The Ministry of Education this week launched the second phase of a Rwf7 billion career guidance in the country, which will cover 130 schools. Officials say the project will help bridge the existing gap between learners’ competencies and passion on the one hand, and the realities and needs of the labour market on the other. The development has been welcomed by school administrators and teachers, who said that lack of a strong carrier guidance culture in schools saw many students make uninformed decisions as to which options/courses to take, with some often seeking to switch to different options when it’s sometimes too late. The fact is that there is a notable mismatch between what’s often taught in school and the demands of the industry. This has resulted in many fresh graduates struggling to fit in the world of work, with some finding it difficult to find a job that corresponds their skills. That partly explains why 13 per cent of local varsity graduates are unemployed – a considerably high figure given the rate among general population stands at 3 per cent. Now, there are different efforts that different government agencies have undertaken lately to help tackle the growing challenge of unemployment, including the National Employment Programme’s Kora-Wigire scheme and the revision of the national curriculum. There is also the Labour Market Information System, a programme that’s designed to help keep decision-makers, potential job-seekers, among others, abreast of the dynamics on the labour market. These are noble efforts that could heavily impact the country’s growth and transformation agenda. Nonetheless, there is need to harmonise all these interventions for maximum impact. Importantly, there is need to implement what we’ve always known to be the right thing to do. For instance, it’s very important that the industry gets involved in setting the curricula. The labour market is dynamic and we cannot afford to have a curriculum that’s static. Also, the impacts of and lessons learned from such programmes as Kora-Wigire should to inform future decision making regarding the course of the country’s education system. Similarly, the latest efforts at boosting career guidance for students should be scaled up to cover all schools. To help students make an informed decision regarding their future careers should not be an option.
