Capacitat de migració, d'invasió i metàstasi 

As of 1941, TVET was recognized at the government level as an essential instrument for socio-economic development, which led to the establishment of the first technical-vocational school, Addis Ababa Technical School. The technical school provided skills training in motor

vehicle driving, forging, welding, masonry, machine shop practice, electrical theory and practice, and carpentry at various levels (Pankhurst, 1955). Following the economic expansion after the Italians left the country, technical-vocational education continued to expand in the 1940s and 1950s to produce skilled manpower for the emerging economic and social sectors, leading to the establishment of vocational schools in industrial technology, business, agriculture and home science in several regions of the country (Abudulahi et al., 1972; Wagaw, 1979).

The curriculum of the TVET schools of the 1940s and 1950s offered both general and technical courses. The Technical School’s curriculum, for example, incorporated three types of courses: general education courses like language (Amharic and English), mathematics, science, civics and physical education; and general technical education courses like mechanical drawing, general workshop, practical mechanics, and so on (Abudulahi et al., 1972, p.30). However, the curriculum of the secondary schools of the 1940s–1950s was devoid of skill courses and most secondary school graduates remained unemployed. In addition, most secondary school students were not able to enter university because of the limited intake capacity of what was then Haile Selassie I University (now Addis Ababa University).

Meanwhile, the 1961 UNESCO-sponsored conference was held in Ethiopia to evaluate the African education system. The main theme of the conference was to improve the quality and relevance of education in Africa, emphasizing linking education with socio-economic development (Kiros, 1990). The conference found that the African education system was producing too many secondary school graduates beyond the absorption capacity of the economy (Negash, 2006). Consequently, work-oriented curriculum diversification was recommended (Abudulahi et al., 1972; Kiros, 1990; Psacharopoulos, 1990). In response, most African governments considered TVET as an integral part of the general school curriculum (Indoshi, Wagan & Agak, 2010).

In 1961 the Ethiopian government initiated educational reforms to make secondary education more relevant to the world of work and to be “functional and useful for the students and society” (Abudulahi et al., 1972, p.6). The purpose was to promote employment opportunities for secondary school graduates. For this purpose, a comprehensive secondary school with vocational and academic streams, adopted from the USA, was introduced in 1961. Training was offered in four areas: industrial arts, home economics, commerce and agriculture. Many

academic secondary schools were changed to comprehensive secondary schools (grades 9– 12), some with junior secondary (grades 7–8) (Abudulahi et al., 1972). After Grade 9, students could choose whether to enroll in an academic or vocational stream. Both vocational and academic subjects were offered in the vocational stream.

The objective of comprehensive secondary education was to allow students to gain employable skills in addition to academic knowledge. However, given the weak economic base, its realization was a challenge for the government due to a lack of clear objectives and a shortage of teachers, instructional facilities and competitive examinations (Abudulahi et al., 1972). The expansion of comprehensive secondary schooling continued in almost all governmental secondary schools, with little or no regard for either community needs or program quality (Girma, 1994). Like the secondary schools in the 1940s and 1950s, the curriculum, the teachers and the teaching materials were foreign (Kiros, 1990). By the late 1960s, the graduates of technical-vocational schools, like the secondary-school graduates, were also experiencing unemployment. Many graduates with technical skills who entered the labor market remained unemployed due to the low absorption capacity of the economy (Abudulahi et al., 1972; Lekka, 1996). There were also very limited opportunities for entering university. As Kiros (1990) reported, only 26% of the TVET graduates were eligible to attend university in 1972.

In 1972, the government launched a comprehensive study of the education system, including vocational education, called the Education Sector Review (ESR) to resolve the problem of unemployment among the “educated-unemployed” (Abudulahi et al., 1972; Negash, 2006; Wagaw, 1979). According to Abudulahi et al. (1972, p.32), the main factors contributing to TVET graduate unemployment in that period were:

 inadequate preparation in their chosen field of training – it was felt that the graduates left their training institutions with only theoretical experience;

 a lack of proper attitude and occupational ethics on the part of the graduates, and a lack of orientation to business and industrial requirements;

 a lag in industrial growth, which appeared to result in a failure to absorb the output of these training institutions;

 the static situation of industrial establishments which showed no progress in expansion aimed at opening up employment opportunities for the graduates.

Clearly, the problem was not limited to an excess workforce beyond the absorption capacity of the economy. The competence level of the graduates was also questionable, as a consequence of a poor training system devoid of proper training facilities and industrial practice. Although valuable recommendations were made in the ESR report, these were not made public on time (Negash, 2006; Tefera, 1996). The review was conducted behind closed doors, without public participation; teachers in particular were marginalized from the review process. Teachers and students strongly opposed the ESR; not only they were not involved in the review process, but they were also unhappy with the recommendations (Negash, 2006; Tefera, 1996).

2.3.1.2 Technical-Vocational Education between 1974 and 1994 – the military/socialist