The Forest Policy Process, Regulatory, and Institutional Frameworks in Ethiopia

The purpose of the study is to examine the trends of the forest policy process, its responses, legal frameworks, institutional developments, stakeholder relations, and stakeholder roles, as well as the major driving causes of the forest policy, regulatory, and institutional practices in Ethiopia. A qualitative content analysis method was employed for the study. The review of the literature is fundamentally based on data sources from archival and review of relevant empirical studies, as well as policy, legal, and strategy documents, supplemented with data sources from six key informants from the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) Ministry of Agriculture, FDRE Forest Development, and FDRE Environment Protection Authority who have relevant leadership and professional responsibilities in relation to forest policy, legal, and interdisciplinary issues. The result of the findings indicated that the trends were top-down and coercive. Moreover, the historical legacies of forest policy, legal, and institutional frameworks of past regimes have immensely affected the performance of the current forest policy and regulatory frameworks and their institutional strengths. Such an operation hindered public participation and resulted in poor forest policy outcomes. Therefore, the study recommends the urgency of creating strong inter-sectoral coordination in forest-related matters, ensuring participation, freeing institutional mandate allocation from the influence of the agriculture sector by balancing forest conservation and agriculture intensification, ensuring independent forest regulatory bodies across the tiers, providing the necessary implementation directives and guidelines, and giving adequate support to discharge their roles at the grassroots community level, as suggested. Key terms: Forest policy, regulatory, institutional framework, Ethiopia DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/13-3-02 Publication date: April 30th 202

The effects of trainers’ competence on employability of government polytechnic college graduates in Dire Dawa City, east-central Ethiopia

The need for competent and qualified trainers is of paramount importance for an effective technical training system that, in turn, helps to produce competent and employable graduates for the country’s economy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of trainers' competence on the employability of polytechnic college graduates in Dire Dawa. The study employed a descriptive-correlational-explanatory research design with a quantitative research method. The sample for quantitative data consisted of 351 randomly selected graduates, trainees, trainers, and administrators. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that trainers’ competence was positively correlated with graduates' employability. Specifically, predictors such as knowledge-related competence, assessment-related competence, skill-related competence, and managerial competence were found to have significant and positive effects on the employability of polytechnic college graduates in Dire Dawa. Therefore, the study recommends that the Dire Dawa city Labour Skill and Technology Development Bureau and Polytechnic colleges should give greater emphasis on improving trainers’ competence, which in turn enhances the employability of graduates

Impact of competence-based training on employability of Technical and Vocational graduates in Ethiopia

The purpose of this study is to critically examine the impact of competence based training on employability of technical and vocational college graduates in Ethiopia. Mixed methods of research design, predominantly concurrent nested strategy were employed to conduct the study. The study involved 162 instructors, 123 Level III automotive technology trainees, 87 department heads and 89 graduates, a total of 461 respondents as a sample. Moreover, 24 respondents (6 industry owners, 6 TVET college deans, 6 competence-based process owners and 6 industry trainers’ leaders) were purposely selected for interview and focus group discussion. Under the study, the researcher used employability of graduates as dependent variable and competency based training as independent variable. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for data analysis. The study result showed that technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges in Ethiopia have been performing below expectations in developing demand-based curriculum and implementing competence-based training in TVET colleges and industries. As a result, among the graduates nearly 50 percent are not employed in the past two years. Hence, it is recommended that constantly consulting and involving relevant stakeholders in setting study profile, identifying intended learning outcomes and strengthening competence based learning style are vital for graduates to demonstrate employability skill, knowledge and attitude into the job that consequentially lead to graduate employment.First published online: 30 November 2017</p