Awareness and Readiness towards Industry 4.0 Ethiopian Higher Technical and Vocational Education and Training Instructors

Recognizing that the integration of Industry 4.0 into Technical and Vocational Education and Training systems requires sufficient technological awareness among instructors, adequate professional development exposure and in-structional readiness, this study sought to determine the levels of these di-mensions among higher-level TVET instructors in Ethiopia. A mixed-methods descriptive design was used, involving 63 instructors who responded to a professionally validated structured questionnaire with both closed- and open-ended items. Data obtained through the questionnaire were analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis, while that obtained through open items were processed qualitatively through inductive thematic analysis. The results indicate that the instructors had varying levels of conceptual awareness to Industry 4.0, which were mostly moderate to high on artificial intelligence and Internet of Things. In contrast, instructional readiness was generally low across various themes, including curriculum alignment, pedagogical adaptation and practical instructional ex-hibition. Instructional technology use was positively and significantly corre-lated with instructors’ preparation confidence. Qualitative insights also re-vealed the need for continuous professional development, enhanced industry collaboration and the development of support mechanisms by the institu-tions. The study, therefore, concludes that Ethiopian higher-level TVET in-stitutions and instructors exhibited conceptual alignment but limited opera-tional preparedness.