The governments of Rwanda and Germany have signed a €16 million (about 26 billion) agreement for a project aimed at increasing girls’ participation in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). The project, named “Skills for Girls TVET Project,” will expand support to additional TVET schools and strengthen the existing scholarship programme, with a special focus on young women. The project agreement was signed on September 23. ALSO READ: Six TVET schools benefit from Rwf16bn infrastructure project Speaking during the event, KfW Office Director Jochen Saleth said the occasion marked both the completion of an existing project and the launch of a new one with the Rwanda TVET Board (RTB). KfW is a German state-owned investment and development bank He said the new project is intended to address the underrepresentation of girls in TVET, particularly in certain subjects and trades. “Together with RTB, we conducted an assessment to identify the trades in which girls are currently underrepresented but which offer above-average employment potential after graduation from TVET,” he said. Saleth said the project is designed to address that gap by focusing particularly on schools and students, mainly female students, entering TVET education in what he described as future-oriented trades. These include automotive, ICT and other STEM-related fields. More girls to benefit from scholarships RTB Director General Paul Umukunzi said that under the new project, RTB will increase the number of girls receiving scholarships by an additional 2,000, bringing the proportion of female scholarship beneficiaries to 70 per cent. The scholarship programme covers students in TVET schools across Rwanda. Umukunzi said the initiative would continue supporting beneficiaries beyond secondary school, including through university education. Joyce Mukundwa, a student of Electronics and Telecommunication at Ecole Secondaire Saint Joseph le Travailleur (ESSJT), talked about the gender gaps in TVET, noting that the number of girls varies significantly depending on the field of study. “There are some faculties, like construction, electronics and telecommunication, automobile, electricity and design, where girls are very few,” she said. She added that the provision of scholarships could increase the number of girls enrolling in TVET because financial difficulties prevent some students from accessing education.
