Rwanda TVET Board (RTB) and the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET) have signed a new agreement to collaborate in research on vocational education and training. 

The five-year agreement, which was virtually signed on Tuesday December 28, aims at fostering a partnership with a focus on sharing research on policy development and effects of policy practices through reciprocal support, cooperation and exchanges of information.

Speaking at the virtual signing ceremony, Paul Umukunzi, the Director General of RTB, said that KRIVET has made a lot of researches that inform the whole education sector especially in TVET hence RTB wants to learn from them, adding that their exchanges will not only be in research findings and output of research activities but also in sharing all best practices from both sides.

"We will basically enter into matters related to industry academia exchanges and collaboration framework between all TVET stakeholders especially private sector and the academia. We will also collaborate on all matters related to human resources capacity building and all innovations which are coming out from TVET institutions,” he said.

Umukunzi said that Rwanda also has different areas to explore as far as TVET development is concerned, adding that RTB shall also be sharing findings with KRIVET in matters related to TVET.

"We also conduct researches, and KRIVET is interested in knowing what is going on in Rwanda or Africa and the output of research across the continent. We will be working together with a target of advancing knowledge practices of both sides,” said Umukunzi.

Claudette Irere, the Minister of State in Charge of ICT and TVET and Dr. Ryu Jang-soo, the President of KRIVET during the signing ceremony. / Courtesy

The agreement that we are signing today, he continued, comes at the right time and it will be an opportunity for us to learn from Korean TVET system that we fully appreciate and take as our role model.

Dr. Ryu Jang-soo, the President of KRIVET, commended Rwanda for establishing RTB to advance the TVET sector in Rwanda.

He noted that the agreement will replace the older one that KRIVET and the Workforce Development Authority (WDA) of the Republic of Rwanda signed in 2017 when it was still operating.

He added; "The fourth industrial revolution and the Covid-19 pandemic are presenting new and unknown opportunities. We shall invest more resources to foster research projects to mitigate the new challenges and make use of new opportunities.”

Claudette Irere, the Minister of State in Charge of ICT and TVET said the deal is a milestone in strengthening cooperation and partnership in TVET training systems for both Rwanda and Korea.

"I believe this agreement means important opportunities for education cooperation between the two TVET institutions. I am convinced that more cooperation will come in regards to student exchanges and researches in service of this memorandum of understating,” she said.