The Workforce Development Authority (WDA) has launched a Management Information System (MIS) that provides timely information about all schools offering technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in the country.

During the launch, on Friday in Kigali, WDA director-general Jerome Gasana said the information system, which indicates TVET’s staff, alumni and students indicators, is already operational and can be accessed via WDA web site.

"MIS is aimed at providing timely information on TVET policies, strategies and planning. It will provide school-based information for TVET providers; vocational training centres, technical secondary schools and integrated polytechnic regional centres. This timely information is necessary for decision making and identifying any area of interest,” Gasana said.

He added that the new technology will save WDA millions of francs it has been spending on sending teams around the country to collect information from the schools.

"We have trained all head teachers and they have now entered 80 per cent of information about their respective schools in database, so we no longer need to visit schools to collect data because MIS automatically tracks all changes made in database. We have been receiving information from TVET schools at the end of year, but now we get updates whenever there is a change,” he said.

MIS also has a documentation support and GIS map, which shows TVET school location, its surface area, infrastructures and the facilities available such as roads, health and electricity.

John Bideri, WDA board chairperson, said MIS was an operational need for building the capacity of TVET providers, making easier the management of their respective institutions.

WDA will continue to build TVET capacities by providing them with more computers and Internet access, Bideri added.

The Principal Technical Advisor of GIZ Eco-Emploi Programme, Petra Mueller-Glodde, appreciated WDA’s commitment to ICTs, saying MIS is a comprehensive product which will contribute to TVET’s capacity building and give timely information to different stakeholders.

The MIS project, worth Rwf100 million, has been developed by Rwandan IT engineers with a financial and technical support of GIZ and the Korean International Cooperation Agency, according to Gasana.