The Workforce Development Authority (WDA) has received a $4 million grant from the World Bank to enhance skills development in the country.WDA is charged with offering employable skills and entrepreneurial capacity, especially to the youth, under the Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) system.Speaking at a news briefing yesterday in Kigali, the Director General of WDA, Jerome Gasana, said they would use the funds to implement the Skills Development Strategy.According to him, the grant is provided under the Skills Development Project (SDP) and would support three components that focus on skills development by matching demand and supply. “As you know, skills needs are constantly changing; it’s imperative for the priority needs to be addressed rapidly and in a flexible manner,” said Gasana.“It is in this regard that we decided to come up SDF which will be providing financial support to skills development institutions in the country to help Rwandans be competitive on the labour market.” The Skills Development Fund (SDF) will address the Rapid Skills Delivery Component Three of the SDP by acting as a quick delivery financing mechanism in response to priority needs. The project will provide grants to firms with the most responsive proposals as an effective instrument to rapidly reduce skills gaps and create employment across the country.In an interview with The New Times, Gasana disclosed that winning project proposals would receive a grant ranging from Rwf6 to Rwf60 million.Those eligible to apply for the grant include government and private vocational and technical centres, legally recognised cooperatives and associations that offer skills development, profit and non-profit making institutions involved in skills development.Others are local and international business partnerships involved in skills development. However, individuals and non-registered institutions are ineligible.Gasana said under SDF, organisations providing appropriate training delivery technology to address a wide range of labour market needs in the country in a specific trade would be offered the grant to train at least 25 trainees in every cycle.He said that WDA would organise various training programmes to facilitate members of the public to prepare project proposals to be funded by the SDF.Pascal Gatabazi, the Principal of Tumba College of Technology (TCT) commented: “I thank the World Bank and WDA for coming up with the SDF idea because it will help people like us running institutions that offer skills to improve on the quality of education we provide to. graduates”.He requested the government and other stakeholders to devise other initiatives aimed at uplifting skills development institutions financially, which, he said, would enable TVET graduates to compete favourably on the labour market.
