and certified) has led to a complete overhaul of the training system by means of a process divided into interlinked phases in terms of both methodology and timeframe. This process may be described as follows: analysis of the labour market and business demands culminates in the setting of occupational benchmarks standardised at national level; these benchmarks, which identify the competencies to be developed, serve as standards for the development of training curricula and quality management of the various training mechanisms (formal, non-formal and informal) introduced; both training outcomes and competencies acquired on the job are assessed and certified in relation to the standardised occupational benchmarks; assessment and certification give access to recognised national qualifications, which are identical regardless of how they are gained (through training or the validation of competencies acquired on the job). 37 The reform project sets out procedures for implementing each of these phases. For instance, the task of analysing demand is described as being the joint responsibility of training centres and employers. The federal authorities are responsible for setting occupational benchmarks, although employers and trade unions must also be consulted and actively involved, and contributions must be sought from experts who are knowledgeable about the world of work. Curriculum development is assigned to experts within training centres, whose sole obligation is to produce modular courses leading to the outcomes identified by the corresponding benchmarks. 38 Assessment and certification, carried out on an independent basis at the Centres of Competence still to be set up, undoubtedly form the centrepiece of the entire reform. By assessing competencies rather than the knowledge acquired during training courses, the system as a whole can focus on the new target groups: as well as graduates of formal and non-formal training schemes, these include apprentices, workers trained on the job and, by extension, those employed in the informal sector, many of whom have no educational qualifications other than proven occupational know-how. The field survey was able to verify that the reform implementation scenario was not merely hypothetical, but had actually begun to take shape, particularly in the construction sector, which is regarded as a priority. Some benchmarks for occupations in areas such as structural work, finishing work and interior fittings have been finalised. 39 While the curricula for these benchmarks are not yet finished, they are at least in the process of being completed. The experts 37 The Engineering Capacity Building Program, National Training Qualification Framework paper gives a very clear picture of the overall qualification framework on which the current reform is based. As well as outlining the process of moving from labour-market analysis to certification by means of occupational benchmarks and assessment of the competencies acquired, it explains the different qualification levels: basic level, junior level, intermediate levels I and II (leading to certificates) and intermediate level (leading to a diploma). It shows that the qualification framework does not go beyond the recognition of technicianlevel diplomas, to use the terminology employed by the European Union. 38 Although training centres are responsible for curriculum development, they receive initial assistance from the Ministry of Education. It sends them model curricula developed at the central level, which they can adopt and/or adapt according to their own situation and needs. 39 According to the PASDEP, more than 50 occupational benchmarks had been set by the end of AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 20

21 3. Vocational training reform geared to the economic and social challenges responsible for testing and certifying them have received methodological training. All that remains is to set up the Centres of Competence at Entoto College in Addis Ababa. The centre s development plan has been finalised, and methodologically speaking everything is in place. The centre is not yet operational however, and some of the people we talked to expressed their impatience in this respect. In total, five or six Centres of Competence are to be set up throughout the country. The difficulty of developing dual-type training and/or apprenticeships The TVET system currently includes a form of training known as apprenticeship. It involves young people in grades 10+1, 10+2 and 10+3, that is, young people taking formal technical and vocational courses. It operates as follows: young people spend 70% of the school year, or 9 months, being trained at the centre; for the remaining 30% of the year, they are placed in firms. The firms are usually identified and selected by the training centre or college within its immediate economic environment. They are generally small or medium-sized enterprises forming part of the local economic fabric. In educational terms, work placements count for 22% of the overall assessment for the year. A number of those we spoke to told us that such placements are simply a form of work experience. According to the head of the Education Office in Addis Ababa, there are institutions that train business executives to become genuine apprenticeship masters and thus to supervise young people on internships. Some of those institutions (including the college we visited in Dire Dawa) have stopped offering this type of training. The field survey found that this type of apprenticeship raised a number of problems in practice. Firstly, this is an inappropriate description in that it refers to the experience of working in a firm rather than a form of training alternating between theory and practice: in this sense, the word internship would be far more appropriate than apprenticeship. Secondly, no reference is made to any kind of contractual relationship between employer and trainee, and the young person continues to be regarded as a school pupil throughout his or her time in the firm. Moreover, colleges have real difficulty placing young people in firms and/or finding internships matching the technological and vocational content covered by the school syllabus. The reform of the TVET system includes the design and implementation of co-operative training courses. 40 In practice, the initial aim is to introduce a pilot dual training scheme in partnership with major Ethiopian public and private enterprises. The enterprises participating in the project will select the young trainees according to the skills they need. However, the plan is also for these enterprises to take partial responsibility for training young people who may be hired by enterprises not involved in the pilot phase or who start their own businesses. The TVET centres participating in the scheme will have to bring both their teaching quality and technological investment into line with the needs of enterprises. The project currently being launched provides for the subsequent extension of the pilot scheme to MSEs and, in particular, production and service units in the informal sector and cooperatives and training centres in rural areas. The document says that this second phase is particularly important because of the predominance of MSEs in the Ethiopian economy, the current reform s key requirement to open the TVET system to a wide range of target groups, and the Government s goal of significantly increasing the number of people trained in the vocational education and training system. It is unlikely that successful co-operative training in large, modern enterprises can be extended to the informal sector as it stands. At present, the reform plan does not provide for a significant investment in training for adult workers in MSEs, let alone in training for the heads of such enterprises to become apprenticeship masters, albeit only for those young people under their responsibility within the traditional apprenticeship system. A comparison with the other countries surveyed shows that such investment is the only way to motivate professionals to take on young trainees 40 ECBP (August 2006), Co-operative Training and Enterprise Training. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 21

22 3. Vocational training reform geared to the economic and social challenges and involve them in an effective learning process. Training young people without giving adults already in work (many of whom are under-educated) the means to upgrade their own skills and thus to develop their careers engenders as craftworkers in Benin put it a sense of fear among adults vis-à-vis the growing influence of young people with greater skills, which can but be detrimental to the smooth development of on-the-job training. Figure 2. The phases of the reforms process Source: Richard Walther The challenges of reform: moving from an institutional to a grassroots approach All the strategic and operational papers setting out and organising the different phases and key points in the reform process promise that the system will be opened up to those currently excluded from it, and that efforts will be made to involve its future beneficiaries. While target groups in the informal sector are seen for their true worth, with an accurate assessment of their situation, they are regarded as potential individual beneficiaries rather than possible associations set up to deal with economic, occupational or industrial processes. The various field surveys show that the institutional mindset of vocational training practitioners when it comes to approaching people working in the informal sector is unlikely to motivate the latter unless representative associations are involved, be these territorial, vocational or sectoral or simply NGOs. The field survey in Ethiopia was unable to identify any highly structured organisations of informal workers. However, steps are already being taken to form groupings of stakeholders (which are mandatory in some cases, particularly as a prerequisite for obtaining microcredit), networks of businesswomen, local, regional and national agencies for MSEs, sectoral associations linked to chambers of commerce and so on. A 2003 Ministry of Trade and Industry directive 41 lists several dozen sectoral associations, many of which are active in the informal sector. The directive has the distinctive feature, however, of attempting to organise and regulate at the local, regional and national level and in conjunction with chambers of commerce organisations that exist first and foremost to represent workers at the grassroots level. In the light of a comparative analysis of training policies and practices in the informal sector in the various countries surveyed, it appears that the current TVET reform will be more effective and relevant if it is not confined to an excessively institutional approach, but brings on board all the collectives and associations represented in the non-structured economy. This means that the reform s proponents must pay greater attention to the processes already at work in the informal sector and use them to underpin their efforts to enable the sector s many workers to upgrade their skills. 41 A Directive Issued to implement Proclamation No. 341/2002 of Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations Council. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 22

23 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector Although it was easy to obtain all available information on training provided in formal establishments and on the broad outlines of current TVET reform, it was difficult to find out about training in the informal economy. There are several reasons for this: the information was scattered; few people work in this area; there is little communication among the various public and private agencies involved, and, although the matter is considered important, it is not a priority. The field survey did, however, identify a number of schemes and operators in the field. It was not always possible to obtain full information or meet the people best placed to report on what has been done, but the information gathered provides the broad outlines of current training initiatives in the sector The reality of traditional apprenticeship a difficult issue The Non-Formal TVET Implementation paper published recently as part of the Capacity Building Programme mentions traditional apprenticeship in the MSE sector. According to this document, this sector includes employers or very often master craftsmen owning small enterprises in the crafts, services, repairs, transport or trade sectors. The latter make partial or full use of family members as unqualified workers or apprentices. 42 Despite this formal statement about the existence of traditional apprenticeship, the field survey revealed little to confirm the reality of its existence. Some people said that, in the light of the situation in Sub-Saharan countries, there was actually no traditional system established in crafts or services. Others said that there was only the school apprenticeship scheme offered in training establishments, involving work placements in businesses rather than the implementation of a well-balanced combination of classroom-based training and work experience. Others said that the term apprenticeship referred to the plans for designing and developing co-operative or dual-type training in association with the largest and/or best performing enterprises in the country. Lastly, the meeting with an official from the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs made it possible to make a rapid appraisal of the training scheme for which it is responsible. The major features are as follows: in Ethiopia, as in West African countries, skills are largely acquired within the family or neighbourhood. On this subject, it is worth noting that only 3% of young people go through the TVET system and that only 25% of pupils who complete primary education go on to secondary school. A 1999 survey recorded 12,100 apprentices while a 2005 survey recorded 85,622, of whom 26% were in the crafts production sector (such as woodwork, weaving, sewing and so on), the remainder being in the services sector; 43 traditional apprenticeship is not an organised process: there is no curriculum, no training premises, no qualified trainers and no structured progression; the main fields concerned are motor mechanics, maintenance and crafts. 42 ECPB (July 2006), Non-Formal TVET Implementation Framework. 43 This data was obtained from the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs. The 2005 survey on employment and the active population indicates that apprentices represent 0.3% of the 31,435,108 people in work, namely a total of 94,305 apprentices. It also indicates that 50.3% of employees are unpaid family members. Although such employees are not apprentices, it is clear that they learned their trade as they went along, since only a tiny number undertook vocational training. Since the Ministry has no clear picture of the reality of what happens, it wishes to carry out a major study to establish the facts. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 23

24 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector Legislation stipulates that an apprentice should have a contract with a master craftsman or an establishment and work under specified hygiene and safety conditions and in defined trades. It further stipulates that the curriculum should be determined in association with the Ministry of Education and that the apprenticeship should be of defined length, but does not fix any time limit. However, due to lack of means, the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs fails to apply the legislation as it should. While inspectors visit workshops to check whether master craftsmen are complying with ILO apprenticeship safety rules, they provide more in the way of advice and assistance than enforcing the regulations Public policies targeting the creation of micro activities The public authorities and more particularly the Ministry of Commerce and Industry have national and regional schemes targeted specifically at MSEs. 44 The national scheme, entitled FEMSEDA (Federal Micro and Small Enterprises Development Agency), was set up in the time of the Emperor of Ethiopia to train poor children who had no other access to education and training. The regional schemes, entitled REMSEDA (Regional Micro and Small Enterprises Development Agencies), are currently being set up by FEMSEDA, and also by regional offices of the Ministry for Capacity Building. According to information gathered during the survey, REMSEDAs were to be set up in the Tigray and Harar regions. Work in the field included lengthy contact with the Dire Dawa regional agency, the first at national level to take any really serious action. The Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP 2005/ /2010), which reports on action carried out in the MSE sector throughout the country, gives an overall picture of action undertaken by the various agencies responsible for MSE development. It firstly indicates that such enterprises play a very important economic role, to the extent that they use people who are largely underemployed in the agricultural sector and enable families to diversify their sources of income. Secondly, the document lists sectors with high job-creation potential: domestic livestock rearing, poultry rearing, silk harvesting, bee-keeping, clothes-making, metal-working, construction and fast-growing intra-urban services such as waste collection, car park caretaking, small retail and various repair services. Lastly, it provides detailed figures on the scheme s results, indicating that 96,000 MSEs were given a boost at national level and 280,000 jobs were created. The activities undertaken by FEMSEDA and the Dire Dawa REMSEDA form part of this overall approach, while at Addis Ababa level, the ILO initiative aimed at training professional weavers in order to improve their ability to access the international market is based largely on co-operation with FEMSEDA FEMSEDA entrepreneur training FEMSEDA is a public body attached to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It is organised into three departments: quality, planning and training/skills development. Its role is to assist MSEs in meeting their training needs. It also operates in the clothes-making, woodworking, textiles, pottery, tapestry, weaving sectors, etc. The agency runs an annual training programme from October to March and from March to August. It works in technical areas and also in management and finance. It runs technical four or five month training sessions in sectors such as clothes-making, metal and wood-working, threemonth training sessions in clothes-making and, at the request of investors wanting to reach international markets, one-month training sessions in weaving. 85% of skills acquisition takes place on the job and 15% is acquired in classroom sessions. FEMSEDA actually has its own premises in Addis Ababa, which enables it to provide training in suitably equipped workshops offering appropriate techniques for each specialist activity. 44 A micro-enterprise is an enterprise with an annual turnover of less than 20,000 birrs (1,800 euros), and a small enterprise is a unit with a turnover of less than 500,000 birrs (45,000 euros). AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 24

25 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector Training is aimed at the informal, essentially crafts, sector. People can undertake the various training sessions without having any specific level of skills, with the exception of some, such as tapestry, wood-working and so on, which require level 10, which is in fact TVET Grade 1. Often, trainers in TVET centres or establishments do not have the practical capabilities required for organising training schemes targeted at people in the informal sector. This means that, during the holidays, some of them attend training sessions held in FEMSEDA premises. The agency runs training to help MSEs improve the way they launch or manage their business. It uses a training package for literate people, which has been designed and produced by ILO. For illiterate people, it uses a World Bank aid that is practical and very visual in design. It offers training in creating and managing work. In each technical course, it also includes an introduction to management and entrepreneurship. All training sessions form part of an annual training plan. The 2006 plan relating to MSE management provides a clear picture of the means implemented by FEMSEDA to launch and stimulate the informal sector. Training plan objectives to help individuals wishing to set up their own MSE to acquire the basic notions of economics; to enable them to acquire the skills they need in order to launch a profitable and successful business; to promote effective and high quality production and service units in their field of activity. Courses offered Courses organised at federal level come under the general title: Develop a skills-based economic activity through business creation. They aim to encourage participants to be self-critical, adopt an entrepreneurial approach and develop the ability to set up their own business. They are divided into three main types of training: Starting Your Own Business. Training is intended to encourage informal economy workers to adopt an entrepreneurial attitude so that they know how to set up a business, obtain the necessary start-up capital, draw up a financial plan, prepare a marketing plan, hire staff, produce and sell and, lastly, develop the business successfully; Improving Your Business. The aim of the course is to help those who already have an established business to improve and modernise their management practices by developing their skills in the areas of market access, purchasing, stock control, financial and accounts management and business planning; Acquiring Basic Economic Skills. Following the example of what is offered in South Africa, the idea is to develop entrepreneurial attitudes and provide training in the fundamental concepts of entrepreneurship, in order to enable participants to distinguish clearly between family and professional activities, to encourage them to keep a cash book and to acquire basic business planning skills. All courses are based on active learning methods specifically tailored to the needs of the people to be trained. They include discussion groups, role-playing, case studies, site visits, films and the analysis of good practice. These courses are aimed more particularly at people who want to launch or improve their business and, to this end, wish to develop their technical and managerial skills. Each course lasts five days and may be delivered as a one-week training package or as ten half-days of training. Fees are payable for all courses, except for those with ministerial exemptions and those targeting strategic sectors such as clothes-making. The cost is 137 birrs per person, or 12 euros, 45 when delivered on agency premises, and 86 birrs, or 7.8 euros, when delivered off premises. When courses are run outside Addis Ababa, the cost is 127 birrs, or 11.5 euros. In 2005, the agency trained 800 people from the informal sector, including 500 in clothes-making, 150 in design and 120 in the metal-working, wood-working and silk sectors. All of the people trained were selected for their ability to cas- 45 Exchange rate at 4 October, AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 25

26 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector cade what they learned to other members of their local association or co-operative The Dire Dawa REMSEDA s integration and support role The Dire Dawa REMSEDA has been in existence for two years. The agency is really the institutional partner in an economic development project that already existed in the region. It currently comprises a planning and programming department and a research and development department, which are in turn subdivided into a piloting and support service and an MSE development training and promotion service. Other services are to be added, including a specialised service to support those developing income-generating activities, and an information and advice service to assist trained people in accessing the job market. At present, REMSEDA employs ten staff, soon to be supplemented by a number of experts specialising in the fields in which the agency is involved. The Dire Dawa REMSEDA is in fact the first operational regional agency. Consequently, people are always asking to visit it, and it often serves as an example to other agencies that are in the course of being set up. Strategic intervention areas The agency focuses its work on sectors forming part of the region s economic strategy and which make a significant contribution to GDP, such as property development, public works (including road-building), food, textiles, arboriculture, etc. The agency works on the principle that there is a market for all of these activities. Construction is one of the areas in which the agency has invested most, particularly as the Government itself has issued calls for tenders in the above-mentioned areas of roads and property, and also in local agency creation and the building of schools, training centres and rural development centres. Local councillors, administrators and the various officials concerned, including those involved in education and vocational training, meet on a monthly basis. These regional steering groups enable the agency to intervene according to local development priorities and to play an effective role in integrating the working population of the informal sector into the job market. The model for empowering people to find work REMSEDA runs a scheme that enables unemployed and unoccupied people to come together into groupings in order to work on public interest projects, before gradually developing such projects into profitable activities. The scheme can be described as follows: thanks to its fortunate public circumstances (financial resources and the availability of land to establish business parks), REMSEDA acts as an economic development and job agency. It supports the creation of associations and co-operatives of young people and adults (with a maximum of 15 members) as part of works commissioned by public authorities or forming part of the regional development plan. It helps these associations and co-operatives to set up production and services units on the public land made available. It sets up information and financial support offices as close to its business parks as possible, so as to give the groupings easier access to public and private market opportunities. REMSEDA has thus enabled its members to bid for the construction of universities and enterprises, hospital catering services or the delivery of traditional food to local authorities. To date, REMSEDA has facilitated the creation of 220 co-operatives or associations, including 63 in construction, 43 in food processing, 40 in metalworking, 25 in waste disposal, 11 in clothes-making, 6 in wood-working, 5 in urban agriculture and so on; REMSEDA helps to consolidate the work of associations and co-operatives at a professional and financial level. It makes technical, financial and management training run by the Dire Dawa TVET College available to members of groupings. It helps them to obtain loans from micro-credit organisations by giving them assistance in drawing up their development plan. To date, over 2,500 groupings have benefited from loans of up to 20,000 birrs (about 1,800 euros). 46 It provides machinery suited to their professional needs and compliant with technical standards, and advises them throughout the business development process; 46 Recently the Government decided to guarantee loans from micro credit organisations (to the tune of 212 million birrs, which is about 19 million euros). This will make it possible to provide MSEs with loans of 50,000 to 100,000 birrs (about 9,000 euros). AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 26

27 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector lastly, REMSEDA promotes structured co-operation between MSEs. It helps enterprises to organise trade fairs that enable them to compete with private industry products, to sell goods and to position their products to meet export market demand. The agency invited Djiboutian entrepreneurs to fairs that it organised so that they could help Dire Dawa MSEs to evaluate the quality of their products in the face of international competition. REMSEDA also helped to bring together existing groupings in order to create sector associations. It set up a production and service unit forum with a view to transferring the responsibility for the creation of such associations to members of the forum. The idea is that forum members analyse opportunities for creating larger groupings, express their joint training needs and, if possible, respond jointly to invitations to tender. Training activities organised There have been many of these and they have improved technical skills in all sectors: construction (1,012 people), metal- and wood-working (682 people), sewing and textiles (444 people), urban agriculture (430 people), food processing (411 people), and so on. Training also addressed management and entrepreneurial skills (4,387 people). Over a period of two years, a total of 12,935 of the working population in the informal sector have received training. It is difficult to evaluate the impact of such training, especially since it forms part of overall measures to achieve progressive integration into jobs and stable employment. But the fact that during the same period, 13,056 people found permanent or temporary employment demonstrates that such training is at the very least an effective support in the overall process of entry into the world of work. An example of job creation: cutting cobblestones for paving roads The field survey visited several sites, including one where cobblestones were being prepared for building or repairing Dire Dawa s roads and pavements. This site has the following features: it encompasses all manufacturing stages of the final product (a 10cm-sided cobblestone), including the quarriers (from outside the Dire Dawa region), the lorry drivers bringing the stone to town, the various stone-cutters who rough-hew the stone, break it into semi-finished and then finished blocks and those who lay the cobblestones to make the roads and pavements. (This is a long and complicated process requiring project-type organisation that manages each stage from the original product to the final stages of hewing and laying. It can be successfully completed only through effective management of the various stages involved in production, from the very start to the finished product); it operates as a commercial organisation to the extent that the producers involved in each stage are set up as profit-making companies, buy a product at a certain stage of production, work on it in accordance with predetermined standards and then sell it after having calculated the added value and the profit to be distributed to each stone-cutter and layer. The work site assumes de facto that there are a series of commercial companies demanding both management and financial skills from members; from the discussions held, it emerged that the scheme has a significant effect on those involved. It enables them to acquire skills (quarrying, stonecutting and laying); it makes them comply with standards and deadlines, and lastly, it encourages them to manage their part of the work in accordance with precise and clear financial and accounting rules. So it includes both apprenticeship in a trade and apprenticeship in the basic concepts of business management. The young people interviewed showed an in-depth knowledge of the entire process of production and marketing and confirmed that it was a valuable learning experience. Several were motivated to organise themselves further, and were able to develop their work into other areas and functions. There is no doubt that the Dire Dawa REMSEDA scheme, spanning the creation of associations and co-operatives promoting integration into the world of work through to their consolidation into micro- and small production and service enterprises, serves as model for development aid. It combines public intervention with job creation, promotes social and vocational integration and the acquisition of financial AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 27

28 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector and entrepreneurial independence, and, finally, helps support activities and the creation of enterprises capable of developing in such a way as to help lift people out of poverty. The field survey was to have highlighted the training activities benefiting Addis Ababa MSEs. However, as the person responsible was absent at the time of the interview, this was not possible. According to the experts met, there would seem to be some training aimed at job creation, in particular for young people in the capital, with these youngsters undertaking to cascade what they learn to members of their association or co-operative The Addis Ababa weavers training project (ILO) As part of the survey, the meeting with the ILO established a close concurrence of opinion between the aims of the study on training in the informal sector and the ILO s policies in the field. Thus the Resolution concerning decent work and the informal economy passed at the 90th session of the ILO s general meeting emphasised that many people working in the informal economy have real business acumen, creativity, dynamism and innovation and such potential could flourish if certain obstacles were removed. Similarly, an internal document on how to raise the level of the informal economy 47 emphasises that any such efforts cannot happen without raising the skills level of workers in the informal economy. The meeting also provided an opportunity to learn about the means which the ILO was making available to Ethiopians working in the weaving sector. Project objectives: accessing the international market The project formed part of a co-operative arrangement between the ILO and the Ethiopian Government within the national programme for promoting decent jobs. Given that the programme aimed to promote sustainable development and reduce poverty, the ILO identified cotton, textiles and more broadly clothes-making as priority sectors, following the end of the 1974 multi-fibre agreement. Specific studies had in fact demonstrated the benefits of incorporating this sub-sector into the national value chain 48 and identified that this integration required improved technical skills in weaving and in management capabilities as a pre-requisite for greater market access and increased financing. In concrete terms, the aim of the current project is to train weaving MSEs with a view to enabling them to achieve the following objectives: gain access to improved means of finance; acquire suitable premises and new-generation looms; open production to the international market by exploiting new niches in the national market; improve working conditions; update products and the production process. Project stages: training at all skill levels The project aims to train sector workers at various levels. Basic level: acquisition of elementary weaving skills. This training is for people who want to work in the weaving trade but who have not had the opportunity to learn the skills through traditional apprenticeship schemes. Intermediate level: improving existing skills. For people who already work in the weaving trade, this is designed to give them the ability to produce goods of the necessary quality and quantity required by the international market. This training lies at the heart of the project, to the extent that its purpose is to integrate home workers into standardised production processes at global level and to make them able to respond to the specifications of international buyers. Specialised level: training in the design of new products. There is no doubt that the Ethiopian weaving and clothes-making sector will not be able to develop unless it produces clothes that conform to the demands of international fashion, which requires the radical updating of existing products and usual production methods. This training is aimed at a limited number of designers 47 The document aims to define routes for the gradual formalisation of the informal economy and sets as an objective for the next ten years the elimination of all legislative, economic and administrative factors that foster the existence of the informal economy. 48 In the internal project presentation document (Technical Cooperation Summary Project Outline), the ILO defines the value chain as all the activities required for creating a product or service from its design to delivery. It stresses that the challenge in this particular case is to improve the competitiveness and effectiveness of the entire value chain, with the aim of supporting jobs creation and boosting economic growth. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 28

29 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector and clothes-makers who will act as the link with international market aspirations and specialise in the ranges demanded by this market. Specialised level: training in the design of new woven products. This is to train clothes-makers to produce the new ranges created by the designers, in accordance with standards, and to adopt the new weaving and clothes-making techniques demanded by this market. The purpose of these various training courses is not to replace existing training but to support what already exists by complementing and improving it. They will be run in association with FEMSEDA, the priority being to support both enterprises and private providers, in particular NGOs. It is all about using training to foster the growth of sustainable production capable of providing jobs, while at the same time accessing international market outlets. Fees will be payable for the training, although the ILO provides financial support, particularly in the acquisition of basic skills, to people who cannot afford their training. Expected results: integration of the informal economy into a buoyant market The overall aim of the project is to encourage job creation in the informal sector, refocus public and especially private training on demand and on the issues facing the weaving and clothes-making sector, facilitate access for all enterprises to invitations to tender and market opportunities, and develop a favourable legislative and administrative environment in the informal sector for creating decent jobs. More concretely, it aims to achieve the following results: evaluate the training currently available in Addis Ababa in the field of basic skills and, depending on the gaps identified, improve the content, the training of trainers and apprenticeship methods; carry out a similar evaluation at intermediate level, in design training and in the use of new techniques, and create and test, where necessary and in association with professionals in the sector, curricula and training methods appropriate to the objectives set and the methods of certification required. The overall project proposes to run dual-type training and entails major educational work on vocational apprenticeships and on upgrading host enterprises with regard to the quality and production standards demanded by international competition. This means that the project will succeed only if all the partners involved (sector professionals, training providers, exporters, weaving, clothes-making and design technology experts, and so on) work together for the success of the operation. The current project has the great advantage of combining elements likely to stimulate training in the informal sector: intervention targeted specifically at people in MSEs, skills development linked to the production of goods and services complying with international standards, the involvement of professionals and training providers in the process of skills development and, lastly, a sustainable development project that will gradually equip MSEs in the informal sector with recognised skills and a real capacity to access national and international markets. All these elements suggest that it will be worthwhile and indeed important to evaluate the results obtained as the project progresses. This will provide matter for reflection and analysis regarding the contribution training can make to the economic success of the informal sector On-site training for MSEs in the building sector (GTZ) Germany, or more precisely the GTZ, assumed project ownership of the construction by the Ethiopian Government of the university of Dire Dawa. The university is to admit its first students in autumn 2006 and, when completed, will have the capacity to accept about 10,000 students. A feature of the site is that it is a sort of on-site school for many MSE sub-contractors involved and for young people from TVET colleges who are on vocational placement there. Training combined with on-site experience Every day, employees of small enterprises working on the building site receive training given at the end of the day by the German person in charge. This trainer is specifically charged with raising skill levels among the many MSEs involved, with the support of an Ethiopian manager who AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 29

30 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector acts as interpreter when necessary, and ensures that everyone understands the information conveyed. The trainer starts from the work done every day, takes concrete examples from the moulding and drying of bricks, the pouring of concrete screed or the erection of partitions or walls. From such working situations, he goes back over measurement-taking, shuttering techniques, new concrete finishing standards and, using these examples, he tries to gradually improve the quality of the work and the techniques used. The entire process of alternating between theory and practical application is in keeping with the experience of building construction. The various training sessions give rise to evaluations and, in the end, are incorporated into a certified training curriculum. Workers trained in this way can improve their vocational qualifications while working on the job, and they emerge finally with a higher level of vocational skills. The difficult link between training, cultural tradition and innovation The site visit enabled discussion with the project owners on the limits of this training initiative as a form of apprenticeship in modern construction techniques. One of the problems encountered is the resistance of the enterprises on site to the application of present day construction procedures. This resistance concerns the concrete shuttering and is evidenced by the workers refusal to discontinue the widespread Ethiopian practice of using oil to obtain smooth concrete (using it means that paint cannot be applied directly to the surfaces underneath the shuttering) and of scratching the surfaces with a view to applying a roughcast onto which the paint will be applied. It also concerns shuttering techniques (single-use wooden shuttering, as opposed to reusable shuttering) and the transportation of cement or mortar (strong resistance to using wheelbarrows instead of traditional carrying methods). The reasons for keeping to tradition at all costs are lowbudget contracts that do not specify technical constraints, but perhaps, at an even deeper level, there is the weight of tradition: we ve always done it like that, so why change something that works? This poses the problem not only of the relationship between training, tradition and technological innovation, but also of how to implement the means and methodologies for acquiring skills that integrate resistance to cultural change as an inevitable dimension in the qualification process. Whatever the answers to these problems, the solutions cannot ignore the fact that training on its own cannot overcome the resistance to change and that specific approaches to taking innovation on board in a cultural context have to be designed and implemented. The field survey s pinpointing of the actions taken to benefit informal MSEs is inevitably limited. It suffices, however, to highlight the importance given by the federal and regional authorities (FEMSEDA and REMSEDA) and international organisations (ILO and GTZ) to developing such enterprises. They are actually alone in being able to integrate very many young people and adults into the world of work and, more fundamental still, to foster the dynamics of effective local development. The examples recorded demonstrate that well-structured integration and training can lead to job creation and stable employment and thus help the population to rise above mere survival level and give hope for a standard of living that is above the poverty threshold. They also emphasise the fact that there are buoyant sectors in which job creation and employment can go beyond the local market and access production and service levels suited to the national and international markets. But this is possible only on the condition (achieved by the Dire Dawa region) that support for income-generating job creation and the fight against poverty is incorporated into a sustainable economic and social growth strategy and, in the medium term, clearly defined together with all the stakeholders involved. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 30

31 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector 4.3. The strategic role of women in the informal sector The field study made it possible to widen the scope of the initiatives launched in the informal sector to include training and start-up activities promoted by women s associations. There is no doubt that Ethiopian women s associations play a significant role in the informal sector. This has been evidenced by PASDEP, which stresses not only the strategic role women play in the development of the country, but also the need to improve labour market access for women in order to achieve this development. The initiatives are all funded or supported by donors and international development aid and support agencies The ILO survey and the profile of women entrepreneurs The ILO study (2003) entitled Ethiopian Women Entrepreneurs: Going for Growth also showed women s positive impact on development in the country. From the sample studied, it found that 123 women entrepreneurs had created 852 jobs for their immediate families and relatives. This included 596 full-time jobs, with an average 4.8 jobs per enterprise. Previously, about 70% of these women had been either employed in the informal sector or simply housewives. Most of the women had to draw on personal or family resources to launch their enterprises. These are in a wide variety of sectors, such as services, commerce, production and handicrafts. One of the characteristics of these activities is that they all address the local market, and more specifically the local community market. Another is that almost 90% of the women interviewed said they found working on their own account immensely satisfying, while 75% said they would not want to leave their current work for a permanent job Dire Dawa Women Entrepreneurs Association (DDWEA) This association was created in It has today 250 members, most of whom are MSEs. The executive committee meets once a month to determine members training needs. About 300 women entrepreneurs are trained each year, and the number of requests for training is on the increase. DDWEA aims to provide training both in technical skills and in those related to enterprise management and development. Training programmes thus cover a wide variety of areas including: textiles, clothes-making, food processing, urban agriculture, business management and entrepreneurship, financial management, communication and marketing. Training sessions last about eight days and are run by an outside consultant specialising in the relevant field. While the majority of requests for training focus on entrepreneurship (three sessions are organised during the year), the types of training that have the most immediate impact are those in clothes-making, food processing and vegetable growing. DDWEA operates in the informal sector in the sense that its members are micro-enterprises working in the local market essentially for local customers. There is a membership fee of 5 birrs (or 0.45 euros) per month. DDWEA is financed largely through member contributions, although it also attracts financial aid from the European Union, USAID, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and other international donors. The total annual budget is 151,946 birrs (or 13,700 euros). The cost of training per person is in the region of 1,000 birrs (or 90 euros). DDWEA does not appear to make a very detailed analysis of its members training needs or of the impact of its work. Nevertheless, the fact that the Dire Dawa women entrepreneurs have decided to join forces to provide skills training relevant to their expanding activities gives an indication of the success of the action plan Dire Dawa Women s Association (DDWA) DDWA, which was founded in 2004, has 5000 members and 9 local groups. Its financial resources come from membership fees and the financial support given by Pathfinders International. The aim of the association is to help HIV-positive women and prostitutes develop income-generating activities. To this end, it has set up Singer workshops (so named after the German sewing machines), which are workshops for producing items of clothing. The women receive practical training in making clothes specifically for AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 31

32 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector the local market, and other training in sales, accounting and business management. All the training is provided by the TVET College visited during the survey. The second strand of the action plan takes the form of an awareness campaign designed to help the women involved in the income-generating activities both to come to terms with their condition and change their behaviour. Members of DDWA thus go from home to home and urge women who have AIDS to accept the fact and agree to treatment. They give the women instruction in bottle-feeding to prevent the children from contracting the disease through their mother s milk, and put the women in contact with organisations specialised in treating AIDS so that they have better access to medical care. The women are also taught to respect certain rules of hygiene when carrying out domestic tasks. DDWA has 20 social care workers who have been trained to assist women in need. A principle central to DDWA s mode of operation is mutual training: in other words, a woman trained by the association agrees either to pass on to another what she has learned, or to take part in an awareness-raising campaign for women needing assistance or support. The action plan is an excellent example of how social and economic integration can be achieved A training programme for empowering women The Integrated Programme for the Empowerment of Women, a pilot programme developed by the Institute for International Co-operation under the aegis of the German Institute for Adult Education (IIZ/DW), 49 is an integral part of the country s overall development strategy. It aims to provide capacity-building support for poor women and their families by combining three types of action: adult literacy programmes; training to promote income-generating activities; training in entrepreneurship focusing on management skills and funding opportunities for starting up a manufacturing or service enterprise. The project, which began in July 2006, is planned to last for five years and funded by the Dutch Embassy in Ethiopia. Its main target groups are poor women and their families (including husbands), women trainers in existing training centres, key persons in administrative departments and NGOs directly involved in support programmes for women, persons in regional offices with special responsibility for education and women s affairs, and trainers in TVET Colleges. Women in key positions or responsible for the operational delivery of support programmes for poor women will be given introductory briefings on the contents and methods of the different types of training delivered. Special emphasis will be put on the conditions necessary for successfully completing action plans aimed at helping women to develop income-generating activities. The contents of the training programmes will be based on both the educational level of the women concerned and an assessment of the economic potential of the local market. All the programmes will offer training in enterprise development, group training on opportunities and procedures for starting up income-generating activities, and access to micro-credit. The complete training course will last a minimum 360 hours spread over three years. It will be organised to take into account the women s particular circumstances: work-load, the seasonal character of their work, and their family responsibilities. The three basic components of the action programme (functional literacy, the acquisition of practical skills for career development in a given sector, and facilitating the transition from learning to working situations through access to micro-credit) will be tailored to the women s specific needs. Financial aid for start-up operations will be available through a special fund but subject to certain conditions: the women should be able to read, write and count, and demonstrate that they are capable of managing an income-generating enterprise and keeping accounts. The action plan will be closely monitored. A national steering committee will be set up and have special responsibility for co-ordinating the umbrella project at the regional and local level. It will keep a particular watch on programmes at 49 Institut für internationale Zusammenarbeit des Deutschen Volkshochschul-Verbandes, which aims to promote education in the informal sector in East Africa. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 32

33 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector the local level to make sure that these work with rather than simply add to other projects initiated by government organisations, NGOs, local or regional women s associations, and other local community or religious groups. The project will also benefit from the assistance of a panel of experts who will evaluate the actions and their results and provide relevant support for achieving overall aims. The total budget (8,215 euros) should enable the project to achieve its objectives Varied experiences from the world of agriculture The field survey failed to identify exhaustively what training had been carried out in the agricultural sector. However, the PASDEP presentation did shed light on the official reports produced by the Ministry for Finance and Economic Development. Secondly, and thanks to the German development agencies, it was possible to pinpoint the difficulties encountered by rural area training centres in providing training tailored to the needs of local people. Lastly, it provided an opportunity to visit a technical and vocational body that is developing innovative co-operative training approaches among farmers The highly informal nature of employment in rural areas 86% of Ethiopia s working population lives in rural areas, although not all of them are employed in agriculture. Breaking down the working population into job categories 50 actually reveals that qualified workers in agriculture and fishing account for 44.5% of the working population, while those in services and crafts total 10%. The remainder are identified under the term elementary jobs, a term that refers to day labourers in the construction or mining industries and agriculture. It is therefore impossible to establish how many of the working population are employed exclusively in agriculture or related activities, with the exception of skilled workers. Comparative analysis of workers in rural and urban areas by job type reveals a very homogeneous labour market structure as regards freelance or self-employed workers, who represent 40.3% and 41% of the overall labour force respectively. It indicates that domestic jobs are much higher in rural areas (54.6%) than in urban areas (15%). Given that such jobs are very characteristic of a non-structured economy, it can be concluded that statistical analyses carried out on the informal urban sector take only very partial account of informal economic activity in Ethiopia. Moreover, any action taken to foster the creation of income-generating activities, as well as MSEs, must take account of not only agricultural and rural production and services units, but also urban production and services units Training farmers and agricultural development officials According to the report drawn up by PASDEP, the policy implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture consisted of a programme (still in progress) of intensive training for farmers and rural development officials. It has led to the networking of agricultural training centres and then to the delivery of training curricula designed for practical use in these centres. Thus, depending on the type of local crop and activity, the various centres provide information and day-today help to farmers in the surrounding area, and serve as demonstration sites for certain types of crop-growing or animal husbandry (such as bee-keeping or vegetable production). In more concrete terms, the centres run 2- or 3-month training modules to help farmers adopt technologies and specialist techniques, such as cultivation using irrigation or silkworm breeding. At a broader level, the various education and training establishments are currently training 55,000 development agents. 45,000 are to be placed in agricultural training centres to provide direct support to farmers, 5,000 will operate in the veterinary field and 5,000 will provide support to existing co-operatives. At the end of 2005, 23,000 of these agents had obtained their qualification and were placed in centres. 50 Labour Force Survey (2005), Op.cit. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 33

34 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector During the course of the survey, it was impossible to evaluate the results of the entire programme. Some of the people met expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the training, because it focused more on transferring knowledge to farmers than really helping them acquire operational skills Training the rural population in community skills training centres (CSTC) 51 Agricultural training centres are not the only training facilities available in agricultural areas. An analysis of training facilities in the Oromiya 52 region, one of the largest in Ethiopia, indicates that it has 38 training establishments offering technical education and vocational training at level 10+1 and 10+2 in 20 different trades, 11 agricultural training centres, 6 health training centres and 154 CSTCs. The latter, offering informal type training, are aimed primarily at young people excluded from the school system and adults from rural areas. They are currently being reformed and should eventually be better integrated into the overall vocational training provision. What are CSTCs? At present, it is difficult to understand the role of CSTCs without knowing their history. The first community centres were created in 1976, when the public authorities first launched a massive literacy campaign. Initially, CSTCs were set up at woreda 53 level in order to foster integrated rural development. The objectives may be defined as follows: to introduce and disseminate technology suited to the needs of the rural community, particularly farmers; to improve backward agricultural practices through appropriate training schemes; to train members of the local community and enable them to acquire the skills they need in order to do their job; to operate as a resource centre for the population concerned. The initial plan had been to create a CSTC in each woreda. According to available data, 404 were operational at the beginning of the 90s. Under the administrative responsibility of the district, the centres were run jointly by the various sectoral managers, namely for education, health and agriculture, with the education office running the establishment. However, it very soon became apparent that co-operation among the various administrations was not producing the anticipated results, and the CSTCs gradually became directly dependent on the financial and human resources of the woredas. It is in this context that the CSTCs delivered training to people in rural areas. According to the data gathered, training provision was either very limited (for example, 25 people trained per year in the Oromiya region) or unsuited to the needs of the local job market. According to Ministry of Education data, the CSTCs trained 100,000 adults between 1978 and 1991, with the majority being farmers in rural areas. The EXPRO project or the setting up of model CSTCs focussing on job creation training In 2002, the Institute for International Co-operation of the German Adult Education Association (Institut für Internationale Zusammenarbeit des Deutschen Volkshochschulverbandes - IIZ-DVV) decided, with special funding from the German Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit - BMZ), to set up a non-formal training project, entitled EXPRO, 54 which focuses on the creation of subsistence activities. The aim of the project was to breathe new life into the CSTCs in various geographical and socio-economic contexts and to develop a new centre model based on vocational training able to encourage the people trained, especially in rural areas, to create income-generating jobs. EXPRO was involved in the 2015 Action Programme set up by the German Government in 2001 with a view to helping Ethiopia combat poverty and 51 Information on CSTCs or Community Skills Training Centres is taken from the IIZ-DVV paper (2005), Poverty Reduction and Capacity Building through Livelihood Skill Training at CSTCs and VTCs, Internal Paper No Oromiya Regional State, TVET Commission (2003), Regional Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Policy. 53 A woreda is an administrative sub-division in Ethiopia equivalent to a district. A woreda is itself divided into kebeles which correspond in size to an urban area or a delimited rural area. 54 Bernd Sandhaas, IIZ/DVV, (2004), Community Based Non-formal Livelihood Skills Training for Youth and. Adults in Selected Regions of Ethiopia. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 34

35 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector achieve the Millennium Goals. It was also in line with the second Education Sector Development Programme (ESDP II) run by the public authorities for the period, the aim of which was to deliver basic training in 43 new CSTCs to 65,000 young people and adults who did not have the ten years of schooling required to access TVET, or who often had no education at all. The current project has the following objectives: to raise awareness among decision-makers, involved NGOs and national, regional and district level community organisations as to the need and opportunities for training young people and adults through non-formal education; to develop and/or modify non-formal training programmes delivered by the CSTCs, functional literacy programmes for adults and similar initiatives, with a view to effectively meeting the needs of the target populations; to provide training for CSTC trainers and administrative staff to help them to plan, implement and evaluate adult education programmes and projects focusing on demand and income generation; to select a small number of community centres, vocational training centres and agricultural centres in specific regions in order to make them service delivery models with acknowledged non-formal training programmes focusing on demand and income generation for young people and adults; to set up, in various public, private or community centres in rural areas especially, model functional adult literacy (FAL) projects and strengthen co-operation between regional and local governments/administrations on the one hand, and the public authorities and NGOs on the other. The project also set up a work programme based on awareness-raising among decision-makers and managers on non-formal training issues, on their involvement in the various district and establishment councils, and on the involvement of target groups and their communities in the design and delivery of the training. It promoted working methodologies and assumptions, such as the use of participative rural problem identification, participative project planning and market analysis prior to training needs assessment. Training was targeted at subsistence jobs and the people keen on doing them. At the same time, the project advocated access for these people to sufficient loans to support the creation of income-generating jobs, as well as strengthening analytical capacity, training and dialogue among the stakeholders responsible for implementing the entire scheme. The project also defined the conditions under which a centre had the opportunity to develop and deliver job creation training. It also defined ten criteria or conditions for effective delivery: the need to complete a prior analysis of the centre s situation, the surrounding job market, training needs and available human and technical resources; rooting the training in an annual training programme and establishing clear selection procedures and criteria for the target group and qualified trainers for these people; drawing up simple curricula based on detailed frames of reference, and failing that, on practical skills, effective and qualitative monitoring of training delivery and putting in place tools to evaluate the results of the training and its impact. EXPRO is still running today. The results for the end of 2004 in the 17 model centres (some of which started operating only in 2005) are as follows: 2,013 people trained, including 541 men and 1,472 women. None of the people trained were landowners and all were unemployed. Although there is no accurate assessment of the impact of the training delivered, two thirds of the centres operating indicated that the training had improved the situation of the people trained. Although they did not all obtain work immediately, they all acquired skills that enabled them to compete effectively on the local job market, and they were motivated to create, either alone or in collaboration with others, income-generating work. The upshot of these results is that many CSTCs are currently asking to set up the same type of training and to be able to benefit from project funds to deliver training aimed at job creation. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 35

36 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector The innovative activities of the Harar technical and agricultural training centre The centre was set up and continues to be funded by a German foundation. 55 Its strategy is to work with farmers committed to rural development. It initially organised training lasting nine months, but subsequently reduced this to three months and then to three weeks, depending on the requests and availability of farmers. It intervenes in various areas, including the preservation of natural resources, agricultural production, dairy farming, household economics and care of animals. The centre has moved from quantitative training to training in specialist areas. It works in particular with research centres, and improves animal breeding (crossbreeding cows to adapt them to local conditions, importing poultry from Egypt, and so on). From model farmer to copy farmer: training of professionals by professionals The centre established a training model based on mutual training among farmers. In this respect, it classified farms or farmers into two categories: model farmers and copy or contact farmers. 56 The distinction is not based on education level since some model farmers have eight years of basic education while others are quite simply illiterate. It is based exclusively on people s motivation and keenness to develop. A farmer is a model farmer when he has a sense of and a desire for progress, develops relationships with other farmers and is capable of evaluating different approaches necessary for introducing new cultivation or animal husbandry methods. A hundred days after he begins his own experiment, he then becomes responsible for transferring his new skills to the farmers he is in charge of. The model farmer maintains close contact with the training centre. The copy or contact farmer implements what his mentor transmits to him. He has no direct relationship with the training centre, except in the event of serious problems that the model farmer is unable to resolve. The process operates as follows: the centre experiments with new methods of cultivation or animal husbandry. It then transfers the experiment to the model farmer, who continues it and tests it until the experiment is complete. Once the experiment is validated, the model farmer cascades the process to his contact farmer, who in turn reaps the benefit. The centre also trained two development officials who in turn have trained farmers in their area. Furthermore, the centre received prior accreditation from the Ministry of Higher Education to train 50 people per year to degree level in agricultural disciplines. Example one: creating model farms in the field of milk production Main aims of the project: To help farmers expand their milk herds and achieve a daily level of milk production enabling them to substantially improve their subsistence income. To this end, the centre helps the farmer to attain optimum milk production levels and management without using grazing pasture. The experiment is run on the model farm and then transferred to the copy farm, provided that farm is able to buy or own a herd genetically suited to gradually increasing milk production. The model farmers selected are trained at the centre once the project is set up. The aim of the training is to facilitate cascading the experiment to copy farms. Experience demonstrates that farmer-to-farmer transfer is quicker than trainer to farmer. Model farms serve as case studies for training in the centre and for studies into improving milk production. Project implementation methods Model farmers must have a farm and be prepared to cover 25% of the set-up costs. They must have access to running water or have land where they can sink a well. They must undertake not to allow their herd to graze on pasture and to carry out the project with the help of the centre until they are economically independent. The centre provides participat- 55 It is the Menschen für Menschen foundation established by the German actor, Karl Heinz Boehm, at the time of the 1981 drought. 56 The centre uses the model farm and copy farm concepts. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 36

37 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector ing farmers with a heifer in calf, either free of charge, on credit or through a savings or rebate plan, whichever financial incentive method best suits their particular circumstances. The cost of treatments, vaccinations and assistance is free for the first year. If the milk producer already has a dairy, he receives the amount of money required to update or maintain it. A contractual agreement lays down the responsibilities to be shared between the centre and the farmers selected. The estimated overall cost per farmer is 4,365 birrs (about 400 euros). An operational plan lays down what has to be done to launch each operation. Short-term training is given during the set-up stage and successful farmers are certified as milk producers. This certification allows each farmer to cascade his know-how to copy farmers. Farmers also receive specifications laying down standards regarding quality, production times and hygiene. Example two: creating model farms in the field of poultryrearing Project objectives The aim is to introduce poultry rearing, which is considered to be one of the most productive activities in terms of the creation of income-generating jobs. Small poultry-rearing units can be set up with a minimum of investment and cost to farmers and can very soon cover daily expenses and provide a minimum income. Gradual growth in production levels can later raise the farmer s standard of living. The poultry is genetically improved. The farmers selected benefit from these improvements, as do the other farmers who meet defined rearing criteria. The aim is to compare domestically reared poultry with imported poultry. The farmers selected receive short-term training on how to organise the hen houses, feed the poultry and avoid diseases through prevention and control. The aim is to enable them to cascade their know-how to copy farmers. Both model and copy farms and farmers will serve as demonstration and experimental locations. The project itself Since it is not so easy to introduce new ideas and new farming practices, launching the project requires some incentives from the centre to the farmers involved. As with the milk production project, farmers must have a plot of land and cover 25% of the set-up costs. They must have access to running water and agree to keep all brooders away from the hen- house. As with the preceding project, they sign an agreement regarding responsibilities shared with the centre and undertake to continue until they are self-sufficient. The centre provides farmers with hens of a certain age for a fixed period free of charge. They can also buy them at low prices from the centre s breeding unit or buy fertilised eggs. As with the preceding project, all treatment costs, vaccination and other support are paid by the centre for the first year. The estimated cost for setting up a poultry-rearing unit is 2030 birrs per unit, or about 180 euros. There is a detailed plan for setting up each hen-house. Model farmers are certified as poultry producers, which allows each farmer to cascade his know-how to copy farmers. They also receive specifications laying down standards regarding quality, production times and hygiene NGO actions The field survey could be no more than limited and selective. There was no possibility of contact with other experiments such as those run by NGOs. It had only documentary access to very interesting experiments run by FARM Africa. This NGO, which has been working in Ethiopia since 1988, is developing innovative solutions through partnerships with local communities and farmers themselves. 57 Following the example of the Harar centre, it intervenes in the animal husbandry field and thereby helps women in the Afar and Oromiya areas to combat poverty. It provided training for these women, enabled them to buy goats in order to set up a goat-herding activity and thereby earn a minimum income for themselves and their families. The NGO highlights the 57 Information is available on Farm Africa s web site. This NGO is developing several projects in Ethiopia with help from the European Union and CORDAID. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 37

38 4. Current training initiatives in the informal sector example of Abebech, who received two goats on credit, was trained in providing elementary veterinary care and is now able to treat up to 70 animals per month. slaughtering, set up meat drying procedures and manage model Prosopis plantations that resist severe drought conditions. A project launched and run jointly by various NGOs including, Farm Africa, Care Ethiopia, SOS Sahel, Action for Development and the Afar animal husbandry development association, aims to assist and train farmers to deal with drought, respond to emergencies in the case of enforced There is therefore no doubt that numerous initiatives, which are too many to list, are under way in Ethiopia s vast rural areas, although they do not all reach the critical mass required to significantly reduce the extreme poverty affecting over 30% of the people living there. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 38

39 5. Future developments and actions 5.1. TVET reform and the opportunities for the informal sector The current TVET reform aims to focus vocational training on the country s economic development needs, and notably to provide access to such training for those working in the informal sector. The priority target groups are clearly listed in the official paper on the national strategy in this area: school dropouts, illiterate people, persons with no formal training, entrepreneurs and employees in the informal sector needing skills recognition or further skills training, farmers and their families, the unemployed and the underemployed who need improved access to the labour market, and those categories of persons who have difficulty finding work due to their family situation (single women), their ethnic origins, or handicap. 58 All of these target groups work outside of the formally structured sector. However, studies carried out in different Sub-Saharan countries show that re-focusing the formal training system to address the needs of craftworkers, the self-employed or owners of informal production units in industrial, trade or service activities will not in itself be enough to encourage their interest in training. Rather, the uptake of training can only come from initiatives within the informal sector itself, if those working in the sector take on responsibility for organising, at an occupational level, the actors involved, and also raise awareness about the benefits of training and skills development. In this respect the TVET reform in Ethiopia marks a step forward. Yet there are also certain weaknesses that need to be taken into account if the objectives are to be achieved Training institutions can ensure that training becomes an effective aspect of social and economic development The Ethiopian TVET reform puts informal sector objectives and target groups at the heart of the vocational education and training system. Thus the strategy paper published in Summer 2006, 59 which clearly emphasises the need to promote self-employment and the development of MSEs, also includes basic training in entrepreneurship and management skills in informal, non-formal and formal training schemes. The changes in training programme content and organisation will undoubtedly give informal sector players improved access to training and thus enhance their employment prospects. Linking training schemes to economic strategy and labour market needs One of the most significant aspects of the reform is that it allows training institutions to tailor their training provision to the local economic development and labour market. The field study at Dire Dawa and the interviews with key persons at the TVET College there provided interesting information on what has been done in this respect. In order to link training with local priorities in economic development and employment, the Dire Dawa College takes part in three-monthly meetings with the city Mayor, the director of the offices of the Ministry for Capacity Building, the REMSEDA director and other key persons. Through these meetings, at which local policy, strategy and 58 Ministry of Education (2006), Op.cit. 59 Op.cit. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 39

40 5. Future developments and actions action plans are defined, the College, in partnership with REMSEDA and the real-estate and public works sectors, plays an active part in helping young people to find work and start up their own enterprise. By the same token, it contributes to the local authorities effort to reduce the number of unemployed persons in the city by 10%. It also assists in analysing the training needs of MSEs and, on the basis of the results, develops training curricula for sectors with jobcreating potential, such as food processing, stone masonry and sewing. As a result of this direct involvement with other local players, there are now 1,192 pupils in formal education at the centre and 2,500 other persons in training schemes more specifically designed to meet the development and employment needs in the non-formal and informal sectors. The TVET reform also gives the College authority to change the internal training process, even as regards formal education. In the majority of the countries studied, training institutions have nationally determined teaching obligations, and any modification of the qualification or certification systems to suit local needs is a lengthy process. The reform in Ethiopia offers an effective means of combining the move towards national occupational standards with the freedom to adapt these standards to locally defined course content and curricula. The Dire Dawa TVET College thus opens up or closes down formal training sections (10+1, 10+2, 10+3) according to market needs. It is also changing existing training provision: this can be in the light of local policy changes, or further to an analysis carried out by each department into skills shortages that need to be catered for, which means that they can make the most appropriate changes to course content. Training can be adapted to the needs and circumstances of the informal sector The reform has also introduced the concept of flexible, modular courses aimed at giving young persons and adult MSE entrepreneurs in the informal sector improved access to training. This is a pre-requisite for encouraging these target groups to take up the training available. Indeed, studies in Benin and South Africa show that only those training schemes adapted to the work pattern of craftworkers, traders and various service sector workers have any chance of arousing interest and of being taken up. Flexible scheduling, however, is not the only consideration. Flexibility should also be an essential component of teaching methodology and follow-up: training will thus be delivered as close as possible to the place of work, and the constraints of work should be reflected in the teaching approach. Training modules should also be flexible enough to allow sufficient time for those attending courses after a day s work to assimilate new skills learning at an appropriate rhythm. The Dire Dawa College has taken full measure of the local environment and now provides a wide variety of customised training schemes for workers in the building construction, road construction and food processing sectors. For example, there are one- to two-week sessions and evening or weekend courses according to demand or trainee availability, and real on-the-job training. As a result, the College is now working in direct contact with 75 associations or cooperative groups with 15 or so members each. In addition to delivering relevant skills training, the College provides post-training support and advisory services designed to help users find work and obtain funding for starting up a new enterprise. The current TVET reform clearly not only encourages training providers to introduce more flexibility and modularity into existing training schemes, but also gives them real opportunities for re-directing their training efforts according to target group needs. More flexible budgetary control for better investment and training The reform also explicitly reinforces the power of public sector training centres to act and take decisions. Ministerial directives on the reform show that the authorities aim to delegate maximum responsibility to the directors of these establishments: delegation is seen as the best way of ensuring that training provision is tailored to local market requirements. According to the same directives, in the longer term, training institutions will be accountable for their actions, and funding will be performance-related. The decision-makers at Dire Dawa College have already shown that they are making full use of their authority to act by closing training programmes offering few or no employ- AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 40

41 5. Future developments and actions ment prospects, and by preparing curricula and modules totally in line with local economic development and jobs strategies. However, such authority is not truly meaningful unless coupled with the authority for financial and budgetary decision-making. The College has developed incomegenerating activities to finance its activities: re-upholstering seats in a cinema nearby not only provides income, but also serves as a vehicle for apprenticeship arrangements; organising the plumbing in the College brings financial rewards as well as giving trainees hands-on experience. These activities are but two examples of the latitude the College has for creating training-production opportunities. 60 The profits generated by these activities are included in the College budget, and are allocated by the College for upgrading equipment to maintain quality, needs-related training. 61 Public funding accounts for 50% of the College budget, the other 50% come from non-formal training sources. The power to take financial decisions necessarily conditions the response a training institution will give to requests for training from the informal sector. Field studies show, especially in West African countries, that institutions working with the formal education system would have had no chance of getting craftworkers or MSE entrepreneurs to enrol in classes, had the course content and equipment provided not been tailored to their conditions of work and production. While the financial policy adopted by the Dire Dawa College shows that budgetary control is one of the ingredients of reform, it has yet to be seen whether it will be more generally applied. Indeed, the Director of Education for the Addis Ababa region interprets the texts in a more restrictive way, deploring the fact that the institutions under his authority have too little control over their budget The TVET system: skills assessment and certification for informal sector workers One of the basic characteristics of the current reform is the emphasis laid on training outcomes, notably the acquisition of vocational skills. The foremost criterion for assessing the relevance of the system is no longer the level of certification or of the diploma obtained, but rather the level of qualification recognised for a given occupation. Qualifications will be defined within the national qualification system, recognised by the professions in a given sector, and reflect the ability to carry on a trade at a certain level of responsibility and with the relevant skills. With this change in approach, It is expected that the TVET reform will have positive effects in the informal sector. The decisive choice of assessing educational outcomes and skills acquisition The new emphasis on assessment and certification procedures as defined by the National Qualifications Standards changes the very nature of the training system: it marks a radical move away from content-based learning to skills assessment either through trade testing or through formal, non-formal or informal educational channels. This change in perspective is of fundamental importance to workers in MSEs. It shows that the quality to be certified is not knowledge acquired at school, but the capacity to do a job according to nationally defined standards and performance criteria. The informal sector is included in this process of skills enhancement, and can claim recognition and certification for what it is and what it does. It creates opportunities for workers to take up training. This does not mean that workers will be required to start all over again or re-learn in a formal context what they already know. Rather, with recognition of previous skills and learning, they will build on what they know to acquire new improved skills for work. The decision to bring the informal sector within the compass of the new assessment and certification process has undoubtedly created the right environment for promoting the development of the informal economy in Ethiopia through new skills acquisition and training. However, it remains to be seen whether the reform will actually lead to the recognition of skills in the sector. 60 This is an Algerian, not Ethiopian, term. It refers to a system whereby a training institution agrees to release trainees for paid outside work, thus linking training and production, and increasing the general budget. 61 According to the College staff interviewed, a Federal law gives the College decision-makers authority for taking decisions on the allocation of resources. The survey was not able to take this law into account. The Draft TVET Financing Framework (October 2006) currently being prepared with the support of ECBP foresees various modes of cost sharing in TVET. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 41

42 5. Future developments and actions The importance of truly recognising acquired skills in the informal sector The informal sector certainly constitutes a reservoir of skills and aptitudes, and this partly explains why its contribution to the national economy is so huge in all the countries surveyed. As is stated in the resolution of the ILO s 90th session on work and the informal sector: Many people working in the informal economy have real business acumen, creativity, dynamism and innovation, and such potential could flourish if certain obstacles could be removed. The informal economy could also serve as an incubator for business potential and an opportunity for on-the-job skills acquisition. 62 By focusing on vocational skills, the Ethiopian TVET reform should encourage recognition of this reservoir of skills and thus give added value to the skills of those now working in the informal economy. The strategic document on the choices of the reform specifically states that access to assessment and certification procedures will be open to all those who have been trained informally, that is to say, on the job, through traditional apprenticeship or through selflearning. However, this principle of skills recognition for all those working in the informal sector is not so obvious. It implies that all the trades in the sector be subject to qualification standards analysis and then brought into the national qualification system, otherwise workers in the sector will not be able to seek recognition for the work they do. With the new system, the skills recognition process must be completed before, and not after, the start of training. This means that training schemes can then be designed to focus either on consolidating identified skills or on meeting new skills needs, rather on skills already acquired. Otherwise, it would not only represent a waste of time and money but, more importantly, it would be tantamount to a non-recognition of acquired skills. Official texts and the interviews available do indeed confirm the change in approach brought about by the reform. On the other hand, they do not seem to indicate that the instigators of the reform fully understood the implications of the recognition/certification process or that they were aware of the immensity of the task ahead The outreach of reform in the informal sector The current TVET reform may have a positive effect on stimulating activities in the informal sector, but certain aspects may very likely reduce both its effectiveness and its relevance to the sector. A comparison with the situation in the other countries studied reveals certain weaknesses and problems in Ethiopia: the low impact of the existing training system on the country s economic situation, the lack of plans to structure or improve training schemes in the informal sector, and the continued poor image of vocational training in relation to the overall education system The low impact of the training system on the informal sector The TVET system as it stands today concerns approximately 3% of young people in any age group. This is equivalent to the number of young people in traditional apprenticeship (106,300 young people at school in 2004/2005 compared with 94,305 in apprenticeship in the informal sector). In terms of impact on skills in the informal sector, the TVET system trained a mere % of persons working in the sector in Self-training accounted for 30% of new skills acquisition and skills acquisition through on-thejob training in family enterprise accounted for the remaining 69%. These figures show clearly how little the current technical and vocational training impacts the informal sector. This is not in itself a reason for rejecting the reform, but it does nevertheless raise three important questions. Given the current scale of vocational training, it is impossible for training institutions to attract a significant proportion of the 99% of workers who have never been in formal training simply on the basis of the reform. It is 62 ILO, op.cit 63 Central Statistical Agency (2003) op.cit. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 42

43 5. Future developments and actions only by working with enterprises in the field and by writing training action plans into local strategies and development plans (such as at Dire Dawa) that the informal sector and training institutions will be brought closer together. In addition to private and public-sector TVET Colleges, there are many community training centres (CTCs) and farming institutions that are in direct contact with the local population. It is difficult to imagine that the reform could have a determining effect in the informal sector if all or most of these institutions and their trainers are not involved in implementing it. The Benin study demonstrates that only plans worked out by all the institutional, economic, social and professional key players will successfully drive implementation of reform. This will only happen in Ethiopia if national policy encourages the training institutions and key players to work together. Otherwise, the reform will not produce the desired effects, and will have very little impact on the target groups. The TVET Colleges will need to have more than an open-door policy. In other words, they should be capable of delivering training away from the centre and analysing the local market. They should also define teaching approaches tailored to the particular situation and work patterns of workers in the informal sector, develop new forms of cognitive learning, and construct technical and management training schemes that lead progressively from technical skills acquisition to enterprise development and management. Given the low impact they have on the informal sector and their lack of expertise in this domain, if the Colleges are to succeed in the venture, they will need to work in partnership with other training institutions and in close collaboration with trainers already in contact with MSEs in the informal sector TVET reform and the lack of recognition of skills development processes in the informal economy One of the problem areas of the reform is the lack of consideration given to training potential within the informal sector, in spite of the fact that provision is made for recognising skills acquired in the sector. Nowhere does the reform mention traditional apprenticeship as an environment for training and skills development. Apprenticeship is approached from the angle of employers and employees who have gone through the apprenticeship system and who now need to raise their level of recognised skills and qualifications. While apprenticeship in Ethiopia does not have the same dimension or innovative strengths as in Benin, Senegal or Cameroon, it is nonetheless the major source of acquired skills for young people entering the job market, alongside self-training and on-the-job training in a family environment. As in West African countries, this raises the question not only of how to raise the level of skills variously acquired in the informal sector, but also of how to improve the ways of acquiring skills and know-how for people who have no other way of acquiring job-related skills and finding work. Rather than focus on the reform of the education system and its capacity to re-train or qualify groups with no experience of formal education, would it not be more constructive to concentrate on a large-scale project aimed at helping craftworkers and producers of goods and services sectors to improve the skills and trade knowhow of the young people they are responsible for? Such a project implies that TVET reform should focus on working adults and make a considerable effort to raise the skills levels of all MSE entrepreneurs who provide apprenticeship or on-the-job training. The benefits of the project would be threefold: similarly to what is planned for the weaving and clothesmaking sectors (ILO project), it would raise the quality level of producers and products in the informal sector; it would create opportunities for helping apprenticeship masters better structure the training paths for their apprentices, and thereby provide improved training; it would enable some players to work towards extending co-operative forms of training as proposed by the reform, and others towards encouraging MSEs to fulfil their role as on-the-job training providers for young people. These remarks and observations raise the question of whether TVET reform can invest both in a quality-oriented organisation of existing modes of apprenticeship in the AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 43

44 5. Future developments and actions informal sector and in the re-organisation of the modes of intervention of training institutions aimed at target groups in this sector A paradigm shift with limited effects In terms of the options for the informal economy, TVET reform targets specific groups: entrepreneurs, the selfemployed, independent traders, and domestic workers who engage in profit or income-generating activities. These groups may be illiterate, poorly educated or trained, frequently unemployed or underemployed, and are often seeking ways to improve their social and professional integration into the job market. These choices reflect the high priority given to the reform of the TVET system in the fight against poverty and, more generally, the belief that recognising and raising the skills level of all people in work, including informal sector workers, is a necessary condition for achieving the Millennium Objectives and for ensuring that the Ethiopian economy moves from survival and subsistence to development and growth. The analysis of the different components of the reform and of the field studies show that there are doubts that TVET will be able to act as significant dynamo for change. The reasons given are: the attitudes of the vocational training institutions in the education system seem to have changed, and now more attention is paid to the choice of pupils going into secondary school. Entrance to TVET institutions is no longer on the basis of negative selection, which meant that pupils with the lowest grades in the class were automatically sent there. Today, pupils can choose the technical and vocational path of studies if that is what they want to do. Similarly, TVET training no longer leads to a dead-end: pupils who obtain their diploma at 10+3 level can now go to university and continue their studies. However, TVET is still perceived as being reserved for those who do not have the aptitude for going into the general studies section in secondary school. This is reinforced by the fact that vocational training is limited to jobs or posts for labourers and technicians. On the other hand, the analysis of TVET s role in developing and emerging countries shows that vocational training has an attraction, and thus an effectiveness, in direct proportion to the level of social integration of those young men and women who have chosen that path; for the moment, the reform does not take into account in any explicit or structured way the situation of young people who drop out of school before the legal working age. As a result, like most of their fellow Africans, in the streets, they forget the little knowledge they acquired at school. The absence of any thinking on pre-vocational training for under-achieving young people in the context of TVET reform, will most probably have a dampening effect on plans to make these young people a priority category of the target groups. It also means that complementary training schemes targeting these young people may well be introduced when they have already lost the basic schooling skills that would allow them to acquire new knowledge and skills in the best possible conditions. These observations are not intended to pass a negative judgement on the current reform. They merely aim, by a comparative analysis of the situation in Ethiopia and in the other countries studied, to encourage a debate about the best possible ways of ensuring the successful implementation and optimal impact of this reform, which has completely pertinent objectives The challenge of revitalising the informal sector The analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of TVET reform in relation to the informal economy, with emphasis on ongoing training trends, provides an opportunity to make a number of proposals for constructive thinking and action in order to optimise the means made available by the Ethiopian authorities, with support from German development aid agencies, for raising skills and training levels in MSEs. She are based on the initial conclusions of the reports on the other countries studied, but remain firmly rooted in Ethiopia s specific context. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 44

45 5. Future developments and actions Looking closely at the real potential of traditional apprenticeship and self-learning methods The field study highlighted how difficult it is for key persons in TVET to perceive the reality, or even the existence of traditional apprenticeship. Through the statistical analysis of the skills sources in the informal sector, 64 it also showed that the same key persons had a very vague notion not only of the types and level of the vocational skills of MSE employees and entrepreneurs, but also of the way in which these had been acquired. At present, it would seem difficult for the artisans of TVET reform to develop relevant training for groups in the nonstructured economy without first knowing exactly how training in all its forms, be it on the job, apprenticeship, or selflearning, is provided. A good builder knows the type of soil on which he lays his foundations to support his walls. The proposal made by the Director of the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs to launch a comprehensive survey on apprenticeship is more than timely. This should contribute towards a better understanding of the different activities in the sector, the various trades, and the nature of the training and contractual linkages between mastercraftsmen and their apprentices. It will serve to identify the cornerstones that could underpin not only more effective development of ways of passing on or cascading know-how and skills, but also the inclusion of improved apprenticeship within the overall reform process. The study should however widen the scope of its remit to include the different forms of skills transfer in the informal sector. It should also extend its approach to apprenticeship to forms of self- and familybased ways of learning The need for a qualitative analysis of informal economy occupations The implementation of the vocational accreditation and certification process on the basis of occupational standards applies to both the informal and formal sectors. However, given the current status of the project for identifying the standards and establishing Centres of Competence, this assumes that experience acquired in the informal sector will be validated on the basis of trades that are common to the two sectors. It is not clear that this assumption is really valid, and it might be useful, as in Benin, to consider having progressive skills development stages, or, as in Cameroon and South Africa, to adopt a descriptive approach for specific informal sector trades and activities. Whatever the case may be, the research departments in the future Centres of Competence research departments need to think about different forms of accreditation and certification that take account of a combination of factors. These include the concrete relationship that informal sector workers have with their knowledge and skills, the degree to which their activities are similar to or different from occupational standards and the eventual need to identify the occupations that are unique to the world of MSEs and selfemployment The need to go through with plans to recognise skills acquired in the informal sector The reform acknowledges that the sector offers a great pool of skills or, as the ILO puts it, an opportunity to acquire skills on the job. It thus constitutes something of cultural revolution because it takes into account both the relative limits of formal training schemes and the cognitive and experiential value provided by the workplace, whether this be an income-generating activity or a micro-enterprise focused on an exclusively local market. All the conditions are therefore in place to give the informal economy its rightful role in the development of human resources. However, the certification of skills acquired in the workplace is not self-evident. It can be neither successfully introduced simply by passing legislation, nor exclusively reserved for participants in TVET system training courses. It must be able to work as a tool for motivating people to train more, and thus be included in any activities that aim to enhance the role effectively played by MSEs in production and services in order to provide incentives for their skills development. The Benin precedent, with the setting up of occupational centres, may serve as a point of reference, especially given that both FEMSEDA and the REMSEDAs are 64 Central Statistical Agency (2003), op.cit. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 45

46 5. Future developments and actions already acting as places for enhancing and promoting MSEs. Certification schemes for informal sector workers will only be effective if they are included in an action plan that acknowledges the informal economy s contribution to development and employment policies, its capacity for initiative, creativity and innovation, as the ILO puts it, and thus also the skills development of its workers and the skills shortages that prevent it from making full use of its capacities. In the absence of such an overarching plan, it is highly unlikely that informal sector workers will seek certification in the Centres of Competence The need to strengthen sectoral, territorial and institutional dynamics The current reform is creating multi-partner TVET advisory boards at federal, regional and local levels, alongside the training centres. It also provides for the creation of working committees with the same partners, which will be active in the strategic planning and funding of the national qualifications framework, non-formal training, co-operative training, apprenticeship, guidance, curriculum development, etc. All of these boards and committees include at least ten members representing the authorities, the economic and social partners, users (parents and students), training providers and so on. The field survey made it possible to go beyond this rather formal and established approach to representation and to identify the territorial partnerships that are working on the definition of local development policies and the organisation of training centres training provision. However, neither the documentary analysis nor the numerous meetings in the capital and provinces brought to light any Ethiopian sectoral/trade organisations sufficiently influential to defend their members interests and their representative participation in defining the specifics of given professions along with their skills and training needs. The employers federation emphasised both its wish to encourage the development of sectoral bodies and its problems in bringing them together, given that the public authorities have attributed this task to the Chamber of Commerce. The Ethiopian trade union confederation spoke of the problems it has in getting informal economy workers to join a union due to their lack of organisation and the instability of their work. Accordingly, they also find it difficult to represent these workers interests as far as their skills and training needs are concerned. The meeting with the Chamber of Commerce shed light on the existence of Directive No.341/2002, which authorises the creation of sectoral associations at national, regional and woreda level. These, however, have to be affiliated to the chambers of commerce. They also have a legal status that sets them more on a level of authorised and supervised organisations, rather than on a level of real trade associations able to act as a driving force for analysis, initiative and decision-making in fields such as skills and training needs. In comparison to the other countries surveyed, Ethiopia lacks the sectoral dynamics that have inspired and underpinned the national TVET reform in Benin, which is enhancing and developing traditional apprenticeship. The same dynamics inspired South Africa s sectoral skills funds to invest in the MSEs priority skill needs, and also motivated Benin craftworkers to design and develop forms and formats for youth apprenticeship suited to initial educational levels and the specific nature of the trades to be acquired. Such sectoral dynamics would make a vital contribution to enabling MSEs to take on responsibility for the reform that is being launched in their interest How to have informal sector workers take on responsibility for their own training and skills The information provided on training schemes outside the TVET area reveals the extent to which skills development in the informal sector is based on learning processes that differ from those in the established training system, whether formal or non-formal. The example of schemes for women shows how important it is to run awareness-raising activities prior to training. REMSEDA s training scheme, although run by TVET College trainers, proves how useful it is to link training activities to business development, which increasingly requires new technical knowledge and new management skills. The agricultural training model, which brings together model farmers and copy farmers by cascading AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 46

47 5. Future developments and actions experiences and activities, clearly emphasises that peer-topeer relationships are much more effective than those between trainers and trainees. This small selection of examples offers just a glimpse of what is really happening when it comes to cascading and transferring experience in the informal sector. However, there is no analysis of self-learning routes, such as the apprentices seeing, listening and acting approach in their relationship with the apprenticeship master, or the stonecutters route, where learning and doing are closely linked, as well as the experiments of profit-making centres. All of these examples show that training in the informal sector is truly effective when it develops and rolls out training models that have been instigated in the informal sector itself, and when it gives those working in the sector the opportunity to become stakeholders in their own skills development. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 47

48 In conclusion: the need to refocus the reform on grassroots initiatives Ethiopia is presently transforming its whole TVET model. The current reform has provided a structured basis for all the conditions needed to give informal economy workers access to the benefits of training and qualifications. It has effectively established a virtual right for such people to benefit from all the advantages that were previously reserved for students in formal training establishments. They can now effectively access certification and qualifications. They are totally free to take part in flexible and modular training tailored to their initial educational level and working circumstances. They even have the possibility of choosing options that will lead to training in business creation, as well as financial and technical support. Everything is therefore in place to ensure that the reform of the system contributes to efforts to reduce poverty. This process will help the informal sector to move away from being a subsistence economy towards growth and development. However, as the survey demonstrated, there is a lack of synergy between the legislators intentions and people working at grassroots level. Such synergy is possible, as the Dire Dawa region has proved by setting the example of the various ways and means that can be used. Nonetheless, it will only be effective if the reform integrates into its own priorities and policies the potential contribution of existing training schemes, pilot projects, and innovative approaches being developed in the informal sector, and if it accepts the need to refocus its institutional vision by empowering informal sector workers to improve their own skills and qualification levels. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 48

49 Appendix: recommendations and proposals for action Having analysed the strengths and weaknesses of the TVET reform, it is important now to make some recommendations and proposals for action in order to maximise the effectiveness of the objectives and measures introduced by the reform. The following recommendations and proposals could be implemented in a three-step programme. Step 1: Draw up an inventory of existing skills in the informal sector A statistical analysis of the training routes for informal sector workers shows that more than 99% of them are trained in family situations, through traditional apprenticeship schemes or on-the-job training. However, we have no clear picture of the skills that actually exist in the informal sector in Ethiopia today. There is no real understanding of the role and place of traditional apprenticeship. No assessment has been made of existing skills or skills that need to be developed by informal sector workers in those sectors identified by the PASDEP as having potential for employment growth (certain agricultural occupations, clothes-making, metal-working, the construction industry, intra-urban services, etc.). The development of skills in these sectors would improve occupational profitability and enhance the marketing quality of the products produced and services provided. There is no job description of the occupations that are predominant in the informal sector or analysis of the way in which such descriptions could be recognised under the national qualifications system. All these elements are prerequisites for the certification and skills enhancement of informal sector workers. It is difficult to see, however, how they could be taken into consideration if the authorities do not decide to draw up a precise inventory of existing skills on which to base a priority action plan. 1. Gain a better understanding of current practice in traditional apprenticeship schemes, and improve the organisation of such schemes, in particular to help apprenticeship mentors improve the training they provide for young apprentices. 2. Identify occupations in the informal economy that have high employment potential and include them, if they are not already listed, in the proposed national standardised directory of skills. 3. Introduce a methodology for accrediting prior skills, which is adapted to the illiteracy or low level of education of the majority of those working in the informal sector. 4. Define the concrete measures needed to increase these workers employment skills: what types of training, in what fields, and aiming at what outcomes? Step 2: Help informal sector workers to plan their own skills development Overall, the country surveys have shown that initiatives in the informal sector are only really effective if those working in the sector are involved in their own skills development. Consequently, the success of the reform as far as the informal sector is concerned will depend on a certain number of prerequisites. If the reform is to reach the set target group, it would appear desirable, if not indispensable, that the professional organisations of informal sector workers be involved in the implementation of the reform. The survey has shown, however, that the consultation bodies, whether at national, regional or local level, do not suffi- AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 49

50 Appendix: recommendations and proposals for action ciently involve representatives from the different categories of craft workers, MSE associations (manufacturing and services) or women who create income-generating activities. This makes it difficult for these bodies to take into consideration the actual skills demands of the 90% of informal sector workers who make up the Ethiopian labour market. A comparative analysis between Ethiopia and other countries such as Benin or South Africa shows that raising the level of skills of those working in micro-enterprises or small production or service units requires the introduction of specific training measures entailing onthe-job skills development, while progressively ensuring that such skills development is brought into line with more structured and effective methods of apprenticeship. Although the reform intends to recognise skills acquired in this way, it still does not explicitly envisage any means for designing and developing training content that would enable traditional apprenticeship to evolve into a real dual-type training system in which theory and practice are combined, or which would help the various methods of peer-to-peer training in order to progress towards a more structured form of tutored learning or mentorship. The fact that informal sector workers have in a sense been left outside the current reform process has led the instigators of the reform to question whether this sector will in fact be able to move from a paradigm of survival to an economic paradigm of growth and development. If they do want to achieve this, they will need to implement the following priorities: 1. support the informal sector s professional associations by actively involving them in the definition of their own skills needs; 2. compile a compendium of good practice in the acquisition of knowledge and skills outside the TVET system and look at how such practice could be applied to other workers in the informal economy; 3. give thought to training schemes for managers of microenterprises and SMEs enabling them to enhance their own professional skills while providing the best possible training for the young trainees under their responsibility. Step 3: Foster synergies between stakeholders and initiatives in the informal sector The field survey has highlighted the existence in Ethiopia of a great many initiatives aimed at informal sector workers. However, information about the actions carried out is insufficiently shared among their instigators, and there is even less interaction between them concerning the outcomes and impacts. This dispersal of efforts and means poses a problem; the analysis of the situation in the various countries shows that a shared vision based on a partnership between public and private players in the field of training in the informal sector is needed if skills are to be improved and profitability increased. Those in charge of the TVET reform would be well advised to take the following steps: 1. make an inventory of all initiatives aimed at upgrading skills in the informal sector and improving quality in production and services, and analyse the possibilities for synergies and complementarities; 2. set up a co-ordination and study group bringing together the national authorities, bilateral and multilateral donors, national and international government agencies and NGOs in order to establish a minimum of co-operation in the implementation of the various different projects and programmes; 3. draw on the conclusions of this report and, in particular, on the partnership it has established between the German and French co-operation agencies, and invite this partnership to work together in moving on from a stage of analysis and observation to one of co-ordinated and effective action. We recommend that the GTZ and AFD give a joint presentation, in Addis Ababa, of the conclusions of the study on training in the informal sector in the seven African countries (South Africa, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Morocco and Senegal), and that this lead to a debate, under the responsibility of the Ethiopian authorities in charge of education and training, on the ways and means of stimulating the informal sector in Ethiopia through a reform of TVET. In this perspective, it would be useful to organise a joint workshop between GTZ and AFD, in the framework of the ECBP, to be held during the first six months of 2007, to discuss the results of this report and the recommendations it makes. AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 50

51 List of acronyms and abbreviations AFD BMZ CIM CSTC DED ECBP ESDP FAL FEMSEDA GDP GNI GTZ HDI IIZ/DW ILO LFS MSEs NGOs OECD PASDEP REMSEDA SES TVET UNDP UNESCO Agence Française de Développement French Development Agency Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung German Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development Center für Internationale Migration Centre for International Migration Community Skills Training Centre Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst German Development Service Engineering Capacity Building Program Education Sector Development Program Functional Adult Literacy Federal Micro and Small Enterprises Development Agency enterprises Gross domestic product Gross National Income Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit German Agency for Technical Co-operation Human Development Indicator OrganizationInstitut für internationale Zusammenarbeit des Deutschen Volkshochschul-Verbandes Institute for International Co-operation of the German Adult Education Association International Labour Organisation Labour Force Survey Micro and small enterprises Non-governmental organisation Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty Regional Micro and Small Enterprises Development Agencies Senior Expert Service Technical and Vocational Education and Training United Nations Development Programme United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 51

52 References CEDEFOP (2003), Glossary on transparency and validation of non formal and informal learning. Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (2003), Report on Urban Informal Sector Sample Survey, January. Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (2006), The 2005 Labour Force Survey. Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (2005), The 2005 National Labour Force Survey. Engineering Capacity Building Program (ECPB) (2006), National Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Strategy Draft paper. ECPB (2006), National Training Qualification Framework. ECPB (2006), Co-operative training and enterprise training, August. ECBP (2006), Non-Formal TVET Implementation Framework, Building Ethiopia, July. ILO (2003), Ethiopian Women Entrepreneurs: Going for Growth. ILO (2006), Technical Co-operation Summary Project Outline. IIZ-DVV (2005), Poverty Reduction and Capacity Building through Livelihood Skill Training at CSTCs and VTCs, Internal Paper No.33. Ministry of Education (2005), Education Sector Development Program (ESDP-III), 2005/ , Program Action Plan (PAP). Ministry of Education (2006), National Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Strategy, September. MoFED (Ministry of Finance and Economic Development), (2005), Ethiopia: Building on Progress: A Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) (2005/6-2009/10). Mission économique d Addis-Ababa, Fiche pays Ethiopie, MINEFI-DGTPE. OECD (2006), African Economic Outlook 2005/2006 Country Studies: Ethiopia. Oromiya Regional State, TVET Commission (2003), Regional Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Policy. UNDP (2005), World Human Development Report, Economica, Paris. Sandhaas, B., IIZ/DVV (2004), Community Based Non-formal Livelihood Skills Training for Youth and. Adults in Selected Regions of Ethiopia. STATECO (2005), Méthodes statistiques et économiques pour le développement et la transition, No.99. Walther R. (2006), La formation en secteur informel, Note de problématique, AFD Working Paper No.15. World Food Programme (2006), Draft County Programme - Ethiopia ( ). AFD Working paper No 34 Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Report on the Ethiopia Field Survey 52