We flew to Ethiopia to train instructors and complete an automotive training project in Addis Ababa. What we found there can’t be shipped in a crate.
Before AutoEDU’s equipment arrived in Addis Ababa, the instructors at Nefas Silk Polytechnic College were already building their own training stands. Simple constructions, made in-house – but built with clear intent and a willingness to keep moving forward regardless of what was available.
When the AutoEDU team arrived to complete the final phase of a long-running TVET development project – installation and training – that is exactly what they found.
Handmade training stands. Simple in construction, but clearly built with a purpose. Evidence of experimentation, of problem-solving, of an unwillingness to wait.
That kind of initiative is not something you can import.
The work in Ethiopia was the final stage of a project financed through an international development programme – part of a broader initiative to strengthen technical and vocational education across the country.
AutoEDU was brought in to equip the automotive training workshops with industry-aligned solutions covering three key areas:
The installation was complete. What remained was the training – the moment where equipment either becomes a tool or stays a display piece.
The team arrived expecting to start from the basics.
They did not need to.
The instructors at Nefas Silk Polytechnic College already understood hybrid vehicle technology. Not in theory only – in practice. Within the first hour, the conversation moved past equipment operation entirely. The questions being asked were about battery repair, system diagnostics, failure modes.
“We expected to begin from the very beginning,” says Paulius Mačerinskas, CEO of AutoEDU. “But the teachers were already familiar with hybrid vehicle technology, and we quickly moved into deeper, more advanced topics. The questions were not only about how to use the equipment – they were about hybrid technology, how it evolves. This is exactly where real learning begins.”
The day ended not as a handover – but as a genuine exchange between professionals.
The homemade training stands tell their own story. The instructors at Nefas Silk Polytechnic College did not wait for the right conditions – they built what they could with what they had, and kept teaching.
That is proof of concept in the most honest sense. The commitment to hands-on training was already there. In areas where advanced platforms, precision, safety, and real system behaviour are critical – AutoEDU’s equipment came into play. It was not added to fill a room. It was selected to close specific gaps and bring training closer to real industry standards.
Vocational education is often discussed in terms of infrastructure and investment. And those things matter. But the most important factor is always the people in the room.
What the AutoEDU team found at Nefas Silk Polytechnic College – the homemade stands, the advanced questions, the evident commitment – is a reminder that the strongest training programmes are not built by outside partners alone. They are built by institutions that have already decided to move forward, and that find partners who can help them go further.
We are proud to be part of that process in Ethiopia.
And we have a great deal of respect for the instructors in Addis Ababa.
The five AutoEDU training platforms installed at Nefas Silk Polytechnic College represent a complete, interconnected curriculum – from vehicle lighting and body electronics, through CAN network diagnostics, to high-voltage hybrid and EV systems.
Lighting Educational Trainer MSAS02
CAN and Lighting Systems Educational Trainer MSCAN03
Wheel Alignment and Electronics Training Stand MSVAZ02
