Transforming TVT Institutions to Empower Youth and Build Sustainable Enterprises

The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Journey of Debre Birhan TVT College through the SEED Program

Located in the cold climate of the North Shoa Zone in the Amhara Region, 130 kilometers northeast of Addis Ababa, Debre Birhan is known for its cool weather and expanding industrial hub. Twenty years ago, the Amhara Regional Government established Debre Birhan Polytechnic College to serve as a local skill development center for youth. The institution began modestly with just three one-year certificate training fields, a small cohort of trainees, and a compact instructional team.

Over the years, the college expanded to offer formal technical training across 58 occupations (Levels I to V) aligned with Distinctive Area of Competency (DAC) employer demands in sectors such as Metal Manufacturing, Automotive, Textile and Garment, Electricity, Hotel and Tourism, and Information Technology.

Despite this initial expansion, the college faced operational challenges that limited its broader economic impact. The institution contended with traditional public sector constraints, low job placement rates, limited internal enterprise creation, and minimal self-generated revenue. Reflecting on these early hurdles, the Dean of the college, Bashaye Beyene, highlighted that leadership was not fully integrated into quality management systems and a structured entrepreneurial vision was lacking. He noted that short-term and regular training reached fewer than 12,000 participants annually and connections to real-world market demands were limited, leaving many young people in the community missing out on practical skills, mentorship, sustainable employment, and access to finance. He emphasized that serving young people and surrounding industries effectively required a fundamental change in how the institution operated.

To address these systemic gaps, the college partnered with the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI), the Mastercard Foundation, and consortium partners (EAU, Hope Enterprises, Orbit Innovation Hub, and ACT) under the SEED (Sustainable Employment through Entrepreneurship & Enterprise Development) program. At its core, the SEED program is designed to transform TVET institutions nationally to enable one million young people to access dignified work, enhance youth entrepreneurial and employability skills, facilitate the formation of 231,000 enterprises, expand access to finance and market linkages, and improve the enabling environment for entrepreneurship.

Working alongside consortium partners to strengthen the local ecosystem, Ethiopian Aviation University (EAU) supported institutional governance and quality management systems, while the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) provided Training of Trainers (ToT) to 45 college instructors, delivered direct entrepreneurship training to 8,600 job seekers, and offered Business Development Services (BDS) to 2,000 local entrepreneurs. Simultaneously, ACT trained 12 instructors via ToT, delivered digital literacy and employability skills to 10,172 job seekers, helped 17 local enterprises become international-market ready, and established 623 market linkages. Further driving enterprise development, Orbit Innovation Hub provided seed grant funding to 20 promising entrepreneurs and delivered practical digital marketing training to 630 small and 21 medium enterprises. Meanwhile, Hope Enterprises delivered practical technical training to 14,678 participants including internally displaced youth and persons with disabilities—and facilitated three major TVT-industry linkage programs across Debre Birhan and Bulga that led directly to industry and job linkages for 9,254 youth.

The primary impact of the SEED program has been a substantial expansion of training and employment opportunities for local youth. Enrollment in short-term and regular training programs grew from 12,000 participants prior to the initiative to over 40,000 youth trained this year alone, providing technical and business skills that lead directly to employment. According to regional evaluations, the college achieved a 97% job placement rate for its graduates. Regional field assessments also recognized the college for technology innovations that serve both urban and rural community development.

In addition to direct youth employment, the program supported the institutional strengthening of the college. Assisted by EAU, the college implemented quality management processes and achieved quality certification. Embracing TVET entrepreneurialization, the college established its own commercial trading entity, operating over 20 distinct business lines. These enterprises include an Automotive Approval and Vehicle Inspection Center, commercial animal fattening, construction material supply including supplying terrazzo for local town infrastructure projects and an electro-mechanical unit providing motor rewinding and industrial machine maintenance to local factories.

Through these commercial activities, the college's annual internal revenue increased from under 18 million Birr prior to the program to over 47 million Birr in the 2025/2026 budget year. This income supported campus infrastructure improvements, including an asphalt roadway, a G+3 Administrative Building, and a G+5 Hotel currently under construction. Building on this financial trajectory, the college has established a clear strategic vision to become fully self-reliant within five years, reducing dependency on state budgets through continuous enterprise expansion.

This focus on quality training and institutional performance led to multiple regional and national awards. Debre Birhan Polytechnic College was ranked 1st among all Amhara polytechnic colleges by the Regional Labor and Skills Bureau for consecutive years. It also won top regional honors in Technology Transfer and Skill Competitions in 2022/2023 and 2024/2025, and achieved an award nationally from the Ministry of Labor and Skills for Enterprise Development and Industry Extension Support. Following a supervisory evaluation by the North Shoa Zone Urban Development Cluster, the college was designated to serve as the regional Center of Excellence for East Amhara, supporting capacity development across neighboring technical colleges.

Reflecting on the overall progress, Dean Bashaye Beyene noted that the SEED program helped unlock the institution's operational potential. He shared that today, trainers serve as certified mentors, enterprise activities generate strong internal revenue, and graduates enter the labor market equipped with the practical tools needed to start their own businesses or secure sustainable employment.

The story of Debre Birhan Polytechnic College demonstrates what can be accomplished when public leadership, technical training, practical support, and strategic multi-sector partnerships align. Through the SEED program, EDI, the Mastercard Foundation, and consortium partners have turned local challenges into measurable opportunities establishing a scalable, self-reliant template for the future of technical and vocational education across Ethiopia.