The TechPro2 Ethiopia (Technical Professional Programme), a training course that 20 young students from the Bosco Children Centre in Addis Ababa, will undergo in the next nine months, was inaugurated on Saturday 7 December thanks to an initiative by Iveco and New Holland Construction.
The project, launched in 2008 as a result of the positive experience of similar initiatives in other areas of the Group, lays the foundations for student specialisation in the automotive sector, with a specific professional development programme for the industrial vehicles sector. The students involved will have the opportunity to learn a trade at school, attending a course that will provide them with a valuable professional retraining tool at the end of the course of studies.
The Bosco Children Centre is a home built by the Don Bosco Salesian Order with the objective of reducing the problem of street children in the Ethiopian capital, by accommodating them in a comfortable structure. More than 350 children and adolescents, of which 160 are full-time, have found a place in the Centre, where they have the opportunity to prepare themselves for entry into society.
The official presentation was attended by the Ethiopian Minister of Education, the Director of the Ministry of Education, the Ambassador of Italy in Addis Ababa, as well as numerous local authorities, Mauro Veglia, Vice President CNH Industrial, Commercial Services and Customer Care Director and Daniela Ropolo, CNH Industrial EMEA and APAC Sustainability Director were present on behalf of CNH Industrial.
“Currently the world of professional education and training in Ethiopia clashes with a strong mismatch between supply and demand” – said Mauro Veglia during the presentation. “On the one hand, lifelong learning is a condition of development itself; on the other, the financial crisis forces us to manage all this with limited resources. To get out of this vicious circle, it is necessary to find a methodology which enhances both local opportunities as well as contributions from private companies. TechPro2 is exactly that: a brilliant example of collaboration between public and private sectors in the field of education”.
Daniela Ropolo added: “The TechPro2 programme reflects the way we consider work and the future and well represents how the sustainable action of a major industrial Group, such as CNH Industrial, can have beneficial effects both from a social as well as business point of view. Thanks to the cooperation with the Salesians of Bosco Children and with local institutions, CNH Industrial will provide its resources, its technologies and its vehicles in order that these youngsters can one day become our technicians, our people and therefore play an important role in the future of this Group”.
The project in Ethiopia
With TechPro2, CNH Industrial has created an innovative relationship model between schools (particularly Salesian schools) and the recruitment network(represented by the Group and its dealer networks). This partnership with the Salesians is based on many years of mutual collaboration, on the expertise of the Salesians in the field of education, and on their global presence, which is complemented by that of CNH Industrial.
Within the scope of the TechPro2 programme, CNH Industrial will provide its know-how by training the Salesians: specialised CNH Industrial personnel will transfer their technical expertise to the Salesians who, in turn, will pass it on to students in the classroom. In addition to financial support, all of the required tools for classroom training, such as vehicles for practical exercises, essential components such as engines, transmissions and repair tools will also be provided.
The Addis Ababa programme involves 20 young trainees, who will become “repair technicians”, a highly specialised profession in the mechatronics field. The course will last nine months and will ensure a certificate officially approved by the Ethiopian Government, which will provide students with an important competitive advantage when approaching the local employment market.
TechPro2 : other steps for the project
TechPro2 was launched in May 2008, with an agreement between Fiat Group Automobiles and theNational Salesian Centre. Since 2011, the programme has also been launched through CNH Industrial (formerly Fiat Industrial) with a programme specifically dedicated to commercial vehicles.
From Italy, via Brazil, to Ethiopia: in 2012 the Iveco TechPro2 project in fact arrived in Brazil. The Salesian school in Belém hosted vocational courses to facilitate the entry of 20 young trainees into the employment market in the field of motor vehicle repair. ISVOR trainers were involved in the initiative in order to offer selected students the best technical training.,.
Iveco in Ethiopia
Iveco has been present in Ethiopia since 1970 with a share of 70% of the AMCE (Automotive Manufacturing Company of Ethiopia) joint-venture with the local Ministry of Industry and Trade, which holds the remaining 30%. With this project, Iveco intends to provide an important development opportunity to the country and a valuable international professional background to Salesian school pupils.
The manufacturing and commercial structure of AMCE in Addis Ababa includes a plant that spans over 8,000 square metres with a production capacity of 600 vehicles per year and a dealership for vehicle sales and service.
