Project profile — Strengthening Education in Natural Resource Management in Ethiopia

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved ability of university degree programs in geology and natural resources engineering to produce graduates, especially women, that have the environmental and technical knowledge and skills needed by the natural resource management sector; and (2) increased relevant technical, vocational and employment skills by local community members, especially women, in communities near natural resources hubs and exploitation sites.

Results achieved as of March 2018 include: (1) the project has rented, staffed and equipped two offices; and produced the project implementation plan, Gender Equality Strategy, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Situational Analysis, and completed a Labour Market Survey for Tigray region; (2) most local and international staff have been hired and trained; (3) international experts have reviewed relevant curricula for Earth Sciences and Geology, evaluated pedagogical methods and teacher qualifications in 2 of 4 university partners, inspected lab facilities, reviewed library and software resources, and interviewed students, teachers and mining community members to assess educational and employment opportunities as well as gender issues in mining-related training and employment; (4) A Higher Education and a TVET Working Group have been established to review and support the project's educational activities; (5) the first TVET partner institution (Shire Polytechnical College) has been selected for the development of a technical mining program in the Tigray region; and (6) revision and validation of selected mining-related Occupational Standards has been initiated, short-term course options determined, teacher training needs identified, and three pilot communities (artisanal and small-scale mining activities) and their associated concerns have been identified to be addressed by the project. These results have contributed to the improvement of the employability of people, especially women, in local communities as well as university undergraduates in natural resource fields like geology, mining and engineering in Ethiopia.