When Technical and  Vocational Education and Training (TVET) underwent reforms in 2008 to provide practical and hands-on skills to the country’s labour force, comprising mostly the youth, many a people looked at it as an alternative to those who did not fare well at Ordinary Level.  TVET, however, has since greatly contributed to the country’s economic development and has helped transform the lives of many Rwandans. The New Times’ Collins Mwai spoke to Jerome Gasana, the Director General of Workforce Development Authority, on the latest developments and strategies being employed. Excerpts:

As TVET is rolled out, there is an emergence of investment opportunities for the private sector, is the private sector warming up to the opportunities?

Yes they are. TVET’s major purpose  is to serve the private sector. It is the reason we are trying to identify the gaps on the market and seek ways through which the Government, through TVET, can fill them by providing qualified personnel. Our goal is to ensure that people acquire the skills necessary for socio-economic development. 

Statistically, if you look at school ownership, there is already dominance of privately owned schools. Out of the 365 TVET schools in the country, over 200 are privately owned. This is because TVET  presents a viable income-generating opportunity

Do you have any initiatives in place to ensure that the increase in players does not dilute the quality of education?

We have an assessment criteria for both private and public schools as well as a harmonised curriculum. We have also established measures of certification to ensure graduates are competent enough.  We also hire qualified trainers that have in turn helped pass out competent graduates.

Plans are also underway to construct a Rwandan TVET technical institute that will help provide  trainers to both private and public schools. We have been setting targets and providing a framework so that anyone willing to invest in the sector has adequate information.

TVET has been operational for over five years now. What are some of the achievements registered so far?

One of the major achievements is the institutional framework that has been put in place to facilitate the development of TVET. We now have a ministrail-level docket that is specifically in charge  of TVET. There has also been an increase in the number of TVET institutions and evaluation and monitoring of students has also improved.  

We have been developing and rolling out the curriculum that reflects  the latest demands  of the market.

We are also looking at how we can establish a business education facility that would come in handy at the end of the TVET training to make sure that students begin and run their own enterprises. We are also linking graduates with financial institutions so that their skills can be translated into business opportunities.

TVET has for long been viewed as a choice for those who did not fare  very well in the Ordinary Level examinations. Are efforts to change the mentality bearing fruit?

There is a significant change in people’s mindset. If we are to go by numbers, in 2010, we only had 64 TVET schools, but we now have 365. The number of students has also continued to grow. All these point to the fact that more parents and students are embracing TVET. Currently, all TVET schools are full to capacity but there are still people looking for places.

More of our graduates are joining the job market and employers are generally satisfied with their skills and qualifications. We recently conducted a survey on employer satisfaction and it showed that over 71 per cent of the employers are satisfied with our graduates and their qualifications.

We have invested heavily in access to TVET as well as relevance in terms of suitability of jobs. 

We are now looking at improving our curriculum and teaching methodology for improved quality.

Speaking of employer satisfaction, universities are still struggling to churn out graduates who satisfy  employers’ demands,  what lessons can they borrow from you?

For us we work closely with the private sector. Our board comprises mainly private sector players. The idea is to produce graduates who are in line with what the private sector is looking for. In terms of curriculum development, over 80 per cent of the people developing our curriculum are from the private sector.  Our assessment methodology contributes to the quality of graduates. When testing students, we evaluate using people from the private sector, academics and staff of WDA.

We also have a council made up of private sector players. We meet regularly to see how we can intertwine TVET and the private sector. Over 50 per cent of our activities are carried out in partnership with the private sector.

What do you make of the target to have at least 60 per cent of students going through ordinary level go into TVET? Isn’t it a little too ambitious?

This is a target we embarked upon last year, we are looking to move progressively by 5 per cent annually. Our target is to have 60 per cent of students join TVET from 9 years basic education by 2017 . So far, the numbers are good, last year we had  41 per cent (excluding January intake). We are projecting a 48 per cent enrolment this year.

This means that we have to construct more schools to accommodate the growing number of students.

Nowadays we are introducing industrial based training, this is a new concept to train professionals by placing them in establishments in the private sector that offer the services they need to build their skills in. For example, by placing catering students in a restaurant environment. This is going to increase our numbers as well as the capacities and level of qualification of the graduates. 

What is WDA doing to contribute toward the 200,000 off-farm jobs annual target set by government?

Our target is that a majority of our students become job creators rather that job seekers. One of the ways we are helping government  achieve the target of 200,000 off-farm jobs is through the National Employment programme which mostly considers people we can train for a short period, say six months before they can fill positions.

What informs the new courses that you introduce almost annually?

That is mostly informed by the economy, for example we have the railway coming up, Rwanda is in the process of building an aviation system, and agriculture mechanisation is being encouraged. These are some of the areas we plan to venture into.

This year we started a mining course based on the latest developments in the sector. Last year, we put up a music school after realising that people were becoming more interested in the entertainment industry.

What’s next for TVET and WDA?

Our future plans are built around the country’s Vision 2020 and the Second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS 2). Under EDPRS2, we have the national education sector plan which informs our targets which include skills development and provision of employment opportunities.

We will continue working closely with our partners and Rwandans who are the beneficiaries of the initiative.