A meeting on vocational training centres (VTC`s) has called for more centres to be set up in rural areas to increase access to skills training for the youth.Uzziel Twagilimana, the visiting Africa Coordinator of World Solidarity, a Belgium based nongovernmental organisation working to promote VTC`s and youth organisations, mooted the idea at a meeting in Kigali, yesterday, to share best practices in the promotion of e vocational training and technical education.The meeting, attended by delegates from Benin, Burundi, Burkina Faso and officials from the Workforce Development Authority (WDA), discussed challenges and solutions to promotion of vocational training education.“You find that VTC`s are concentrated in urban areas; but it is really a challenge for the youth, especially dropouts and other people who need vocational skills to access these centres,” Twagilimana said. He pointed out that based on experience, youth in rural areas are not only challenged with access to these institutions, but many cannot afford to pay for education. “Based on the policies that governments come up with, it is also wise that VTC`s private or public get government support so that skills can be provided at an affordable cost,” he advised, adding that the centres are key key fighting unemployment.The Director General of WDA, Jerome Gasana, says government’s plan is to increase the number of VTC`s countrywide.“The government’s target now is to increase job creators than seekers, we therefore want to ensure that each district can have at least three VTC`s,” he said. Participants interviewed observed that information sharing among organisations working to promote vocational skills and technical education will promote the quality of graduates from VTC`s.World Solidarity works in 15 countries in West and Central Africa that also include Cameroon, Gabon, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), among others.In Rwanda, the organisation works with vocational training centre known as CEFOTRAR.
