At least 22,000 youth will be trained in Technical Vocational Education and Training in readiness to work in factories and companies as well as put them in position to create their own jobs. Frank Shyaka, the Manager of the Skills Development Fund funded by the World Bank through the Workforce Development Authority (WDA) said the jobs will be created in a period of six years. He said that since 2017, the fund has so far trained 6, 962 youth of whom over 65 per cent have already secured employment or created their own income generating activities. “We have already invested over Rwf7.5 billion in training these youth. It is from the funding we received from the World Bank,” he said. The employability of the trainees is indicated by an impact assessment survey we carry out after every training of six months,” he said. By January 2021, he noted, at least 9,000 youth will have been trained and employed by industries while others will be supported to create jobs. “In order to train 22,000 youth, we will have to train more 13,000 youth additional financing from the World Bank. Under the partnership to create more 13,000 jobs, one part of financing will be a credit while the other will be a grant,” he explained. He said the jobs will be created from an estimated $24.5 million financing. TVET in creating 1.5 million jobs Dr. James Gashumba, the Vice Chancellor of Rwanda Polytechnic (RP) urged the youth to leverage the skills in creating employment. He said TVET will play a key role in creating 214,000 jobs annually along the seven-year government programme. At least 1.5 million off-farm jobs will have been created by 2024. “TVET is a key driver in sustainable development. In the coming years the private sector will be employing over 90 per cent of the population and TVET is key,” he said. In addition to the Skills Development Fund, The National Employment Program (NEP) is also producing youth with TVET skills. “Since 2014, the employment program has trained 43, 361 youth across the country especially in rapid response training so that youth learn and be able to create their own jobs quickly,” The Vice Chancellor said. Shortfall in funding According to Rwanda Polytechnic Strategic Plan running from 2019 to 2024, there is a need of about Rwf650 billion in streamlining the TVET sector and producing graduates with employable skills. This required an estimated Rwf124.3 billion under 2019/20 fiscal year with Rwf142.8 billion is needed under 2020/2021, Rwf126.6 billion for 2021/2022, Rwf134.1 billion for 2022/2023 and Rwf120.4 billion for 2023/2024. This Strategic Plan is aimed to provide quality TVET education and modernize the technical workforce for national development as a priority for Rwanda to transform into a knowledge-based economy that will have the capacity of creating 214,000 productive jobs annually. Under the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1), the government of Rwanda has set up a target of 60 percent of nine years’ basic education graduates to be absorbed in TVET by 2024 to address the challenge of skills shortage and unemployment. This will be achieved by increasing TVET schools from 342 (2016) to 416 by 2024. The latest national TVET tracer surveys have shown that graduate employability is at 70.3 per cent and employer satisfaction at 75 per cent.
