© Kamla-Raj 2015 J Economics, 6(1): 74-78 (2015) Missing Link: Partnership of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges and Industries in Addis Ababa Demessew Alemu Woldetsadik 1 and Mutendwahothe Walter Lumadi 2 1 Ministry of Agriculture E-mail: dalemu12@yahoo.com, 2 University of South Africa, South Africa E-mail: Lumadmw@unisa.ac.za KEYWORDS Partnership. Public-Private Partnership. TVET Colleges. Enterprises /Industries. Memorandums of Understanding ABSTRACT Public-Private Partnership (PPP) has become an important tool for the implementation of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs in some countries of the world. However, it is not appreciated by TVET partners in Addis Ababa. In this research an attempt was made to investigate the partnership of TVET colleges and industries/enterprises. Unstructured interview questions were prepared and presented to the TVET colleges (Entoto and Selam), apprenticeship training coordinators and industry supervisors (Marathon Motor Engineering Enterprise (MMEE), Anbesa City Bus Transport Service Enterprise (ACBTSE) and Hibret Manufacturing and Machine Building Industry (HMMBI). Participants of the research were asked whether they had established clear agreement and understanding of the TVET program and were performing according to the agreement they had reached. It was concluded that no true PPP exist among TVET colleges and industries. Consequently, industries/enterprises hesitate to sign Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) to implement apprenticeship training and lack clarity on the objectives of TVET (apprenticeship training) programs. It was suggested that when establishing PPP in TVET programs in Addis Ababa necessary conditions should include a clear understanding of PPP and its purpose, equitable outcomes expected from each partner and the need for implementation according to the agreement reached. INTRODUCTION The need to produce skilled manpower de- mands the active involvement of all relevant stakeholders of TVET. This can be implemented through the establishment of strong partner- ships between public and private institutions. Thus, partnerships between TVET colleges and industries should clearly specify which service should be provided and by whom. It should also reflect the partners’ shared responsibilities and explain each partner’s rights and obligations in detail. As it may be known, the current TVET delivery system requires the exertion of efforts by all partners, from international as well as glo- bal perspective. Accordingly, the government as the main partner of TVET may be vested with the responsibilities of law and policy-making, controlling quality management of the TVET system and providing support to TVET colleg- es. The private sector, on the other hand, is ex- pected to provide in-company TVET training programs, apply best experiences for quality training programmes and improve the supply of the TVET system through the use of resources, etc. (MoE 2008). However, the nature of appren- ticeship training requires the establishment of PPP and assumes the presence of fair and equal responsibilities among partners. Both partners are expected to reach at consensus regarding the implementation of apprenticeship training program. This is reflected in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two parties. Based on this premise, a study was conducted to explore the views of apprenticeship training coordinators in TVET colleges and industries/ enterprises supervisors on the implementation of PPP. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In this study participants’ understanding of PPP was used as a source of data. In line with this, a purposeful sampling process was em- ployed. This enabled the researchers to inten- tionally select the participants that they think can produce information on the topic under re- search (Leedy and Ormrod 2010). Moreover, the researchers selected information-rich cases for in-depth research without the need to genera- lise on similar cases (McMillan and Schumacher 2010). The process of examining PPP in the select- ed TVET colleges (Entoto and Selam) and in-