A three-year project worth Euro 1 million (approx. Rwf770m) was launched yesterday with an aim of boosting vocational training in the country’s construction sector.

The project that will be implemented by the Germany Chamber of Skilled Crafts Koblenz, from Rhineland Palatinate in partnership with the Workforce Development Authority (WDA), will last until 2017.

It will involve training Rwandan teachers by master trainers from Germany in masonry, tiling and painting.

The training, according to officials, will be conducted in collaboration with the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre (IPRC-East).

Speaking at the launch, Irenee Nsengiyumva, the deputy director general in charge of training at WDA, said the project will equip teachers with modern technical skills needed in the labour market.

"Most of our teachers who studied construction did not get enough time to work atconstruction sites for hands-on skills. We, therefore, hope that the training will equip them with the required knowledge.We also want to gain much from the German pedagogical methodologies,” he said.

Nsengiyumva added that the training will also help reduce the number of foreign trainers at the IPRCs.

"We are working closely with the Private Sector Federation to ensure that our teachers, once trained, give the very best to our students to make them more relevant on the market,” Nsengiyumva added.

The construction sector was selected because it is developing at a faster rate, according to Nsengiyumva.

Eng. Ephraim Musonera, the Principal of IPRC East, said lack of a specific school or centre for training of trainers in Rwanda has created a skills gap for teachers in technical institutions which needs to be addressed.

"Efforts are underway to establish a centre at IPRC-Kigali, Kicukiro that will help train other trainers,” he said.

He said most of their teachers are university graduates, mainly in engineering disciplines, whom he said are more theoretical than practical.

Musonera added that they selected the three areas of painting, tiling and masonry after receiving several complaints from contractors, decrying shortage of skilled workers in these areas. He said that after the three areas are covered, the training will extend to other disciplines.

IPRCs combine three categories namely; vocational training centres (VTC) for short term courses between three and six months, Technical Secondary Schools (TSS) as well as institutions offering college diplomas.

Matti Tomingas, the project manager of Koblenz, said the project will be subject to extension beyond 2017 and it is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Chamber of Skilled Crafts Koblenz is a self-government organisation in the state of Rhineland Palatinate and it represents interests of 19,500 member companies.