Senegalese education officials are in Rwanda for a five-day learning visit.

The delegation on Tuesday met with their Rwandan education counterparts in Kigali.

They are here to learn about the success of the Akazi Kanoze 2 project, under the Education Development Centre (EDC), policy priorities, and the curriculum reform efforts.

"Rwanda is doing well in terms of promoting Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). We have come to see how it (Rwanda) has made it, the strategies the country has taken and how they have been able to deal with the challenges,” said Seni Diop, the head of the delegation.

"We are looking forward to learn what ways Rwanda has used to develop the curriculum for TVET, the education system and the strategies devised to easily work with the private sector, parents, and other stakeholders,” Diop told The New Times.

Akazi Kanoze project has been running since 2009.

The initiative aims at supporting TVET and upper secondary schools students, and graduates, equipping them with skills to enable them to gain a meaningful transition in the job market.

"We have been implementing this project in Rwanda for the last five years, but the results are incredible compared to other countries where it’s being done. We have been able to do this because there’s political will and enabling environment,” said Melanie Sany, EDC’s Director of International Youth Programmes.

Sany explained that by the end of the second phase which ends this year, about 4,000 students will have benefitted from the project.

Why Senegal is interested

EDC Rwanda is closely working with the Senegalese ministry of education, advising them on how to implement a similar five-year project that aims to institutionalise youth employability programming within Senegal’s secondary education system, civil society, and private sector.

The study tour is part of the partnership between two parties, and Senegal is documenting several lessons which they want to apply during their own implementation process.

To learn first-hand from project beneficiaries, the delegation will travel to Ruhango District to visit ES Ruhango and Vocational Training Centre Mpanda, and two Akazi Kanoze schools that have been highly successful in training students in work readiness, finding internships, starting student savings and lending groups, and launching school-based businesses.

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