The Rwanda Education Board (REB) has come up with a programme aimed at helping innovative ICT students create jobs. It will equip them with skills to enable them access funding for their projects. The lack of start-up capital is one of the major factors hindering graduates from starting income-generating projects.Currently, there are two projects targeting innovative ICT students. They include Rwanda Innovative Endowment Fund (RIEF), which has received a Rwf375 million government, and the Innovation for Education Support Fund (IESF), which is funded by the United Kingdom to the tune of 10 million pounds. Dr. Evode Mukama, the head of ICT at the Education Department at REB, told The Sunday Times that according to their findings, people fail to access the funds due to poor project proposals. He said that the programme is designed to also cover the challenges met in applying for funds.“The programme will also enable students in rural areas to easily access and get used to ICT,” he said, one of the strategies REB is coming up with to implement resolutions of the International Conference on Technology in Education that took place in Kigali last month. The conference, which attracted representatives from over twelve countries, aimed at sharing experiences and promoting ICT in education.The Director of Content Development and Open Distance e-learning at REB, Alex Nkurunziza, who is overseeing the programme, said that as part of the mechanisms to achieve the objectives, about 60 representatives of young innovators in ICT sit together next month to share experiences.
