This thesis was aimed at undertaking a research study on the practice ofrnapprenticeship in Govenunent and privates TVET colleges of Addis Ababa. Thernfocus of the study was to investigate the major problems that affect the successfulrnimplementation of apprenticeship. To this end, attempt was made to evaluate therndegree of partnership between TVET colleges and the world of work and the majorrnfac tors affecting this link like legal frame work and work place trainingrnenvirOlunents. Comparative method of study was employed to compare andrncontrast conditions of apprenticeship practices in two govenunent and four privaternTVET colleges found in three sub-cities of Addis Ababa. All the colleges werernselected on the basis of simple random sampling method . The subjects of thernstudy were 38 administrative staff members of TVET colleges, 220 trainees and 68rnwork place supervisors. The sampling of respondents was carried out throughrnpurposive, availability, simple and s tratified teclmiques on the basis of the naturernand size of sample respondents. Data were collected through questionnaires,rninterviews, observation and document analysis. The data were also analyzed usingrnpercentages and chi-square methods. The result of the study depicted that whilerngovenunent colleges backed apprenticeship by legal frame work, private collegesrndid not. On the other hand, unlike private colleges, govenunent colleges preparedrntheir h'ainees for apprenticeship only once in their college life time. Besides,rncolleges were unable to establish a network of co-operation partnerships withrnorganizations. Above all, apprenticeship suffers from lack of appropriaternworkplaces, qualified supervisors and financial constraints. From this, it is possiblernto conclude that trainees from both TVET colleges faced the problem of attendingrntheir apprenticeship so that the objective of apprenticeship was not properly met.rnTherefore, it is reconunended to find other policy alternatives; to enactrnapprenticeship regulation; and to create strong awareness through campaign sornthat other responsible bodies such as chambers of conunerce and industry couldrnshare the responsibility of facilitating apprenticeship.