Strengthening Youth Skills and Opportunities through Vocational Training – AFTER I

In 2018, Rwanda ranked 41st out of 190 in the World Bank’s Doing Business report—an impressive leap of fifteen places in just one year. These significant improvements in the business environment reflect the government’s strong ambitions for economic development and job creation, with a target of generating 1.5 million jobs between 2017 and 2024.

To achieve these goals, the government sees vocational training as a key driver. Its ambition: to increase the proportion of learners enrolled in technical and vocational training schools to 60% of the total learners enrolled in upper secondary. Meeting this target requires a major effort to align the country’s vocational training offer with the evolving needs of the labor market.

In this context, two Rwandan institutions play a key role in providing skills training for young Rwandans. Rwanda Polytechnic (RP), established in 2017, oversees 8 colleges across the country, providing trainings in higher TVET, while Rwanda TVET Board (RTB), established in 2020, supports a nationwide network of Technical Secondary Schools (TSS), providing skills training at both the lower and upper secondary levels.

The project aimed to establish a structured system for youth training, employment, and entrepreneurship in the Rulindo district, to facilitate professional integration. The project supported one college, RP Tumba college, and four Technical Secondary Schools, with the support of key stakeholders in the employment sector, including the District authorities and Private Sector representatives.

The project was built around three main components:

• Strengthening the training offer through the creation of a mechatronic pathway at the College of Tumba and support to existing curricula in four TVET schools in the district;

• Enhancing and expanding job placement and entrepreneurship support mechanisms at the local level;

• Providing technical assistance to RP and RTB in the coordination of activities and procurement processes, while also facilitating the organization of workshops and capacity building activities and mobilization of key experts.

The project reached the following objectives:

• Rehabilitation or construction of infrastructure on 5 campuses to improve training conditions benefitting 3 645 students.

• Creation of a new mechatronic department in RP Tumba college: infrastructure and equipment, curricula creation, trainings and partnership with international universities. 

• Support to the reinforcement of 15 trades within the schools, through curricula improvement and technical trainings of 74 technical trainers and 34 language teachers. 

• Support to 198 young students in their entrepreneurship project.

• 351 companies involved in providing industrial attachment to students.