A rush for white-collar jobs has led many to be unemployed simply because they believe its fancy and well paying yet vocational skills are in high demand perhaps due to the robust economic growth in the country.
Even though there are few vocational institutions presently, there is still low interest in the sector among the majority. It seems people have not grasped the advantages. Similar skills are associated with illiterate people, which is rather a misnomer.
It is due to this wrong mindset that the youth who are the most affected by lack of employment ; need to be encouraged on vocational skills while still in college. In neighbouring countries like Kenya and Uganda, this concept has attracted people to vocational training institutions as a lucrative option after high school, rather than institutions of high school failures.
This also goes hand in hand with career guidance which should be provided at early stages of a students learning with general emphasis on the market demand for vocational skills and knowledge thus enabling students to determine and make better career choices.
Applied skills including carpentry and joinery, building, brick making, computer repair, auto mechanics, biogas construction, electrical installation, plumbing, creative art and crafts, etc are on high demand in the Rwandan market currently experiencing a construction boom including complementary services.
However, the country’s youth have not realised the unequalled demand for vocational skills since most of them and their parents prefer direct entry into university after high school to pursue degrees despite their usefulness in the market thereafter.
It also due to the wrong mindset that guardians continue to privately sponsor their children to study for expensive but spurious university degrees leaving their children unemployable in the competitive job market.
Although the government has recently been encouraging the youth to join vocational institutions, the idea is not attractive to them. Acquiring a university degree is more appealing to both the youth and their parents.
However, with a few vocational institutions like Kavumu Technical College and Eto Muhima, there is still a challenge on learning equipment hence the need for more modern facilities and harmonisation of training standards with those in the region while encouraging accreditation and exchange programs with international institutions.
Cultural attitudes on the other hand are a huge impediment towards encouraging female youths to take up training in specific traditionally male biased vocation schools including carpentry, construction, electrical installation, para-veterinary, auto mechanics among others.
Certainly, more female students should be encouraged to join vocational institutions to help improve their employability thus increase their self-reliance and standards of living. This would also discourage demeaning female dominated vocations including prostitution.
Meanwhile, the privatisation era has overhauled operations in the entire market systems and required basic knowledge and skills. This calls for addition of new modules and subjects in the college and university syllabus to ensure production of graduates with skills compliant with the market demands.
Specific subjects including mathematics, environmental management, entrepreneurship and research and principle vocational subjects such as carpentry, plumbing, technical drawing, cookery, agribusiness, among others should be included into mainstream college syllabus.
High school graduates with the above knowledge and skills will be more productive especially in applying such highly needed skills and knowledge in the undeveloped countryside market. Their ability to create jobs is so high thus could help in quick social economic transformation of the society unlike university graduates that are mostly job seekers.
The country’s industrialisation program should be quickly implemented to encourage attractiveness of skills training at vocational institutions .building a rice factory for instance in a particular village, the accruing demand for services including accommodation, restaurants, shops, transport, welding, building, hair salons among others, will be handy and thus encourage the youth to acquire relevant vocational skills.
Equipping the youth with vocational skills would easily curb rural-urban migration challenges. Youth with such skills can easily operate from their rural areas, achieve more financial independence and reduce on poverty related problems experienced in the rural areas.
However, the government needs to create a more conducive environment that promotes small and medium enterprises common in markets with abundant vocational skills. The laws on starting business and taxes on such businesses need to be carefully considered to encourage entrepreneurship.
Supportive infrastructure especially electricity, roads and water should be expanded to the deeper countryside to encourage projects established by youths with such skills. The current unattractiveness of vocational institutions is largely due to inadequate infrastructure in the rural countryside.
The few youths with vocational skills find it challenging to establish projects and businesses in the countryside largely lacking electricity, roads and other support infrastructure. This situation forces them to migrate to urban centres where such infrastructure is available and dependable.
Finally, if Rwanda heeds to the proper development and expansion of vocational institutions, a large percentage of the country’s youth would improve their innovativeness, increase financial independence, reduce unemployment and thus boost the private sector. There should be an overhaul of the country’s education system through emphasising vocational skills training and making it appealing to the youth while at high school and establishing supportive infrastructure.