The government is set to introduce agronomy, veterinary and nursing courses in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as part of the plans to bridge the skills gap. These new programmes, set to be rolled out in the next academic year which begins in September this year, were announced by Prime Minister Édouard Ngirente. The Premier was presenting, to the parliament, the government actions on the promotion of TVET schools and Polytechnics. “We realised that there was a problem,” he said, disclosing that agronomist and veterinarians work on large projects and leave the small agriculture projects to agricultural community advisors, hence creating a gap. By introducing these courses in TVET schools, the premier said, the country will create a critical mass of skilled workers who can reach more people in communities. Through this, he said they can then teach farmers basic agriculture, veterinary and nursing skills. MP Marie Therese Murekatete, the country has only two institutions that offer agro-veterinary courses. Even they don’t have sufficient laboratories or equipment to facilitate student learning, she said. In order to address the shortage of nurses, the Premier said that the government will introduce the nursing courses in TVET secondary schools, and they will be awarded high school diplomas. There is a huge gap in the nursing industry, meaning nurses and community workers are overwhelmed with work. According to the Ministry of health by the end of June 2020, Rwanda had a total of 10,447 nurses working in both private and public health facilities. However, nurses per population ratio had improved from one nurse per 1,291 people in 2010 to one nurse per 1,198 in 2020.
