LG Electronics to Open Technical College

LG Electronics to Open Technical College

LG Electronics is opening a million dollar Technical & Vocational Education & Training (TVET) College in September 2013.

The college will offer courses in Information Technology (IT); electronics; and television and cell phone maintenance. According to Yong Geun Choi, representative for LG'sEthiopiaoffice and LG's director of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the Middle East andAfrica, the College will also offer additional courses in agriculture.

Choi was speaking at the launch of the LG Hope Village in Sendafa on April 16, 2013.

The TV and cell phone maintenance services will be specific to LG products, while the rest of the courses on offer are general. LG will supply teaching materials for its college although the company intends to use Ethiopian instructors.

Training will begin in September 2013 from a rented facility. Agricultural training will follow a year later as there currently is no established TVET curriculum for agriculture inEthiopia, according to Choi.

The curriculum was discussed on Monday April 15, 2013, when a delegation from LG, including Young Kee Kim, executive vice president of LG corporation, and Choi met with Demeke Mekonnen, deputy prime minister and minister of education; Tefera Derebew, minister of agriculture; Abulaziz Mohammad, vice president of Oromia regional state; and Dibaba Abdetta (Dr.), Ethiopian ambassador to Korea; at the premises of the Ministry of Education (MoE) on King George VI St.

"Though the current TVET curriculum is good, there are missing practical links in the system. We have received very encouraging responses from the ministries about working on this," said Choi.

Demeke told the delegation that his Ministry is raising the practical part of TVET to 70 pc, according to Choi.

LG's college will accept 75 students into three departments for the first year of its two-year training. Students will graduate with a diploma upon completion of the two years. Students that have completed 10th grade are eligible to enrol.

LG has applied for 3,000sqm of land at the Industrial Zone in Akaki Kaliti District, where it plans to build its own college facility.

"We have had discussions withNefasSilkLaftoTVETCollegeto rent out part of their building until we can have our own space," said Adil Yasin, LG's CSR coordinator inEthiopia. "We have agreed to work in cooperation."

The LG Hope Village will provide water, roads, and electricity. It will also establish agricultural and leadership training centres for close to 160 households.

The village rests on five square kilometres of land.

As part of its CSR program, LG is involved in sustainable agricultural village development, the fostering of skilled human power from the TVETs and supporting the descendants of the Ethiopian veterans of the Korean War.

LG, established in 1958 as Gold Star, was renamed in 1995.

LG Electronics produces a range of electronics equipment including mobile devices and digital TVs. The company oversees 114 subsidiary companies worldwide and has 82,000 employees.