The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) through its Human Capital and Institutional Development (HCID) Directorate is set to embark on a project to establish a Career Advisory Centre to help students in higher institutions of learning to clearly identify their career paths.

The initiative to establish the centres is aimed helping students in Universities and Colleges to better understand the professions they may take on in future to be fully prepared after graduation.

Speaking during a career orientation workshop organised by RDB at Hotel Novotel, the Minister of Labour and Public Service, Anastase Murekezi, said that the initiative to establish the centres will be vital in helping the country address the problem of skills-gap the country is experiencing.

He noted that the centres will help in churning out a potential workforce that is more effective, innovative, proactive and suiting modern standards.

Murekezi noted that the country is still lacking in the skills sector and needs more people with practical professional skills.

The minister added that the government is undertaking strategies to quickly reduce the skills gap and some of the measures include creating links between higher institutions of learning and the labour market to create a workforce database.

According to the RDB Deputy CEO/HCID, Deogratias Harorimana, the centres will be established in both private and public universities and colleges.

He said that apart from helping students to make career choices or going for further studies, the centres will also act as contact points between employers and their future employees.

Among other things, the centres will be providing comprehensive resources, programmes and counselling on career development, internships, part-time jobs as well as information on graduate studies, all to benefit students.

RDB will work closely with the Ministry of Education and respective institutions, including foreign universities to support the development of the centres.

Currently only the National University of Rwanda (NUR) and the School of Finance and Banking (SFB) have career centres.

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