Technical education gets boost

KIGALI - In a move to strengthen Vocational Technical Centres (VTC), the government of Rwanda has for the last two months been engaged in training 146 trainers and directors in technical teaching. This was in conjunction with the government of the Kingdom of Belgium through the Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC). The training was aimed at helping the trainers to put the learner at the centre of the teaching-learning process and focus more on practical aspects. The trainees, who were drawn from 37 vocational training centres and four technical schools of the Southern Province, were exposed to technical capacity building in nine different trades of vocational training. These included construction, brick making, domestic electricity, domestic plumbing, welding, culinary art, car mechanics, public works, hair dressing and aesthetics. Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the State Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Mathias Harebamungu, highlighted the importance of vocational education, saying that a country cannot develop without such skills. “It is very absurd that up to now people still don’t take vocational training as something important, but no country can develop without highly skilled people,” said Harebamungu. He added that big economies don’t grow because of the PhD holders, but because of their highly skilled people. The government of Rwanda has lately put much emphasis on strengthening vocational education, by improving their capacity to train and equip Rwandans with different skills to suit the job market in and outside the country. “We want to have a highly skilled work force for this country, and if possible, be able to export the skills to other East African countries and beyond,” said the Workforce Development Authority Director General, Jean Gatabazi, during an interview with The Sunday Times. Earlier in August, parallel to these training sessions that took place in the Southern Province, 80 instructors from Workforce Development Authority (WDA), were trained in active methodology. This group of instructors had the opportunity to attend a technical capacity building programme in Singapore earlier this year and this pedagogical training, was an important complement to their technical skills. Belgium Technical Cooperation (BTC), in conjunction with the Ministry of Education is also finalizing the formulation of a more comprehensive vocational training programme of more than Rwf 4 billion. Ends