The Private Sector Federation (PSF) is embarking on improving the skills of the Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) to address skills gap in the private sector, which is currently depending on foreigners.

The Director of Employment at PSF, Antoine Manzi, said that 10 to 15 percent of the jobs for which a professional qualification is required are occupied by non-Rwandans.

"There is need for (the) private sector to improve technical skills and employability in general to address the challenge of skills so as to increase the numbers of Rwandese in the workforce currently taken by regional and international staff members,” he said.

He said, Wednesday, while presenting a paper on Industrial Attachment Programme— a new way of developing skills in the private sector—during the workshop on skills development.

"We have designed the Industrial Attachment Programme (IAP) to equip graduates from technical schools with the practical experience that employers need for the graduate to be useful to that industry,”  Manzi said. 

The Chief Executive Officer of PSF, Rogers Munyampenda, said that over 100 students have already been placed in companies and industries and more will be placed every year in the next three years.

He underscored that the programme is also intended to bring together employers, private sector and technical institutions to see how they can address the issue of skills inefficiency.

"Government has already shown its willingness in promoting the TVET.”

Nebojsa Simic, the Country Manager of Spark Rwanda, a Dutch NGO said that he is optimistic that the IAP model will help in bringing up skilled and experienced labour force to drive the economy.

"The success will be very soon when we see qualified Rwandans providing technical assistance in all development sectors which am sure will make Rwanda develop so fast,” he said.

Simic said that the success of the programme is facilitated by the current economic atmosphere and the government’s commitment towards developing the country.

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