Government has injected over Rwf 900 million in Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET). The grant, which is channeled through the Workforce Development Authority (WDA) in its Skills Development Project (SDP) will benefit 38 private technical and vocational institutions.

Speaking during the signing ceremony in Kamonyi district last Friday, Jerome Gasana, the Director General of WDA, called upon public and private TVET institutions to among others, introduce short-term courses that will help address the shortage of skills in the labour market.

"Acquiring skills is not about spending years learning but getting the relevant skills to address challenges in the labour market; and doing this in the shortest time possible will heavily help in contributing towards success of the National Employment Programme (NEP),” said Gasana.

NEP is a government programme initiated to fight unemployment among the youth with key players being ministries, government agencies as well as the private sector. Their target is to facilitate the creation of 200,000 off farm jobs annually for youth, women and people with disabilities.

The head of the SDP Task Team, Saeki Hirosi, called on institutions to ensure that the grants are put to good use to benefit more youths.

"Embark on massive enrollment, let them get quality skills and graduate then be linked to job opportunities so that they get to the job market,” Hirosi said, adding that majority of the country’s population comprises of youth that need to be facilitated to acquire skills that will enable them participate in the country’s development process.