The Minister of Education, Valentine Uwamariya has challenged the leadership of Rwanda TVET Board (RTB) to, among others, impart world-class skills to students in vocational schools. RTB, was established alongside National Examination and School Inspection Authority (NESA), to take over the mantle of former Workforce Development Authority (WDA), an institution that was dissolved as part of the ongoing restructuring in public service. Paul Mukunzi, former principal of IPRC Karongi, was appointed as Director General of RTB by the cabinet two weeks ago. Minister Uwamariya was speaking during the official handover ceremony, Wednesday, December 30, at the Ministry’s head offices in Kacyiru. During the event, she hailed the work accomplished by the outgoing WDA leadership led by Pascal Gatabazi and challenged the new team to build from that foundation to impart quality skills among students. “This is a new institution, and you are its maiden leaders. You will have to shoulder blame on whatever doesn’t go right. There are pending projects and I would ask you to ensure that they are implemented.” Under the development, she explained that RTB will now be in charge of organising and supervising curriculum implementation in all technical schools. Other responsibilities include hiring and training qualified teachers for TVET schools in the country. NESA is mandated to inspect the quality of education in primary, secondary and TVET levels. The institution will also be in charge of setting examinations for the three levels. Uwamariya pointed out that, “It shouldn’t be about establishing new institutions but we should ensure that we commit to the work that we have been tasked and ensure that we impart students with world-class skills.” According to Mukunzi, among the priorities for the new institution is to promote technology in TVET schools, as well as imparting students with skills that are much needed on the labor market. “Another priority is to hire standard teachers to make sure that what they are teaching is standard and relevant for our students.” 60 per cent target Speaking about the country’s vision to enroll at least 60 per cent of students from Ordinary Level to TVET by 2024, Mukunzi decried that it is a hard target which requires efforts. “It is an ambitious and yet a possible target. We are looking at engaging more stakeholders to be able to attract more students. And by this strategy, we are optimistic that the target is achievable.” The New Times understands that the majority of the technical schools have been accused of providing poor quality education, and hence the need of restructuring. For instance, The Ministry of Education recently shut down a total of 20 technical schools over failure to provide sufficient practical lessons.
