While learning institutions remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, there is a need to develop policies and guidelines that will strengthen the country’s TVET sector once students are allowed to go back to school.

This is according to Rita Clemence Mutabazi, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Training, Institutional Development and Research at Rwanda Polytechnic (RP).

Considering that there are now 8 training colleges (IPRCs), 369 TVET schools, with a student population of around 97,144 and 4499 trainers, Mutabazi explained that developing policies intends to enhance the quality of skills obtained by students.

"As a training institution, any activity done affects the quality of skills we give to our students,” Mutabazi said.

For instance, she pointed out, "Policies of Research and Innovation shall allow the aftermath of what follows once a student has an innovative idea or even a prototype, it shall also lay down mechanisms to support such innovative minds both on the academic and student side.”

TVET sector has been primed to play a leading role in Rwanda’s development and the government targets to have 60 per cent of students graduating from nine-year basic education enrolled into TVET schools.

However, in order to acquire the badly needed employable and entrepreneurial skills, Mutabazi emphasized that there is need for standard skills.

"We want to continue strengthening education quality and making sure our students get the required skills from technical schools, skills needed in the labour market,” she said.

Dominique Ingabire, the Deputy Principal Academics and Training at IPRC Gishari, said digital learning is one of the policies being revised as relief to students who have not had practical lessons in a while.

"One of the policies being revised is online learning as we are transitioning to online teaching. This will help us better facilitate students who are learning from their homes.” Ingabire said.

According to Mutabazi, her institution has embarked on a journey to revise 8 policies which will be implemented in all training colleges, December this year.

"According to the timeline our first policy formulated will be completed by October. But the whole cycle is due December.” She said.

To achieve this, she cited that her institution is working with capacity strengthening organizations to meet standards.

Speaking to The New Times, Rob Van de Gevel, an education expert said that if implemented, the policies will among others streamline Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in order to release qualified graduates into both national and international labour markets with competent skills to even create their own jobs.

"I believe this will ensure a sound policy framework, strong governance mechanism to ensure smooth operations in colleges and TVET schools, develop and update quality TVET competency-based curricula that responds to labour market needs as well as improve access to quality teaching and learning in TVET institutions,” Gevel who is also a member of SEAD, one of the capacity strengthening organisations said.

SEAD is a project that brings together higher learning and TVET institutions, the public sector and farmers, cooperatives and agribusinesses to develop more practice-oriented, demand-driven education and research in order to improve food security and agricultural livelihoods.

Students weigh in

James Ndekezi, a second year student at IPRC Kigali told The New Times, welcomed the move citing that the move will among others ensure that all students are given a standard set of skills.

"One challenge we have been facing is that all colleges were not providing standard skills to their students.” Ndekezi who is also a co-founder of Kwaanda Labs, added "If this is established, it means that countrywide, all students would acquire the same and yet quality standards.”