The newly established Rwanda Workforce Development Authority (RWoDA) has got off the ground with technocrats behind it seeking to further their cognisance of the country’s labour situation and conducting preliminary training programmes.

Having formally been established by the Cabinet on January 18, RWoDA’s vision is to become a regional centre of excellence in work force development.

Parliament is however yet to pass legislation governing the new organ.

The government hopes the Remera-based agency will help promote, facilitate and guide the development and upgrading of skills and competencies of the national workforce, ultimately enhancing competitiveness and employability.

The officer in charge of ensuring that RWoDA’s operations get underway, Singaporean-born Chong Fook Yen, said yesterday that the institution is already gauging the situation on the ground, with its officials making visits to some vocational training schools.

They have also conducted a training session for chefs from various institutions in Kigali, and the next session will be for people working in food and beverage firms.

The former World Bank employee was speaking to The New Times shortly after presenting an update report to the Director of Cabinet in the President’s Office, Maj. Gen. Frank Mugambage, and the head of Policy and Strategy unit in the President’s Office, Dr David Himbara.

In his presentation, Yen said the young institution has identified some of the main issues that need urgent attention especially in the areas of vocational training programmes, business incubation and labour market information system.

"An advisory committee of six people from various stakeholders was established to help develop (the country’s) labour market information system by the end of the year," Yen, who was also previously in charge of technical vocational education and training in Singaporean public service, said.

That committee, he said, is made up of representatives from the ministries of Education and Public Service, National Institute of Statistics (NIS), Rwanda Private Sector Federation (RPSF), RWoDA and private education providers; each represented by one person.

Once in place, that information system will be posted to the website thereby serving as a reference and carrier guidance for future employees such as students, the expert said.

Yen said RWoDA plans, among others, to train young entrepreneurs and provide them with financial assistance to start-up income-generating projects, and to improve the curricula, infrastructure and hygiene of vocational centres.

"We shall train owners of such schools as well as many other people," he said.

Nodding in agreement, Mugambage observed: "It’s important."

And after watching a video clip showing pathetic conditions in which some Kigali-based vocational workshops (including carpentry and machining) operate, Mugambage urged RWoDA to consider establishing "role model" workshops with appropriate infrastructural standards that should serve as an example to others.

RwoDA has also launched an industrial attachment programme for technical students under which it will facilitate a ‘train-the-trainer programme’ for the on-the-job training supervisors. This initiative will begin with 125 final year students of Ecole Technique Officiel (ETO) Gitarama who will be placed in different companies as interns.

RWoDA, which is also mandated to set industry standards, and regulate and accredit vocational training institutions, also plans to work with the Rwanda Investment and Export Promotion Agency (Riepa) to set up an "intelligence committee" charged with identifying the work needs of both the present and prospective investors "so that we can train people in the identified skills," said Yen.

"Our training is investor-driven, entrepreneurship-driven and productivity and services-focused," he said.

"That is the quick-win plan," added Dr Himbara, one of the officials behind the RWoDA philosophy.

Yen, who came in the country to help set in motion the capacity-building agency, brings with him vast experience of Singapore, an Asia-Pacific nation whose development model is among those that have inspired Rwanda’s development vision.

Local officials believe that with such job needs-tailored training, beneficiaries of RWoDA programmes will not end up in the street.

The government has pumped Frw2.7 billion as initial funding to RwoDA in this year’s budget, and the institution – which presently has four staff recruited to help it start running – intends to recruit more staff soon, according to Yen, who was sourced for the job through a joint partnership between Rwanda and Singapore.

Singapore helps provide some equipment, while Germany will sponsor a full-time practitioner to help set up the labour market information system.

RwoDA has five regional centres spread across the country (one in Kigali and each province), which will among others.

Through RWoDA, the government hopes to provide strategic response to the skills development challenges the country is facing within the framework of the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS).

The initiative is among many top-level efforts seen as vital ingredients in the country’s quest to achieve its sustainable development goals under Vision 2020, a comprehensive economic plan seeking to transform Rwanda’s economy from subsistence agriculture into a knowledge-based economy and a regional ICT powerhouse.

The involvement of a Singaporean expert in this key development initiative yet again underlines Rwanda’s determination to borrow a leaf from emerging Asian economies viewed internationally as perfect models of a nation’s capability to turn around its economy in just a few years.

Like Rwanda, Singapore and several other successful Asian countries are not blessed with natural resources, but have stunningly built vibrant economies based on the skills of their own people – the same development path President Paul Kagame’s government is treading.

Just last month, Dr Himbara signed a Record of Discussion with the representative of Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Tanzania, Kwon-Hyoung Nam, which will result in an agreement under which South Korea – one of Asia’s industrial powerhouses – will integrate its development model into Rwanda’s development programmes.

That deal will help reform and strengthen Rwanda’s national polices in the areas of industrial policy, investment and export promotion, human resource development, agriculture and energy.

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