The national practical examinations for Senior Six students in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) schools started yesterday with students expressing confidence to perform well.

Over 21,000 candidates, of whom 49.6 per cent are female, registered for this year’s TVET examinations taking place in 102 examination centres across the country, according to officials. They are set to end on September 19.

Candidates are being examined in accountancy, agriculture, graphic arts, carpentry, computer electronics, ceramic-sculpture, tailoring, computer science, construction, electricity, electronics and telecommunication, forestry, general mechanics, hotel operations, motor-vehicle mechanics, public works, secretarial, tourism and veterinary.

Car mechanic Sylvie in Rwanda. Source: Looking for Livingstone Productions/YouTube

Some of the candidates who spoke to The New Times said they were confident that they would excel in the exams.

"We have prepared well for the practical exams,” said one Jean Damascene Imanirabaruta, a construction student.

Jean Bertrand Hirwa, another candidate, echoed the same view: "We completed the syllabus and had enough time for practicals. Nothing will prevent us from excelling.”

While speaking at the launch, of the exams in Gisagara District, Jerome Gasana, the Director General of the Workforce Development Authority (WDA), said the exams are aimed at assessing the skills of soon-to-be secondary school graduates and ensuring that those graduating possess the required skills that can allow them compete on the labour market.

"Subjecting them to practical tests aims at ensuring that the knowledge and skills acquired address the demands of the labour market,” Gasana told The New Times in an interview.

Gasana said, this year, they included members of the private sector on the evaluation panels in order to improve on the exams quality.

The principle is that no trainer is allowed on a panel where their students are being examined, according to officials.

Projections

Government embarked on promoting the TVET system to ensure that students are equipped with hands-on skills early in their academic journey so as to produce job creators and not job seekers.

The government wants to see at least 60 per cent of students graduating from the Nine-Year Basic Education programme join TVET by 2017, with the remaining 40 per cent joining institutions of higher learning.

Officials from WDA told The New Times yesterday that currently about 45 per cent of 9YBE graduates join TVET.