Two hundred and ninety-one students are pursuing PhD degrees as part of the Partnership for skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET), the Minister of Education, Valentine Uwamariya, has said. Uwamariya was addressing members of the press during PASET’s Governing Council Meeting on February 2 at Kigali Marriott Hotel. Established by the governments of Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Senegal in 2013, PASET aims to support African countries to build a skilled labour force by focusing on the continuum of skills from foundational skills to upper, secondary, technical, vocational training as well as higher education, scientific research and innovation. According to Uwamariya, Africa can’t achieve its desired development without skilled workforce in science and technology. African countries still have a few graduates on the level of doctorate, she said, adding that it's one of the reasons why PASET, which currently has 11 member states namely Ethiopia, Rwanda and Senegal as founding members while other 8 members Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, and Tanzania joined later. Minister Uwamariya also declared that each country has to contribute $2 million, but the money is not enough considering the workforce needed in science, engineering and technology, adding that it’s the reason why they expanded partnership by working with sponsors, including the Government of Korea as well as the World Bank. Uwamariya who is currently chairing PASET’s Governing Council also noted that among the 291 students who won scholarships to pursue PhDs through PASET are 20 Rwandans, of which four have graduated. The PASET Meetings include all the key governance organs – the PASET Governance Council, Executive Board and Consultative Advisory Group. According to Uwamariya, this time, the members convened in Kigali to review and approve the work of PASET over the last year and support the work plan for the coming years. Prof Goolam Mohamedbhai, Chairman of PASET’s Consultative Advisory Group which advises the executive group and the governing council on matters that are related to academic and technical issues, believes that the partnership will improve applied science, engineering and technology. When PASET was established in 2013, they realised that the low number of PhD holders in Africa was limiting the continent from doing research as well as innovating. He declared that in the next phase of PASET, member states seek to focus on developing Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) given that they have realised that it’s another important aspect for all African countries. “You cannot have only high level PhD graduates. You need TVET people at high level to support industrialisation and development process,” Mohamedbhai said. John Ntim Fordjour, Member of Parliament and Deputy Minister of Education in Ghana, asserted that the emphasis of PASET is on producing critical mass of people and giving them the skills required particularly in the areas of applied sciences, engineering and technology — the areas he said are relevant and must occupy the focus of the education system continent-wide. “Africa as a continent has unique challenges, but we do also have some enormous opportunities and potentials we must tap into,” he explained. “60 per cent of the population in Africa are under the age of 25 and by 2030, it is predicted that 42 per cent of the global youthful population will be Africans. But we also need to juxtapose that the research that was done by education commission in 2020 predicted that if nothing changes in our education system globally by 2030, 825 million of young people will reach adulthood without the skills needed to thrive into this world. It is a huge threat that must be tackled with serious investment and emphasis on applied sciences, engineering and technology.” Jean Nepomuscene Hakizimana, a PASET beneficiary who pursued his PhD at Sokoine University of Agriculture and graduated in 2021, said that his PhD focuses on molecular epidemiology and geonomics of viral pathogens. “What we do is to look at the genetic parts of viruses responsible for their viral antigens, attenuate them and then produce the vaccine. We also design the diagnostic tools,” he said. Hakizimana also noted that the expertise he has gained in his PhD has been used in Rwanda to fight African Swine Fever (ASF), a highly contagious viral disease of pigs, in partnership with the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Board (RAB). “We use molecular techniques acquired during this programme to diagnose the disease and then develop and apply effective control measures,” he explained.
