KIGALI - The Rwanda Institute of Administration and Management (Riam) has launched a post graduate diploma programme for national employees in a bid to step up institutional capacity building.

The programme starts this year with 250 employees from public service and private sectors depending on institutional needs assessment.

The post graduate diploma courses being offered include procurement, human resource management, strategic management, operations management, office management and purchase management.

Riam estimates that its intake for this year will increase to 6000 for short and long term courses.

Speaking during the launching of the post graduate programme at Hotel Novotel on Friday, the Director General of Riam, Marc Kabandana said that the new course aims at giving participants a practical and in-depth training tailor-made to solve problems affecting national development.

"We believe that the trainings will help to solve the problem of our country in as far as capacity building is concerned,” Kabandana said.

The courses will be developed jointly by Riam and the Netherlands based Maastricht school of Management (MSM).

Kabandana said that the move is intended to reduce  the costs involved in studying from abroad, saying it will have a positive impact on the human resource and capacity building mechanisms of institutions, he said.

He added that the capacity building mechanisms for the 2008 will be based on the Economic Development for Poverty Reduction Strategies (EDPRS) to tackle the country’s social and economic challenges.

Jeanette Oostijen, the project consultant for MSM, said that the programme will involve both local and international expertise to equip employees with the skills based on national issues.
"It is only through offering training based on the country’s challenges that those particular challenges can be mitigated,” Oostijen said.
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