Alice K., Johnson (PhD)Assefa, Abebe2018-06-182023-11-042018-06-182023-11-042006-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/1106Undertaking major investment in education to achieve rapid economic growth that will enable poor people to be the beneficiary has been taken as one of the means for Ethiopia to relay on. However, the links between policies and practices are not yet harmonized. This is mainly because of the lack of integration of life skill development, which includes value, identity and interpersonal development components with the intellectual development programs in the higher education system. This research therefore assessed the contribution of life skill to competent workforce development using both student survey and employer’s key informant interview. The research findings indicate the lack of life skill development survives in the university system on the one hand and the existence of informal services that have been influencing student’s life skills in the university on the other hand. Accordingly, the contribution of friends, relatives, religious leaders and politician to help students learn some of the life skills while attending their study in the university are found to be the four top influential bodiesenSocial WorkThesis