Rwanda is considering ways to scale up short courses on vocational trades to support 1.2 million people Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET), who dropped out of school and could not return to general education. The Minister of Education, Joseph Nsengimana, said this on Tuesday, February 18, as he appeared before the Senate in a session that assessed government initiatives for promoting technical and vocational education and training (TVET) establishments. ALSO READ: 84% youth with vocational training get jobs – survey “We are looking at how people who've dropped out of school, but who are now grown up and no longer of school-returning age, can continue their education. For example, those aged 25 or 30, who left off at primary or lower secondary school level.” The initiative he said will help the NEETs to learn new trades that would enable them to develop themselves. He said people who took short courses for vocational trades tended to get employment easily. The minister cited a recent study that showed that 67 per cent of graduates from technical secondary schools were employed within six months, 70 per cent of polytechnic graduates found jobs within three months after graduation, and 80 per cent of graduates from three- to six-month short courses secured employment. ALSO READ: Target of 60% TVET enrolment by 2024 achievable - RTB boss “TVET short courses which are higher in producing jobs will be scaled up to ensure that more than 1.2 million people not in education, employment or training get opportunities to be trained and get jobs, Nsengimana said. The information from the Ministry of Education indicates that the programme to train more than one million people has begun, and offers a wide range of courses covering nearly all economic sectors. The initiative is already underway, with 30,000 individuals having completed training so far. In April 2025, an additional 15,000 participants will be enrolled. The ministry explained that the initiative is supported by various partners, including the World Bank, among other stakeholders in TVET education.
