TVET has become one of the tools for economic recovery and development. In therncontext of Ethiopia 's national strategy, TVET is meant to contribute to a large scalerndissemination of scienti fic and technologica l know-how, facilitate job creation andrnenhance the quality of life by expanding the students' technical capacity and promotingrnprofessional skills which would help them to improve th eir livelihoods .rnConcerning the Afar reg ional state, the establishment of modern education is a recentrnphenomenon . Particularly, TVET Colleges were established very recently.rnOne of the discouraging factors for self-employment was lack of guarantee for thernprivate enterprises in the face of unexpected crises. Lack of industriousness and lowrnexpansion of investment were the other discouraging factors for self-employment.rnThis study has attempted to explore the challenges and opportunities of selfemploymentrnto TVET trainees and graduates by collecting data from primary andrnsecondary sources. Primary sources refer to information obtained from in terviews , focusrngroup discussions and document analysis. Such sources were pivotal since theyrndepicted the actual phenomena in the study area. Secondary sources were also usedrnto give a broader background of issues drawn from conceptual framework for the study.rnMost of such secondary sources were books and some materials that deal with thernexisting two TVET colleges in Afar regional state.rnThe findings revealed that the TVET trainees ' have a negative attitude towards selfemploymentrnfor several reasons. Such reasons are explained in detail. Also this studyrnhas found out that the institutional capacity of the TVETs is also too weak. Hence, th isrnstudy has unearthed the challenges and opportunities of TVET and has provided a setrnof conclusions and recommendations in line with original data gathered in the studyrnarea . Hence, among other things, it is suggested that to tackle such problems workingrnon altitudinal change towards TVETs and improving the institutiona l capacities andrnfacilities of the TVET institutions suggested being mandatory.