Funding of vocational training at ATTC

Training upgrade with modern equipment and up-to-date know-how

The Agro Technical and Technology College (ATTC) in the Ethiopian city of Harar is a nationally renowned vocational education institution. Founded in 1992 by the "People for People" Foundation as an agricultural training centre, the ATTC was upgraded to a college for four trades after five years. Modern equipment and up-to-date reference works are needed to meet today's requirements for well-trained workforces. 

The modernisation of the ATTC was to be funded with the help of the Bavarian State Chancellery project so that it can train students on the latest state-of-the-art technology and knowledge. There was a lack of both newer machines and reference works on the respective techniques in the trades. In 2019, the library collections were renewed, and in 2020 new equipment, machines and computers were introduced for the various training courses. In 2021, the production engineering students were trained on a machine for computer-aided design and planning. 

The training at the ATTC is characterised by a high level of practical experience 

For almost 30 years, the ATTC has been training young people in agricultural and manual trades. In 1992, the Ethiopian aid organisation set up by Karl-Heinz Böhm founded the ATTC as a training centre in Harar to help people with a lack of agricultural training in the region. After a few years, three other focal trade areas were added before the institution was granted college status by the Ethiopian government in 1997.  

Since then, ATTC has offered courses in agricultural ecology (agriculture and livestock), manufacturing technology, electrical engineering and electronics as well as automotive engineering. Since 2006, students have been able to obtain a Bachelor of Science qualification. A special feature of the training is the high level of practical experience that the ATTC offers: 70 percent of the teaching takes place in workshops and only 30 percent consists of theoretical units. 

Job offers before the end of the training 

Because Ethiopia has invested in the expansion of university education, but not in vocational schools, the graduates of the ATTC are in demand all over the country. They often receive a job offer before the end of their training. The economy in Ethiopia is growing and the industry is being modernised. In order to keep up with this development, the ATTC needed to "upgrade" its equipment.