The education sector has been under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. When most faculties of the University of Rwanda were relocated from Huye (former Butare), the empty hostels in town had a severe economic effect on the town that buildings were actually crumbling. Life nearly stopped as businesses closed or relocated elsewhere. The students had been the lifeline of the town for many decades and their absence was being felt. Now the university has reversed its decision and Butare town is breathing again. But not all was good news. Just before the opening of this academic year, many secondary schools, among them some of the most prestigious, were ordered closed on hygiene and management grounds. The medical faculty of a certain private university was suspended and another was in the news this week because it has not paid its employees for the last five months. But the most worrying of all was that employers had voiced their disappointment that Rwandan institutions were churning out half-baked graduates who were not ready for the job market. Well, that is about to change. The Ministry of Public Service and Labour and the Private Sector Federation have come up with what they believe will close the skills gap; Workplace Learning Support Programme. Young people, especially the most vulnerable, will be enrolled in training schools for one year learning various trades such as fashion, food processing, and beauty. They will be attached to various firms while at school and receive a modest stipend. The hands-on training has been dubbed; “Igira ku Murimo” (Learn on the Job), and although it is just in the trial phase, therein lies the future of this nation.
