The Ministry of Science & Higher Education picked 10 higher education institutions in the country to teach 5,000 PhD students in five years starting from this year. Dubbed the Homegrown Collaborative PhD Programme, it lies in the country's focus industry areas: agriculture, tourism, mining, ICT and manufacturing. The Programme is going to be conducted in higher education institutions including Addis Abeba Science & Technology University, Adama Science & Technology University, Addis Abeba University, Meqelle University and Gonder University. The Programme is set to be funded by the government, but the Ministry is also looking to collaborate with other development partners. It comes on the heels of the launch of the Ministry's National Digital Skills Country Action Plan, a 10-year, nationwide initiative to enhance digital skills and learning across higher learning institutions.