7
ECA/PHSD/HRP/95/l/WP.4
UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
Public Administration, Hunan Resources and Social Development Division
EDUCATION AND TRAINING TO IMPROVE ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS
IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR IN ERITREA
Paper for
THE NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON
TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS AND ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR IN ERITREA
12-14 JUNE 1995
Prepared by HAILOM NEGASSI
MAY 1995
EDUCATION AND TRAINING TO IMPROVE
ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS
IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR IN ERITREA
PAPER FOR THE NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS AND ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR IN ERITREA
ASMARA , ERITREA 12-14 JUNE 1995
PREPARED BY HAILOM NEGASSI
MAY 1995
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CONTENTS
ANNEX
1. List of persons consulted
2. Bibliography
3. OBS Project Training Programme
4. ACORD Training Programme
Page
1. Introduction 1
2. The Informal Sector in Eritrea 2-4
3. Education and Training Policy 4 - 5
4. Education and Training Structure 5-13
5. Constraints in Training in the Informal Sector 14 - 16
6. Favourable Condition for Education and Training 17 - 18
7. Training Policy Proposals 19 - 20
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INTRODUCTION
This paper is prepared for presentation to National workshop on Technical Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development in the Internal Sector in Eritrea on 12-14 June 1995
in Asmara, Eritrea.
According to the terms of reference received, the purpose of the paper is to recommend relevant, practical and beneficial approaches to training and skill development and enhancing the performance of the informal sector in Eritrea.
Issues to be addressed in the paper include:
1. Policy and the structure of pre-vocational , vocational and technical training
and entrepreneurial training in Eritrea:2. Relevance of current training to the needs of the informal sector,considering
its diverse and hetrgenous nature
3. Methods of training in the informal sector in Eritrea
4. Problems of training in the informal sector in Eritrea
5. Proposals for policy measures and strategies for realistic training approaches
in the informal sector in EritreaIn preparing the paper, data was obtained from published and unpublished documents
ofILO/Eastern Africa Multidisciplinary Advisory Team, Ministry of Education ofthe
state of Eritrea, Asmara Chamber of Commerce, ACORD (Eritrea) , CERA/OBS-
Project, and interviews with persons involved in education and training in Eritrea.
THE INFORMAL SECTOR IN ERITREA
1. Definition
Though the word informal sector is getting very popular, it does not have a very precise meaning. In the first place it is of recent origin which is not earlier than 1972 and in the second place it is attracting strong economic and political interest in addressing the issue of poverity in least developed countries. For the propose of this paper, the informal sector refers to all productive and, socially desirable goods and services of non-form (non- agricultural) nature, undertaken outside the formal sector in Eritrea.
2. Activities of the Informal Sector
The informal sector in Eritrea has very important economic and social role.
According to a 1994 survey conducted in Asmara, Dekemhare and Massawa which have more than half of urban population in Eritrea, informal sector activities are concentrated 61 % in trade, 22% in service, 14% in manufacturing and handcrafts, 2% in construction and agro industry, 1% in other activities.The survey indicates the type of activities and share of each sub-sector by participants and in the absence of more complete data, it reflects at least a reasonable picture of the situation in Eritrea.
The trading activities include selling of vegetables, grain, textile goods, household utensils, soaps and detergents, spices, local drinks and other. The service subsector includes small restaurants, transport services, shoe polishing, hair dressing and other simple personal services. In the manufacturing and handicrafts, the main activities include metal work, wood work, shoe making, weaving, basket work, pottery and other similar activities. Construction activities include producing building materials, masonry, brick laying, roofing, plastering, painting and other similar activities.
Considering the style of life of the Eritrean people, their dependence in the informal sector for income earning, food, drinks, clothing, housing, and other daily needs is very strong. In essence the informal sector activities play major role in the cultural and economic life of the Eritrean people.
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3. Size of the Informal Sector
Eritrea has an estimated labour force of 730,000 persons. The informal sector
represent about 220,000 persons with an annual increase of about 20,000 school leavers in addition to a significant number of returning refugees and
demobilised fighters.Table 1
THE LABOUR FORCE OF ERITREA , 1993
Modern and Agricultural Agro- Pastoralism
Pure pastoralism Fishing
Estate agriculture Mining and quarrying Secondary industry Private sector service Public service education
Public service defence Public service others Total
Informal sector Non-farm
Open unemployed
unlicensed trade and industry Licensed petty industry Licensed petty trade Total
Grand Total
Persons
333,350 42,860 5,500 2,400 300 14,576 9,130 7,010 74,000 24,000 513,126
103,102 33,367 54,000 8,000
17,500 215,969 729,095
%
45.7 5.9 0.7 0.3
2.0 1.2 1.0 10.1 3.3 70.4
14.1 4.6 7.4 1.1 2.4 29.6 100.0
Source ILO/EAMAT, Foundations for Sustained Employment in Eritrea, 1994
The present size of the infonnal sector is about 30% of the labour force and in the next 5 years it is expected to increase in number and percentage share of the total
labour force.fefoniaJ.MC.doc/1/A
4. Earning of the formal Sector
The informal sector can be classified as belonging to low economic group.
And when one discusses the state of the Eritrean economy, which had suffered from long war, drought and injustice at social and economic level, it is expected to be far below the average of Sub-Saharan Africa. The average calorie intake is about 1750 kcal, life expectancy about 46 years and adult literacy rate about 20% which when compared to Sub. Saharan Africa average in percentage it is : -16.5% , -11.5, and -52% respectively. Except for about 10% employed in the licensed petty trade and industry, almost all persons in the informal sector earn less than Birr 251 per month and are in a state of acute poverty.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING POLICY
1. Objective
The Eritrean Government has clearly articulated its national development objective particularly in respect to the informal sector and education to work for:
- An upgraded and technologically improved informal sector.
- Broad- based education incorporating widespread dissemination of skills and languages and extensive human capital formation.
2. Policies
The basic policies of education and training of the Eritrean Government as expressed in the Macro-policy include:
Universal primary education up to grade seven.
Steadily meeting skilled manpower requirements of the private sector and public sector by increasing trainees at the secondary, technical and
vocational schools.
Official recognition and/or professional accreditation of skill and academic attainment will be awarded only after undergoing government established certification procedures
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No restraint on the provision of education by the private sector The standards of public schools will be maintained by curricula issued by the Ministry of Education. Private schools are expected to follow this curriculum but they will not be limited by its coverage.
The government, the community and the direct beneficiaries will be made to contribute towards financing educational costs.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING STRUCTURE
1. Background
Formal education in Eritrea before its colonialization by the Italians was given by institutions belonging to the Orthodox Christian and Islamic religious orders. The emphasis of the teaching was almost totally on religion. French Catholic and Swedish Protestant missionaries who had arrived in Eritrea in the 19th century had the initial impact in the early phase of modern education in Eritrea. The Italians after colonizing Eritrea in 1890 did introduce to Eritrea modern education but the beneficiaries were the Italians and there were very few controlled schools open to train Eritreans to be become translators and propagate Italian rule.
To the Eritrean mass the indigenous local religious schools were the only source of learning. Considering the development of religious schools that had grown into higher level of learning in Europe and other parts of the world, however humble the contribution of religious schools may be in Eritrea, its importance should not be under estimated. As a matter of fact, it was a religious order of Santa Familia (Catholic Sisters) who opened the first university against all olds, namely, the Asmara University in Eritrea.
In the past skills were taught mainly from father to son. Black smiths, potters, musicians, masons, traditional healers, farmers, pastoralists, fishermen, hunters, weavers, artists, singers and others were trained by their family and other essential skills such as producing leather goods, flour boats, bevarges, local dishes, household utensils, furniture were acquired by practice and mainly taught by family members. The practice still continues even to-day.
For Eritrea after 30 years war, drought, and economic and social injustice is just stepping to rehabilitation and development.
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2. The Ministry of Education
In principle the main government agency responsible for education and training in Eritrea is the Ministry of Education. Its origin can be traced to the British care-taking administration (1941- 1952), when the british established a Department of Education, recruited and trained British and local teachers, opened schools throughout Eritrea and started the Teachers Training Institute.
When Eritrea was federated in 1952 by UN resolution, as an autonomous
state, with Ethiopia, the Department of Education and educational activities were targeted by the Ethiopian government for assimilation and domination.
Eritrean languages as medium of instruction were banned and the development of education in Eritrea was slowed down. As a result, Eritrean students and
teachers become among the strongest opponents of the Ethiopian governmentand the situation gives one of the most important reasons for shaping the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF) to play an active role in conducting
education and training during the liberation war.The current Ministry of Education is therefore mainly formed by combining the EPLF Education commission which used to operate during the liberation
war and what remained after the defeat of the Ethiopian government.The Ministry is headed by a minister with several departments and provincial
offices reporting to him and include:Planning and Development Curriculum
Teachers Training Regular Education
Vocational and Technical Training Adult Education
Administration and Finance Supervision
Audit Service Provincial Offices
The Ministry had about 7,000 teachers and 250,000 students in 1994.
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3. The School System
The schools in Eritrea may be basically classified into pre-primary, primary, middle, secondary and vocational/ technical level. A brief report is given on their activities.
Pre- Primary Level
Pre-Primary schools cater to the age-group 5-6 and mainly teach children's
games, simple drawing, reading alphabets, hygiene, and good manners. The
objective of the schools is to prepare children for primary level to motivate their desire for education. Gross- enrolment ratio for the academic years 1991- 1994 was from 3.4 to 3.9% ^ mainly due to lack of primary schools. Studentenrolment during the 1993/94 academic year was 7,748 and the number of
teachers was 244.
Primary Level
Eritrea is introducing compulsory education up to grade 7, The first 5 years form the primary level of education. The subjects in the primary level include local languages, mathematics, science, English, Arabic, history, geography, physical education and drawing. The medium of instruction in the primary level is a local language (Tigringa, Arabic, Saho,Kunama,Tigre and will include other local languages as soon as teaching material and teachers are available). Total number of students enrolled during the 1993/94 academic year was 208,199. First level enrolment for the same year was about 25.9%
for the country: 43.6-40.2% for Asmara and Hamasien; 33.8% for Akeleguzay; 24.4-21.5% for Semhar, Seraye and Senhit; 14.7 - 13.0% for Gash-Setit and Dankalia; 9.3- 4.8% for Barka and Sahel.
Middle Level
There are two ladders in the middle level and are grade 6 and 7. The subjects covered are basically the same as in the primary level expect that they have greater depth and coverage and that the medium of instruction is currently in English.Student enrolment in the middle level during 1993/94 was 32,781. Net enrolment ratio for middle level for the country is about 5.9%.
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Second Level
The second level has four years duration and beginning from grade eight it ends at grade 11. The subjects given at the second level include English, mathematics history, geography, biology, chemistry, physics, and physical education. The language of instruction is English. In selected second level schools, which are referred as comprehensive high schools, vocational courses such as productive technology (metal work, wood work and agriculture) and commerce (book keeping, economics and typing) are given. Total number of students enrolled during the 1993/94 academic year was 32,756 and net enrolment ratio for the same period was 13.7%.
Teachers Training Institute
There is only one teachers' training school and it is the Asmara Teachers Training Institute. It had and is still playing important role in the expansion of education in Eritrea. After the liberation of Eritrea special courses to meet the critical shortage of teachers and up grade teachers in-service had been organized. During 1991/92 and 1992/93 in 10 courses one week- two months duration 1,268 and 2,580 teachers had been trained respectively. The school had 589 students during the 1993/94 academic year.
The Asmara Teachers' Training Institute is currently receiving selected grade 11 graduates for a one year course. Subjects in the course include English, pedagogy, psychology, mathematics, science, history, geography, music, drawing, practical agriculture and physical education. The Institute is also active in organizing summer courses for in-service teachers and school directors.
Adult Education
The adult education programme includes first, middle, second level education,and technical training for evening students as well as literacy education for adults. The course content of the evening class students is basically the same as for the day students The aim of the literacy class is to eradicate illitracy and enable people to read and write and perform simple arthimetic also to help them improve their health and social conditions.
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Distance Education
Distance Education is what is commonly know as learning by correspondence.
During the Liberation War, the EPLF identified the problem of conducting
training in the normal way of classroom education. The problems were of lack of classrooms and teachers in addition to the war situation Which had made continuing education almost impossible. EPLF also recognized the need for education, whichever way possible, and it introduced Distance Education in order to up grade the skill of its fighters. Though, after liberation, Eritrea is
in a more conducive environment to go ahead with its educational programme,there is still room for distance education. As a result the programme has been revised and the Teachers' Training Institute has trained Disiahce Education Teachers. The first course will be on primary and middle level academic education and the first beneficiaries will be members of the Armed Force. The benefit will be to upgrade the skill of the fighters while on duty and to make
them better prepared to lead civilian life on demobilization.Technical Schools
The First technical school in Eritrea is the Asmara Technical school which was established in 1954 with the assistance of United States of America and its standard of education and facilities declined after US support stopped in 1962. No significant improvements had been made by the Ethiopian government and the school is in very poor condition. More than 50% of the staff have no appropriate qualification. Though the lessons are expected to be
given in theory and practice in equal share, due to shortage of budget and poor condition of workshop equipment, instructions are mainly theoretical.The main subjects given include English, mathematics, electricity, general
mechanics, machine shop, automechanics, mechanical drawing, metal work, wood work, electricity, radio electronics, drafting and surveying. The school accepts about 200 grade nine complete students and a maximum of 160 students every year graduate with diploma in any one of the following fields:
general mechanics, electricity, electronics, auto mechanics, machine shop,
wood work or surveying.
The second one is the Winna Technical School established by the EPLF in 1985. Its objective was to provide the EPLF with skilled manpower and it started by giving a two year course in wood work, electricity, auto mechanics, general mechanics and building construction. At present it is giving a three year course with similar curriculum with Asmara Technical school. The school has problems of under qualified staff, shortage of equipment and
supplies. The school is in old site located some 20 kilimeters from Nackfa in a terrain safe from enemy attack at the time of its construction. Now there is
plan to move it to a more permanent and accessible location and most probably to Keren.infon»].Mo
The last and most recent technical school is the Meihaber Technical School located some 30 km from Asmara and partially equipped by the Norwegian Church Aid . The Centre is administered by the Ministry of Education and the Department of Social Affairs. The Centre started operation in 1994 by receiving 72 disabled fighters for a six month training on fitting and turning, arc and gas welding, and sheet metal work. The trainees were grade 6-7 and the centre is expected to receive the same level of disabled fighters in the future. There are about 13,500 disabled fighter. The school has 400 student capacity hostel. When fully completed the Centre may be in a position to take
able bodied students. The centre is expected to face problems of finance and
qualified teachers.
Advanced Training and Education
The Asmara University established in the late 1950's by Catholic Sisters is the only
institution of higher learning in Eritrea and was nationalized by the Ethiopian government. It did not receive the same support that the Ethiopian government used to give the other Ethiopian universities in terms of financial , expertise, and other
resources and by 1990/91 its students, staff members, books and equipment were transfeiTed to Ethiopia and it had to start after liberation from scratch.At the moment the Asmara university has the following colleges and departments:
a College of Business and Economics - Department of Economics and Finance
- Department of Business Administration and public Relations - Department of Accounting
b. College of Language and Liberal Arts - Department of English
- Department of Education and psychology - Department of History
- Department of Sociology c. College of Natural Science
- Department of Physics - Department of Mathematics - Department of Mathematics - Department of chemistry - Department of Biology
d. College of Agriculture and Aquatic Science - Department of soil and water conservation - Department of plant science
- Department of Marine Biology
Department of Law
The Asmara university has also a Research Centre and is in the process of
establishing a Management Institute and is also currently giving consultancyservice. Though the Asmara University has made rapid progress after liberation, it will nevertheless be facing financial, manpower, and other
resource constraints.
Other Training Centers/organizations
CERA/OBS Project
The Commission for Eritrean Refugee Affairs (CERA) is a government organ of the Eritrean government responsible for activities related to refugees and in cooperation with a German Organisation Otto Benicke Stifung (OBS) which is very effective in
training returning refugees.
The main objective of the OBS Project is to help locally displaced, returning refugees and demobilised fighters acquire employable skills.The OBS project has trained 1923 persons in the field of construction, carpentry, metal work, mechanics, electricity, electronics, agriculture, hotel catering, mass media, commerce, tailoring, hand craft, fish net making and others in seven provinces during 1993 and 1994. Detail of courses given is annexed, the training expense is fully financed by the German government. According to his finding, Mr Will Boetlrich, OBS, Project Manager, the
training courses so far given have been successful.Asmara Chamber of Commerce \ IYB
The Asmara Chamber of Commerce with the cooperation of the International Labour organization has introduced the " Improve your Business " (IYB) management training programme in Eritrea.
The first IYB training programme of Training of Trainers (TOT) was conducted
during 6-17 february 1995 by IYB project office experts from Zimbabwe. The
participants of the training were from the following institutions:infernal.«<:Joe/1/A 1 1
Organization Participants
Asmara Chamber of Commerce 5
Department of Industry 1
Eritrea Investment Centre 1
Ministry of Tourism 2
Labour Office 3
National Union of Eritrean women 1
National Confederation of Eritrean workers 1 Commission for Eritrean Refugee Affairs _2
Total 16
The subjects given include marketing, buying, stock control, record keeping, costing, and business planning. Each trainee is expected to conduct a Training of Entrepreneurs seminar for at least 20 small scale enterprise managers or owners.
Though the TOT course was conducted in English, the TOE seminars will be given in local languages and incorporate a follow-up programme to assist the TOE participants apply what they have learned.
PRODEC
Programme for Development Cooperation (PRODEC) is a Finnish government training centre which gives professional career training in foreign trade and entrepreneurship to business executives, specialists and government officials from developing countries. According to agreement made between the Ministry of Trade and Industry and PRODEC a 4 year training programme has been made covering the period 1994-1997.
The main objective of the programme is to enhance human resource development in the field of business management and foreign trade by training approximately 200-220 entrepreneurs, business executives and public trade promotion officials in the following courses:
a. Seminar on Entrepreneurship and Business management
b. Basic Course on Export Management
c. Advanced Course on Export Marketing and Market Research
d. Workshop on Business Management and Cooperation Modes in International Business
e. Transfer of Technology and Procurement of Projects
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f. Basic Course on Import Management
g. Seminar on International Purchase Contracts
h. Seminar on Trade Facilitation Measures for Trade Promotion Authorities i. Seminar on International Trade Standardization
j. Seminar on Market Intelligence and Income Generating Activities for Chamber of Commerce.
ACOKD
Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development (ACORD) is an international consortium of non-governmental organisations. ACORD is one of the most innovative NGOs participating in the social and economic rehabilitation of Eritrea.
ACORD's Programmes in Eritrea started in 1994 include:
a. Credit and savings scheme b. Building materials workshop c. Income generation projects d. Barefoot Banker training project
ACORD activities in principle cover all the provinces in Eritrea and beneficiaries of its programmes are farmers, returning refugees and demobilised fighters. A copy of training programme for barefoot bankers is annexed in order to give more detail of the training programme.
Private Schools and others
Non government schools had played important role in the expansion of education and training in Eritrea. They were the first to introduce modern education in Eritrea. Among the most important non governmental instutions were religious organization. Unfortunately, riiost of these type of schools were nationalized by the former Ethiopian government. At the moment there are few private schools. During the 1993/94 academic year student enrolment in private schools was 31,766 in primary level, 5,203 in middle level, and 1,984 in second level representing 15%, 15.9% and 6.1% of the total enrolment respectively. In addition there are many small special schools mainly concentrated in Asmara giving training in tailoring, cooking, motor vehicle driving, computer operating, typing and language proficiency.
13
PROBLEMS OF TRAINING IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR
1. Features of the Informal Sector
The informal sector in Eritrea has many similarities to other developing countries. It is not easily defined, as a matter of fact, its activities are diverse and hetregeneous. In Chapter II, an attempt has been made to give detail on the activities of the informal sector in Eritrea. Identifying training need, designing training course, preparing training material, organizing teachers, providing teaching facilities and carrying out other training activities for the various informal sector groups in Eritrea is very difficult.
2. Size and Composition
The number of people in the informal sector is about 220,000 and it is growing fast every year due to increase of school leavers, returning refugees and demobilised fighters. The sector as the result of the long liberation war, drought and recent past inappropriate policies has substantial number of vulnerable social groups including disabled fighters, locally displaced persons, refugees, demobilised fighters, women headed househods and children without family support. The number of people who need training and their social, health and economic condition is not an easy task to tackle.
3. Level of Skill and Education
At present Eritrea is one of the least developed countries of the world and estimated economic and social indicators for the country reflect, the situation of the people in the informal sector . Illiteracy is about 85 % at national level. Workmanship of the people in the informal sector is low because of lack of training and low economic development of Eritrea. Even though most of students leaving school join the informal sector they form the minority.
4. Lack of Training Facilities
There are only three technical schools in Eritrea and they are ill equipped and under staffed. The condition of primary, middle, and secondary schools is also the same. There is need to repair old schools and build new ones, recruit and train new and old teachers, prepare and distribute teaching material ,and ensure effective use of old and new facilities.
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5. Starting Afresh
Education and training in Eritrea is not a problem of continuing what used to exist, but, it is a matter of starting afresh. Eritrea is just coming out of a long war and much of what it had been lost. Eritrea is now set for an ambitious education and training objective. It includes compulsory education up to grade seven, education in local languages, equal educational opportunity for all its people , and standard and kind of education to ensure higher standard of living. There isn't much that one can talk about training for informal sector, it is a job which has to start from scratch.
6. Lack of Resources
Establishing and naintaining education and training for the Eritrean people in general and the informal sector in particular requires huge manpower, financial and capital resource. As a country undertaking rehabilitation and modernization operations in all economic and social activities, the resource that it can make available for education and training will be very much limited.
7. Lack of coordination
Though the achievements made in preparing the National Macro Policy and coordination work in education and training so far accomplished deserves appreciation and is admirable, there is still a long way to go in coordinating education and training activities in Eritrea.
In the first place education and training is not an isolated issue. If Eritrea has to succeed in its economic and social development, training has to be instrumental in developing its human resource which includes, human resource in the informal sector. Training activities have to be planned and implemented considering the demand for trained manpower, the need of the people in the informal sector and Eritrea's development objectives. The second point of concern which needs coordination is achieving organizational efficiency of the different governmental and non governmental operators in the field of education and training in Eritrea. The operators should not be limited to Ministry of Education and Provincial Administration but should include License office, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Trade and Industry, NGOs, people in the informal sector, employers, Department of Labour Affairs, Commission for Eritrean Refugee Affairs, Ministry of Public Health and other organizations with important role in training, employment, production, bank service and marketing activities of the informal sector.
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8. Low Earning
People in the informal sector have low earning and most of them earn below poverty line. Though training can offer them the opportunity to earn more, lack of income is one of the causes for many people to leave school. What is more training facilities are so scarce that people in the informal sector can ill afford to sacrifice time alloted for search of food to go to school, spend their meager income to cover training expenses, or spend and time effort when they do not have basic needs like food, clothing and shelter. After all people in the informal sector include returning refugees that had been living for years in relief camps depending only on subsistence support just to keep them alive and also include dislocated persons hard hit by war and drought.
Now they have peace and freedom and time to think of training and work to make their dreams true. As a result training programmes in the informal sector in Eritrea have to be well-thought and geared towards improving the earning capacity of the people in the informal sector.
9. Informal Sector Prejudice
If any developing country was to embark into errecting a multi-million dollar fertilizer plant, many people may applause the investment project as a great achievement because they most likely equate it with modernization and most probably the response of the people is positive. In relation to the informal sector, however, most people have been entertaining strong prejudice. May be they wrongly associate it with prostitution, drug pushing, black market, slums and every thing evil standing on the way against modernization. The modern sector has its own virtues as well as its problems. So also the informal sector. Indeed, prejudice against the informal sector, though a constraint that has to be addressed, is mainly due to lack of appreciation of the value of the informal sector.
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FAVOURABLE CONDITION FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING
1. Training Need
There is education and training need in the Eritrean informal sector starting from the most elementary trading activities to a wide rage of marketing, manufacturing, transport, hotel, restaurant, construction, and other activities.
2. Trainable Manpower
The informal sector in Eritrea has about 220,000 population which is constantly increasing. The people have great desire , for education and training and their need to acquire employable skill is urgent. Education and training to them means better health, income from employment or self employment and they have full confidence and determination to get trained and improve their standard of living. Eritrea is indeed facing a challenge to utilize its valuable human resource of demobilised fighters, returning refugees, school leavers and others for economic and social progress and avoid problems arising from huge population in the informal sector on the state of poverty.
3. Demand for Trained manpower
Eritrea's development plans to rehabilitate its infrastructure (roads, hospitals, schools) increase agriculture and industrial production, improve and expand its transport service, develop its tourist industry, exploit its marine resources and its other natural resources need trained manpower.
Any development programme can not work independent of the informal sector. The informal sector is an important component with a big share in the economic and social activity of Eritrea and needs trained manpower to be efficient and rewarding. At present Eritrea is facing shortage of trained workers as well as entrepreneurs and well planned training programmes are in real demand.
4. Training Experience
Education and training has a long history in Eritrea and the people have high respect for it . The public sector as well as the private sector and recently NGOs like ACORD, OBS Project, and others are activity participating and gaining valuable experience in education and training in Eritrea. In addition the EPLF was not only limited to military operation but was active also in education, agriculture, health, construction, manufacturing, and other social and economic activities. As a matter of fact
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it had very pioneering work in education and its experience during the liberation war has been an important input in the organization and running of present day education and training in Eritrea.
Work which has been achieved by the Eritrean government, local communities, and donors in education and training in the last four years is very impressive. Old schools have been repaired, new ones built, new teaching materials prepared, education in local language introduced,new teachers trained, many old teachers and school directors given refresher courses, schools opened in remote place, new training programmes introduced and other important tasks have been carried out. The experience gained so far is a great resource that can help in setting up education and training programme for the informal sector.
5. Learning from the Experience of others
Though the significance of the informal sector was first recognized in countries like Kenya and that valuable data on its activities had been collected, analyzed, and put to use to improve the livelihood of the people in the informal sector in those countries, experience gained so far has indicated that the issue of informal sector is also relevant to the Eritrean situation. Similarly, a lot of experience has been acquired in education and training in the world. Eritrea has the advantage to make use of the rich experience of all the countries of the world in education and training and can prevent itself from repeating the mistakes of other countries. For example, "Modules for Employable skills " which has about 800 learning elements for skills training in building construction, plumbing, pipefitting, automotive, mechanical and electrical engineering is an ILO training programme which can be adapted to the Eritrean situation without incurring expenses to develop new training programmes.
6. Conducive Environment for Training
In the first place the Eritrean Government position as expressed in the Macro Policy on training and development of the informal sector is very clear. Training human resource and upgradinding the informal sector are included as the most important strategies for economic and social development of Eritrea. In addition, the financial, material, physical and know-how support of the Eritrean government, local communities, and international cooperating partners to training and improving the status of the informal sector is encouraging and does create conducive environment for success of training programmes benefiting the informal sector.
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TRAINING POLICY PROPOSALS
1. Continue repair and maintenance of old schools and build new schools for pre-primary, primary, middle, secondary level, vocational and technical schools.
2. Improve and increase teaching facilities of old and new schools
3. Up-grade educational level and teaching skill of unqualified teachers and train new teachers
4. Review and improve to make school curriculum relevant to the economic and social needs of Eritrea.
5. Study the informal sector in Eritrea in depth including its past history, present condition, and its prospect in the short and medium term. The study should cover size of the population, age group, gender, education and skill level,income, work activities, geographical, distribution, level of output and demand , training need, demand for trained manpower, and other economic and social indicators.
6. Incorporate vocational training in middle and secondary level schools
7. Improve and add new field of study in the technical schools based on study of training need and demand of skilled man power.
8. Improve and expand distance training to include technical and vocational courses appropriate to informal sector needs. Different level of courses catering to illiterate, primary, middle and secondary level persons have to be prepared in order to reach the maximum number of persons in the informal sector in all parts of Eritrea.
9. Promote participation of the private sector to build and run schools.
10. Promote education and training institutions as business enterprises. In Eritrea private driving schools have proved efficient and effective and have helped many Eritreans to serve in the transport sector as employee drivers and self-employed taxi, bus and truck owners. Even the possibility of operating private and public boarding schools for Eritrean students who have their parents living abroad or changing place of work frequently have to be studied in depth.
informal .aec.doc/l IK 19
11. Education and training is not the realm of Ministry of Education only. For example the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Defence and the Asmara University are involved in educational and training activities. It is not also wise or feasible to bring all educational and training activities under one ministry. But there should be coordination among the most important ministries , private institutions, employers and workers associations and cooperating international agencies to improve training and education and make it relevant to the Eritrean situation in general and to the informal sector in particular.
12. Education and training must not be treated as an independent activity but as part of the over all human resource management of Eritrea. Training of Eritreans living locally and abroad,utilization of Eritrea human resource locally and abroad have to be reviewed and informal sector training and utilization planned.
13. Eritrea's vulnerable social groups which include disabled fighters, demobilised fighters, returning refugees and locally displaced persons, and female heades households should be given training priority because they need the most urgent attention and are in very critical situation.
14. Training should not be limited to the informal sector but also be given to government officials, community leaders, employers and other groups even in seminar form to make them aware of the situation of the informal sector and to enable them contribute their share of work in responsible and efficient way.
15. As much as possible use should be made of local and external resource, experience and assistance and should be used as appropriate in preparing, implementing, evaluating and follow-up of training programmes to the informal sector.
16. Training is not a classroom activity and does not end when a training course is completed. There is training before training and even training after training since training is dynamic.Newspapers,radio,television programmes, social events,visit by community leaders, and any other innovative means should be used to keep training in the informal sector effective and productive.
informal .sce.doc/1 /A 20
Persons Consulted
ANNEX 1
Asmara Chamber of Commerce
1. Mr. Kiflemariam Zerom 2. Mr. Teame Foto
Secretary General Editor
Commission for Eritrean Refugee Affairs (CERA)
1. Mr. Afeworki Assfeha Finance Officer
CERA/OBS Project
1. Mr. Willi Boettrich Project Manager
ACORD Eritrea
1. Mr. Hasebenebi Kafel 2. Mr. Tekie Andemikael
Country Administrator Training Coordinator
Ministry of Education
1. Mr. Aynealem Maricos
2. Mr. Mebrahtu gilagaber
Head ofDepartment ofTechnical and Vocational Training
Director of Asamara Teachers Training Institute
informal .aec.doc/1 /A 21
ANNEX 2
Bibliography
1. The Government of the state of Eritrea, Macro-Policy, 1994
2. Ministry of Education, Essential Education Indicators: Eritrea, 1994
3. Kaleab Haile, Distance Education for Development: the Current State of the Adult Education Programme and Its Future in Eritrea, 1993
4. ILO/Eastern Africa Multi Disciplinary Advisory Team (EAMAT), Foundations for Sustained Employment in Eritrea, 1994
5. PRODEC, Business Management and Trade Promotion Training Project for Eritrea 1994 - 1997
informal .aco iocf\ /A 22
OBSPROJECT DistributionofTraineesbyProfessionalFieldandProvinces(1993+1994) ProfessionalField 1.Construction Masons Brickmarkers 1.Carpenters i.Metalwork GeneralMetalworker Welder Plumber Blacksmith kMechanics GeneralMechanics Automechanics WaterPumpMechanics AgroMechanics TractorOperators 5.Electricians Electricians AdvancedElectronics
Akele-Guzai 10 10 10 10 10
Asmara 121 121 56 79 29 50 39 10 20 9 42 35 7
Barka 108 108 40
Province Gash-Setit 167 119 48 28 8 8 40 4 36 2 2
Sahel 80 80 39 10 10 15 15 15 15
Serahar 85 85 50 23 21 2 56 3 4 4
Sennit 5 18 13 5 5 5 53
Total 571 513 48 228 148 70 21 52 5 165 25 38 9 4 89 63 56 7
to
).Agriculture GeneralAgriculture Agriculture+Welding 1,HotelCaterers 1.MassMedia JournalisticWriting RadioTransmitting SoundEngineering >.Commerce Commerce Management,Accounting,Cmputer AirlinesMarketing Typing 10.TailoringandMandcraft Tailoring EmbroideryandNeedework Mat-andBasketmaking LeatherTailoring Pottery LI.Others FishNetMaking TelephoneOperator Meteorologicalobservation+Forecasting AerodromeControl TOTAL in%ofTOTAL
30 1,5
24 24 20 44 25 7 12 78 41 28 9 102 80 22 47 21 20 6 652 33,9
50 50 198 10,3
136 106 30 11 75 25 50 467 24,3
159 8,3
40 40 21 21 279 14,5
20 90 30 30 30 138 7,2
160 130 30 20 44 25 7 12 109 41 28 9 31 357 145 30 130 22 30 68 21 21 20 6 1923 100
M
25
ANNEX 4
TRAINING PROGRAMME - BAREFOOT BANKERS
Assuming that all the prosoective bareffot bankers are woman veterans with some accounting background, the following draft training programme can be suggested (with total duration 4-5 months):
1. Introduction of financial institutions:
- Basic office management and routines - Accounting and book-keeping
- Report writing - Business English
Place: NICE, Asmara for one month 2. Introduction to conventional banking:
- General bank procedures - Theory
- Credit and savings
Place: Commercial Bank of Eritrea (CBE) Asmara for three weeks, and one week in a CBE branch office.
3. Alternative banking
- Field visit to Seraye People Credit and Savings Scheme
Place: Seraye-two weeks of which one week in the field together with a credit and savings promoter
4. Specific training courses (each approximately of one week 's duration )
- Data collection/participatory research ( with at least one week 's field practice ) - Awareness and mobilisation training
- Training needs assessment - Gender approach
- Decentralisation/Local organised throughout the training period.
5. Job-specific induction
- At ERRA and ERRA-Mitias in Asmara (two weeks )
- In an ERRA-Mitias provincial office (two-three weeks ). It would be useful to see how the work is organised in one of the best functioning offices,not
necessarily the one where the trainee is going to be deployed.
6. Motorcycle training
Place: Asmara-with some off-road training and basic motorcycle
maintenance/repair-one hour a day for three-four weeks (to be combined with some of the other Asmara-based courses)
SOURCE : ACORD , ERITREA
