Project to support vocational training in Rwanda

Rwanda, which has been experiencing strong growth and rebuilding itself since 1994, is faced with a shortage of skilled labour. Its population is growing rapidly and youth unemployment is high, despite its very dynamic economy.

To address this issue, the Government has set a target of creating 1.5 million jobs by 2024 in order to foster youth employment and boost its economy.

To support the country’s efforts, in late 2019, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) allocated a grant of over EUR 5m to the Rwandan Government to strengthen its youth training and vocational integration system in the “pilot” district of Rulindo (see opposite).

AFD asked Expertise France to assist the Ministry of Education with the implementation of this project and, more specifically, its operator in charge of vocational training and technical education, Rwanda Polytechnic. Expertise France is mobilising a team of technical assistants in Kigali for this purpose. The head of mission will be supported by experts in training engineering, school/business relations and monitoring/evaluation.

The main objective of the project to support vocational training is to improve the training available, in line with business needs. The project will support the following areas of action identified:

• The launch of a new training program in mechatronics, a high-potential sector in an industrialising country;
• 4 TVET schools (training centres) for the upgrading of their equipment, the training of trainers and the digitisation of training;
• The creation of a language laboratory to strengthen the language skills of young graduates (in English and French), which will facilitate their integration into the labour market.

The project’s main objective is to improve the employability of young graduates. This requires building stronger relations between training centres and employment professionals, both public (the District, employment services) and private (companies and their representatives, microfinance institutions). Rwanda Polytechnic’s objective is therefore to structure a multi-stakeholder institutional system in order to continuously match training provision with the needs of the labour market.

These stronger relations between schools and companies could:

• Allow schools to more rapidly adapt training programmes to the needs of the private sector;
• Help set up placements for students or create an apprenticeship system to improve the transition towards the professional world;
• Promote interventions in schools by professionals from the private sector;
• Help develop systems to support existing jobs, such as incubation centres, in order to promote entrepreneurship.