Forty-four vocational instructors from four districts are currently undergoing a training course in English for vocational instruction at the Rwanda Workforce Development Authority (WDA) headquarters in Remera, Kigali.

The same group is also training in vocational pedagogy, while ten other people are training in Electronics Servicing, all courses being offered free of charge.

The English course is part of WDA’s plan to train all vocational teachers in English language following the Government’s recent decision to make English the language of instruction in all government affiliated schools in the country.

"This is just the beginning; it’s a pilot phase. We will conduct many more such courses in future to ensure that all vocational instructors are empowered with English language for vocational instruction,” WDA Director General, Chong Fook Yen, said yesterday.

Those being trained are from the CFJs (Youth Training Centres) of Gacuriro in Gasabo District, City of Kigali (24); Rwabuye in Huye District, Southern Province (11); Kigese in Kamonyi District, Southern Province (six); and Amizero in Rwamagana District, Eastern Province, with three participants.

The trainees were split into two classes with the second group slated to commence their lessons today.

Their English trainer, Singaporean-born Lim Nengli Joycelyn told The New Times yesterday that the trainees were "very enthusiastic about the course.”

"The class is participative in nature and that has resulted into fast learning on the part of the trainees,” she observed.
However, Lim observed the need to organise longer English language training courses stating that seven days were not enough, particularly for beginners.

The Director of Studies of Gacuriro, CFJ, Francois Nzabakira, said that all but two instructors of their training centre were attending the training.

"Only two of our instructors are absent due to personal problems. We hope they will also join us well in time,” Nzabakira, told this reporter, on the sidelines of the training yesterday.

Asked why they had attended the course in large numbers, Nzabakira said: "English is a language which we are deeply interested in as educationists. We (Gacuriro) have actually hired a full-time English language trainer to help us at our school.”

His statement was re-echoed by other trainees from both Rwabuye and Kigese CFJs.

"English is one language that had eluded me for quite some time. I am happy WDA is willing to help us learn it,” a beaming Rose Niwemufasha of Kigese Vocational Training Centre, said.

She said she and her colleagues were irrevocably committed to passing on the acquired English skills to their students even though Kinyarwanda is largely the language of instruction at their school.

Frederick Dukuzimana, a trainee from Rwabuye Vocational Training Centre, said: "This is an extraordinary opportunity for us to learn English. It will not only help us in the classroom but also in our daily life.”

While English will certainly not immediately become the language of instruction in Rwandan schools – considering that French is the most used foreign language in local schools – the Government plans to gradually implement the new policy, beginning with Mathematics lessons effective next month.

Besides the English language course, the trainees are also separately undergoing training in vocational pedagogy to help them acquire more skills on how to teach in a systematic and structured way so that students can optimize learning.

"This is also another opportunity to upgrade our teaching skills,” said Isidore Karasira, a teacher at Rwabuye Vocational Training Centre.

The trainers for the vocational pedagogy class are graduates in the first WDA-sponsored train-the-trainer vocational pedagogy course which was concluded recently at the authority premises in Remera.

Meanwhile, ten other trainees – most of them university graduates – are also undertaking a hands-on practical training in Electronics Servicing at WDA.

This is the second group to benefit from the pilot programme aimed at training future vocational instructors/trainers under the recently approved integrated Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system in Rwanda.

WDA is a statutory institution created to oversee the implementation of the new technical and vocational training policy which will – contrary to the previous system – allow vertical and horizontal mobility.

The new education system is seen as key to the successful implementation of the country’s two top development blueprints – Vision 2020 and the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS).

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