The administration of the National University of Rwanda (NUR) has strongly criticized the ongoing national skills audit by the Ministry of Public Service and Labour. The Government is currently undertaking a national skills audit to determine which sectors are more lacking in skills. Speaking exclusively to The New Times, NUR rector, Prof. Silas Lwakabamba, said that the Government has not been in contact with the country’s higher institutions of learning. The Government has not advised us on which skills the economy needs, he said. Lwakabamba also said that there ought to be more linkage between national policy-makers and institutions that develop skills. The problem we have is the linkage between higher education institutions and the labour market. The Government has a policy but we have not been advised that we need, for instance, more lawyers, chemists or physicians. The Government should be informing tertiary institutions to train more or less people in specific sectors, for example if Rwanda will require more economists in 10 years, he argued. NUR recently re-opened electrical engineering department which had been closed in 2007 by former Education Minister Dr Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya citing lack of qualified lecturers to handle the course. We have invested heavily and undertaken a re-validation scheme; we have also had more qualified lecturers joining us. NUR has admitted first year students who will access much more facilities through a partnership with KIST (Kigali Institute of Science and Technology), Lwakabamba said. The Director General of Rwanda Immigration and Emigration Department, Anaclet Kalibata, said recently that the construction and mechanical engineering sectors are in dire need of more qualified human labour. The National Human Resource Development Agency (HIDA) is helping in the process. NUR says it was never consulted on what skills Rwanda currently needs more than others. Ends
