REPUBLIC OF RWANDA

National Policy on Workplace Learning to

Prepare Rwandan Youth for Employment
(Workplace Learning Policy)

2015
Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations and Acronyms 3

1 Issue 4

2 Context 9

3 Vision and Objectives 11

3.1 Vision and Mission 11

3.2 Policy Objectives 11
3.3 Target Groups of the Policy 12

4 Analysis 12

4.1 Challenge 12
4.2 Development of Systems for Workplace Learning 13
4.3 Ownership by Companies 20
4.4 Financing and Incentives 22

5 Preferred Option 24

5.1 Development of Apprenticeship Training in the TVET Sector 24

5.2 Improvement of System and Management of Attachments and Internships 29
5.3 Development of a Private Sector-Driven Institutional Framework
for Workplace Learning 32
5.4 Creation of sustainable Financing and Incentive Structures
through a Levy-Grant System 34
5.5 Knowledge and Awareness Creation 36
5.6 Consideration of cross-cutting issues 37

6 Stakeholders View 37

7 Implementation Arrangements 39

7.1 Proposed Institutional Arrangements for Successful Implementation

of WPL Policy 39
7.2 Implementation Plan 46

8 Financial Implications 52

9 Legal Implications 52

10 Impact on Business 53

11 Handling Plan/Communication Strategy 53

2
List of Abbreviations/Acronyms

CESB Capacity Building and Employment Services Board

EDPRS Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy
ESSP Education Sector Strategic Plan
ETO Ecole Technique
IAP Industrial Attachment Program
IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development
IPRCs Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre
KIST Kigali Institute of Science and Technology
MIFOTRA Ministry of Public Service and Labour
MINEDUC Ministry of Education
MINICOM Ministry of Trade and Industry
MoU Memorandum of Understanding
MSE Micro- and Small Enterprises
NCBS National Capacity Building Secretariat
NEP National Employment Program
NQF National Qualifications Framework
PPPMER Projet pour la promotion des petites et micro entreprises rurales au Rwanda
PSDS Private Sector Development Strategy
PSF Private Sector Federation
PWD People with Disabilities
RDB Rwanda Development Board
RPL Recognition of Prior Learning
RTQF Rwanda TVET Qualifications Framework
SSC Sector Skills Council
TSS Technical Secondary School
TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training
WDA Workforce Development Authority
YNIP Youth National Internship Program

3
1 Issue

Skills are essential for the development of Rwanda. Numerous analytical reports and policy
documents, for example the Private Sector Development Strategy (PSDS), have identified the
shortage of relevant skills as a major impediment to economic growth and competitiveness.
Skills are lacking throughout the economy, among people working in the private sector and at
public workplaces, as well as among young labour market entrants. The National Capacity
Building Secretariat (NCBS) is currently in the process of formulating a National Capacity
Building Strategy to comprehensively address skills and capacity deficits.

With respect to new labour market entrants, it is a major challenge of the education and
training system that learning is theory-based and that learning outcomes are mostly not
aligned with the needs of the labour market. Graduates from the technical and vocational
education and training (TVET) system and from higher education lack practical skills and
important core skills like communication, positive work habits, team work, analytical and
problem solving skills, and the ability to work independently, flexibly and innovatively
responding to customer needs and a business environment. These skills are also essential to
enable the Rwandan youth to find employment or venture into self-employment. The
prevailing skills mismatch is identified in the 2009 National Skills Audit as a major
contributor to youth unemployment.

Against this background, the TVET and higher education systems in Rwanda currently
undergo fundamental reform efforts. The aim is to transform the existing skills development
structures into a dynamic system that is based on the demand in the labour market, accessible
to an increasing number of youth, and able to create the necessary skills, knowledge and
attitudes among the Rwandan workforce to productively contribute to economic and social
development and to meet the country’s competitiveness challenges that come with the East
African regional integration. A key reform challenge is to integrate the country’s employers
and companies into the education and training structures, necessary to continuously safeguard
employment-demand responsiveness of the system and to develop skills development
programs that focus on practical and employable skills. Access to TVET and higher education
increased considerably during recent years. For example, enrolment rates in formal TVET
grew from 35,000 to 84,000 between 2007 and 2013. However, there is need to further
increase the system’s capacities in terms of quantity and quality to meet the employment
targets set out in the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) II. In
this context, the National Employment Programme (NEP) calls for more apprenticeship and
internship programs delivered in conjunction with companies.

Workplace learning represents an important way to improve quality and relevance of skills
development. For the purpose of this policy the term workplace learning (WPL) denotes all
professional or occupational training and learning that takes place in a real workplace (and not
in a training or higher education institution) and that is intentional. The Box overleaf
describes the most important types of workplace learning in Rwanda. Workplace learning can
be organised as apprenticeship training, industrial attachment or internship addressing mainly
the training and learning needs of young new labour market entrants. These types of
workplace learning are covered under this policy. However, workplace learning also occurs as

4
 Different Types of Workplace Learning in Rwanda – Definitions

Attachment (or industrial attachment):

An attachment is a compulsory part of an education program, usually implemented in the TVET
sector and in higher education. Participants are students, and the successful attachment is a pre-
requisite for graduation and certification. Although the learning may be structured, the main purpose
of an attachment is work exposure, i.e. putting into practice what has been learnt before. An example
is the Industrial Attachment Program (IAP) in the TVET sector.

Internship:
An internship is similar to an attachment. However it is not part of an educational learning program,
but an own-standing work experience scheme, aimed at easing the entrance into work of a young
person. Supported internship programs, for example the Youth National Internship Programme, are
youth-targeted active labour market interventions. Internships are also offered by companies.

Apprenticeship training:
Unlike attachments and internships, which primarily aim at work experience, apprenticeship training
is a structured - usually pre-employment – training in the real world of work. Apprenticeship training
aims to build full occupational competence of apprentices. Apprenticeships are longer than
attachments and internships and imply a considerable commitment to and ownership of the training by
the involved employer/enterprise. It is suggested to distinguish between two different main types of
apprenticeship:
Traditional apprenticeship in the informal sector:
Traditional apprenticeship describes a more or less formalized training relationship between a
traditional master and a young person. The young person commits her-/himself to work for the
master as an assistant and will be instructed by the master to learn on-the-job. Training is not
based on a prescribed curriculum, and learning contents are determined by the kind of work
conducted in the training enterprise. Traditional apprenticeship does not necessarily lead to formal
qualifications, but recognition of prior learning can be introduced.
In Rwanda and other countries, programs of sponsored traditional apprenticeships offer financial
rewards and other benefits to traditional masters if and when they provide training to specially
defined target groups.
Cooperative apprenticeship training with companies in the formal sector:
Cooperative training is a modern form of apprenticeship. An important learning location is a
company, but the training is complemented by basic, generic and theoretical training modules,
delivered in a training institution. Usually, cooperative training is governed by a formal training
contract, is based on a learning plan or curriculum and aims at a formal qualification. An
internationally well-known and highly recognized cooperative training scheme is the “dual
system” in German speaking countries.

TVET in companies:
Specifically widespread in Rwanda, a special form of workplace learning where TVET provided in
and by companies. It is also often called “industry-based training”. Usually, an enterprise has
established a training unit - separate from production – as an additional commercial wing. Training
may be delivered by the enterprise owner, typically in micro and small enterprises, or by extra
employed staff. It is a kind of training centre within an enterprise, hence “TVET in companies”. The
differences between TVET in companies and normal TVET or higher learning are the vicinity of
learning to the workplace, the fact that often learners may also be involved in productive activities and
that the trainers are often experienced industry-practitioners.

Company-based (skills upgrading) training

Finally, the term “company-based training” denotes to all kinds of training and further training that an
employer provides to his employees. As this kind of workplace learning targets the existing
workforce, it is not dealt with in this policy.

5
Life-long learning while people are working. But this type of workplace learning - although
considered highly relevant for the further development of Rwanda’s economy - is not
specifically addressed in this policy, as the policy is distinctively prepared to improve access
and relevance of Rwanda’s youth in their transition period from education to work.

A large number of countries facing challenges similar to those of Rwanda are currently
introducing workplace learning schemes, in particular apprenticeship training programs.
Learning at the workplace exposes students to real-life work experience. It is an important
mechanism to develop the right set of core and technical skills required in the labour market
and as such an indispensable supplement to TVET and higher education programs that are
provided in training and education institutions.

Learning in a professional setting through attachment periods provides TVET and higher
education students an opportunity to put into practice what they learnt in training institutions
and universities. Internship periods help unemployed youth to gain practical work experience
and relevant skills to improve their employment chances or to gather sufficient experience to
start their own business. On the other hand, apprenticeship training constitutes a long-term
and comprehensive workplace learning experience. Apprenticeship graduates are expected to
be equipped with a comprehensive set of technical and core skills and to be immediately
ready to work.

In Germany, for example, where half of all general education graduates join apprenticeship
training, youth unemployment is the lowest in the European Union, and youth unemployment
rates have never been significantly above unemployment rates for the entire work force.

Workplace learning is also benefitting industry and individual companies. In the long run, the
Rwandan economy as a whole will gain in productivity and international competitiveness, if
new labour market entrants are better and more practically skilled in line with market
demands. Individual companies even gain immediately, when participating in workplace
learning through opening their workplaces to learning youth. If workplace learning is
appropriately organized, the attachment students, interns or apprentices will take over duties
at the workplace and thus become productive members of the company’s workforce. If a
company need to recruit new staff, it can save recruitment and induction costs if it takes on
the youth that has been learning in the company. Participation in workplace learning increases
the reputation of a company, especially if such participation is publicly acknowledged.

In Rwanda, a number of initiatives to provide attachment, internship opportunities and

apprenticeship training to youth have been implemented in the past. Evaluations show that
these schemes were all successful to improve labour market outcomes, i.e. participating youth
were getting employment easier and faster, increased their income opportunities or were
better equipped to be successful in self-employment. However, the further expansion of
workplace learning in line with the increasing number of young Rwandans entering the labour
market is faced with considerable challenges: The number of workplace learning
opportunities provided by companies does not meet the growing demand; capacities of
companies to appropriately train, guide and supervise interns and apprentices are
underdeveloped; many of the existing workplace learning schemes are not certified; and

6
finally, necessary systems, structures and regulations to foster and manage workplace learning
are absent or not effective, and minimum quality standards are missing.

Attachments

Industrial attachments have always been an important part of most programs in the TVET
sector. In an attempt to harmonize and streamline those attachment initiatives of individual
training providers, the Workforce Development Authority (WDA) developed the Industrial
Attachment Program (IAP) in 2011. The IAP is a package of rules and interventions to
structure, govern, facilitate and supervise industrial attachments throughout the Rwandan
TVET system. With the IAP, attachments of a minimum of two months have become a
compulsory element in all formal TVET programs governed by clear stipulations about roles
and responsibilities of all stakeholders. In comparison, the attachment practice in higher
education is less structured. While many programs, notably in the Kigali Institute of Science
and Technology (KIST), demand an industrial attachment, the laws and regulations governing
higher education do not prescribe a compulsory attachment module in educational programs.
Where students have the chance to experience attachments, these are usually not appropriately
structured and supervised. There are no minimum standards and requirements for receiving
institutions and in times, supervisors have a lower educational attainment than the students
they are supposed to guide.

Overall, some progress with industrial attachments can be observed during recent years. The
IAP was instrumental to consolidate and improve the quality of industrial attachment in the
TVET sector. The attachments are highly appreciated by students. However, most TVET
providers still encounter difficulties securing attachments for all their students. At least
around one-fourth of TVET students do not manage to undergo attachments. Most TVET
providers are short of funds to appropriately implement the new IAP. They have not managed
to employ an industrial liaison officer and are short of transport resources to secure and
supervise the attachments. In higher education, an increasing number of higher learning
programs have lately introduced the requirement for students to under workplace attachments,
but more standardization is necessary.

Internships

Internships in Rwanda are a known and established instrument to provide youth with the
opportunity to gain work exposure and experience, build occupational competences, deepen
technical skills that were imparted during education and improve their readiness to work.
These internships are usually designed as active labour market programs aimed at supporting
employability and work readiness of unemployed and/or vulnerable youth. The most
important current scheme is the Youth National Internship Program (YNIP), brought on the
way in 2009 by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and since 2014 implemented by the
National Capacity Building Secretariat (NCBS). During fiscal year 2013/14, 800 graduates
were placed. The target for 2014/15 is set at 1,100 placements. The number of applications
from graduates by far exceeds available internship places. Until now, most interns - all
university graduates - are placed with public institutions. NCBS and the Private Sector
Federation (PSF) have now signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to foster
cooperation with the private sector. Similar programs targeting TVET graduates have been
7
implemented in the past, e.g. by the PSF and GIZ. However, all these programs, which were
facilitating placements and provided allowances to interns, stopped when funding from
development partners came to an end. There are also considerable, yet unrecorded, internship
programs run by individual companies and training providers.

Analysis of internship experience in Rwanda has revealed substantial evidence that

internships improve labour market outcomes of participating youth. Evaluation findings also
suggest that those programs that are centrally organised encounter more difficulties to
integrate private sector companies. More decentralised programs operating in direct contact
with private sector companies are more successful in this regards. An issue with internship is
the lack of recognized certification. Beneficiaries would improve their employment chances,
if they could officially prove the successful completion of the internship.

Apprenticeship training

A formal cooperative apprenticeship system combining workplace learning with

supplementary school-instruction is unknown in Rwanda. Donor-funded pilot programs for
the introduction of cooperative apprenticeship training in selected priority sectors and
occupations are currently in preparation and expected to start in 2016.

As all over Africa, traditional apprenticeship training in the informal sector is widespread and
most likely the most important system of skills development especially for youth without
access to formal post-basic education and training. A World Bank study conducted in 2010/11
suggested that more than 80% of all MSEs in those sectors where apprenticeship is common
did employ apprentices. The 2008 Rwanda Business Operator Survey revealed that in Kigali
more than 50% of MSE managers had attended apprenticeship training in their youth. There
are indications that traditional apprenticeship training is most frequent in tailoring, metal
work, carpentry and automotive repair, but also common in all other occupations where
technical skills are important. However, traditional apprenticeship is still very much a system
for male youth, because most of the occupations, where apprenticeship training is common,
are male professional destinations. The majority of youth in the traditional apprenticeship
system do not pay for the training, but rather receive some payment to reward their productive
work in the enterprise. As such, traditional apprenticeship is an attractive and accessible
avenue for TVET skills development for poor Rwandan youth. At the moment, mechanisms
to obtain a formal and recognised certificate for the skills acquired through traditional
apprenticeship do not exist. However, this situation can potentially change, as the WDA is
currently introducing a system of recognition of prior learning (RPL), whereby informally
trained craftspersons can be assessed and certified.

During the last 15 years, a number of initiatives to sponsor traditional apprenticeship training
for vulnerable target groups emerged in Rwanda. The flagship program was the IFAD-funded
Rural Small and Microenterprise Promotion Project (PPPMER). Sponsored traditional
apprenticeship training projects typically offer training fees to traditional masters for taking in
apprentices over a relatively short training duration, provide some sponsorship to the
apprentices, and include capacity building packages for the participating masters and further
work-readiness training and business start-up support to the participating youth. There are
some indications that these projects supported a trend in Rwanda of informal sector operators
8
turning into micro-training providers, with the result that increasingly traditional
apprenticeship arrangements are replaced with short-term training periods offered in the
informal sector against training fees.

2 Context

Rwanda’s national development agenda, Vision 2020, envisages that the country attains
middle-income status by the year 2020. The third mid-term development plan, the Economic
Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) II, focuses among others on the
creation of 200,000 new jobs annually. This is in response to the country’s urgent need to put
its young labour market entrants into productive use in order to sustain and accelerate
economic growth. Moreover, a structural transformation of the country’s economy is needed
to facilitate the movement of its workforce away from scarce agricultural land to higher
productivity non-agricultural activities. The ambitious development goals of the Government
require a bold response of the country’s education and training systems to provide increasing
opportunities for relevant skills development in order to prepare young Rwandans for
productive employment and self-employment.

The efforts to strengthen workplace learning respond to an increasingly widespread emphasis

in the Rwandan policy framework to deepen the linkages of the education sector with the
world of work, and to increase the relevance of skills development through stronger
partnerships with enterprises. The shortage of an appropriately skilled workforce in high-
growth sectors and widespread unemployment of young Rwandan labour market entrants has
directed public attention towards appropriate mechanisms to enhance the quality of skills
development, to improve the employability of graduates, and to find ways to swiftly react to
changing skills needs in the Rwandan economy. Learning in the workplace through
apprenticeships, internships and industrial attachments is generally considered a still
underdeveloped resource to achieve these goals.

Against this background the EDPRS II under its theme “Productivity and Youth
Employment” calls for increased efforts to engage companies in training and increase their
involvement in internships, apprenticeships and work experience programs. The Education
Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) 2013/14-2017/18, which commits itself to deliver a significant
increase in access to high-quality TVET that meet the demand of the current and future labour
market, proposes much stronger participation in the provision of training from the side of
employers, industry bodies, the private sector more broadly, and those responsible for leading
and steering the economic development process. It also calls for a massive increase in
practice-based learning opportunities, including apprenticeships, internships, industrial
attachments and work placements.

Responding to this new emphasis formulated in the EDPRS II and the ESSP, cooperation with
the private sector is a major theme in the Draft TVET Policy 2013/14-2017/18 of March 2014
and the National TVET Strategy 2013/14-2017/18. The TVET Strategy reflects an important
paradigm shift in Rwanda placing quality and relevance of TVET as its priority. It recognizes
that a mere expansion of TVET is not appropriate to solve the problems of unemployment and
low productivity in the economy, and thus does not represent the right response to combating
poverty. To assist the achievement of the ambitious goals set in the EDPRS II, the strategy
9
highlights the importance of TVET creating a competent, motivated and adaptable workforce
capable of driving economic growth and development. Consequently, strengthening the
participation of the private industry sector in TVET is defined as one of the strategic
objectives in the strategy.

A central focus of the TVET Strategy in the area of workplace learning is the modernization
and further development of the traditional apprenticeship system. Under its Strategic
Intervention 8.2, which foresees the establishment of a system of industry-based training, the
strategy acknowledges the importance of the traditional apprenticeship system as the main
road to skills development for the poor, and seeks to contribute to its development through
increasing its quality and recognizing informally acquired skills through recognition of prior
learning (RPL) schemes: “Consequently, these formally recognized competencies ensures
access to formal education and, eventually, to break out of this vicious circle of low skills,
low productivity and low income many youngster find themselves in”.

The development of traditional apprenticeship is supposed to play a critical role in the

implementation of the first pillar (Skills Development) of the National Employment Program
(NEP). With the aim to enhance hands-on skills through critical mass of short term vocational
training and apprenticeship, up to 70,000 youth are planned to undergo short skills
development courses, provided either by TVET institutions or through traditional
apprenticeship. Training interventions should be aligned with available business opportunities
at the local level and should respond to private sector needs. Traditional apprenticeship is
particularly seen as a practical avenue for youth without formal educational qualifications.
The NEP suggests the need to devise ways to link this training mode to the national TVET
system, and to provide master trainers with additional skills development and certification.

The NEP furthermore calls for initiatives to link public works and labour intensive
employment programs, such as the VUP Public Works program, to on-the-job training
possibilities in order to promote sustainable employment for participating youth.

While the NEP and the TVET Strategy focus on traditional apprenticeship and learning in the
informal sector as a strategy to increase access for vulnerable youth, the Rwanda’s Private
Sector Development Strategy also makes a strong argument for more emphasis on
apprenticeship and internships in the formal sector. The report argues that an increasing
number of firms identify an inadequately educated workforce as a major constraint to growth
and competitiveness, and that a lack of adequate numbers of appropriately skilled workers is
affecting particularly the development prospects of high growth sectors. Lacking among new
labour market entrants is the right combination of cognitive, social and technical skills, and
these can best be addressed by training at the workplace. The report therefore recommends,
inter alia, to promote industry-based provision of training, as well as attachment and
internship placements within firms. Efforts should be increased to encourage private sector
involvement in training, among others through tax incentives.

With a view to come up with a coordinated and comprehensive national approach to

improving skills and capacities, the NCBS is currently in the process of formulating a
National Capacity Building Strategy. This Workplace Learning Policy will be one building
brick of this overarching capacity building framework.
10
The successful implementation of this Workplace Learning Policy depends on progress and
achievements in other related policy fields, notably in the domains of TVET, education and
national employment promotion. For example, the Workplace Learning Policy strongly calls
for the official recognition of workplace learning achievements. Such recognition is
dependent on the progress in the implementation of the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
system defined in the TVET policy and strategic framework. Furthermore, recognition of
learning achievements and qualifications within the context of a comprehensive lifelong
learning career will require the further development of the National Qualifications Framework
(NQF), and the articulation of the present Rwanda TVET Qualifications Framework (RTQF)
with the NQF. Although issues such as RPL and NQF are not the mandate of this Workplace
Learning Policy, the policy will call for further action in those related policy domains in order
to improve the framework conditions for its own implementation.

3 Vision and Objectives

The major goal of the new Workplace Learning Policy is to create systems, institutional
structures as well as standards and regulations that ensure the full use and recognition of the
country’s potential of training and learning at the workplace in order to increase the relevance
and marketability of skills.

3.1 Vision and Mission

The vision of the Workplace Learning Policy is to unleash Rwanda’s potential of workplace
training and learning through the development of modern apprenticeship training, and
increased internship and attachment opportunities, in order to ensure that skills development
for new labour market entrants responds to the needs of the labour market and assists an
increasing number of Rwandan youth to find employment and participate in the country’s
development.

The mission of the policy is to nurture and facilitate the development of workplace learning
systems in Rwanda that are owned and driven by employers/industry, adequately respond to
the skills needs of the growing Rwandan economy and provide an avenue towards formal
qualifications recognized on the Rwandan National Qualifications Framework.

3.2 Policy Objectives

Five broad policy objectives will be instrumental to achieve the overall vision:

1. To develop a modern, recognized and sustainable apprenticeship system in partnership

with companies in the formal and informal sectors

2. To improve systems and management of attachment and internship programs

3. To develop an institutional framework for the coordinated promotion, facilitation and

implementation of workplace learning with strong private sector influence

11
 4. To create sustainable incentive structures for companies

5. To create knowledge and public awareness about workplace learning

3.3 Target Group of the Policy

This Workplace Learning Policy specifically addresses the training and learning needs of
Rwandan students and labour market entrants, i.e. school leavers, young people undergoing
TVET or higher education programs, and all other young people in need of training and
workplace exposure to facilitate a smooth school-to-work transition.

According to the definition outlined before, skills upgrading of workers in industry, provided
or organized by a company presents part of workplace learning. However, this sub-system is
not directly addressed by this policy, but it will be indirectly benefitting from its
implementation through better recognition of workplace learning, capacity development and
the development of incentive structures.

4 Analysis

4.1 Challenge

Rwanda needs young labour market entrants who are equipped with practical and employable
skills in line with the needs of employers and the market, and who are flexible and adaptive to
spearhead the economic and technological transformation that will carry Rwanda to middle-
income country status. As requested in different analyses and policy documents - and
demonstrated by other countries’ experience - the further development of workplace learning
is a key strategy for achieving better practical and employability skills, and a higher level of
flexibility and adaptability of the workforce. The policy therefore tries to identify the most
effective and efficient mechanisms to expand and to deepen workplace learning opportunities
for Rwanda’s youth.

Workplace learning requires companies and other workplaces to open their doors for students
and young labour market entrants. However, finding sufficient partnering companies
represents the major challenge in the attempt to increase workplace learning opportunities. Of
the around 114,000 companies operating in Rwanda 92.6% are micro enterprises. Only 0.5%
(608 in total) are medium and large companies, i.e. the group that presumably bears a large
potential to employ apprentices or host interns and apprenticeship students. On the other
hand, the demand for workplace learning opportunities is expected to increase further.
According to ESSP targets, the number of TVET students that will need to be accommodated
with industrial attachments or that possibly will undergo modernised apprenticeship training
will rise to 135,000 in 2017/18. At the same time, the number of students in the higher
education system is expected to go up to 57,000. Already now training providers encounter
huge difficulties finding hosting companies for their students, and those companies that
cooperate with the TVET sector find themselves burdened with a high number of attachment
students and interns. This situation necessarily impacts on the quality of attachments and

12
internships and at the same time puts limits to a further expansion of workplace learning
schemes.

Furthermore, workplace learning needs to be implemented in a coordinated approach.

Industrial attachment, internships and apprenticeship training are distinctively different types
of workplace learning, with different target groups, different learning concepts and different
goals. Framework conditions and success factors, however, are very similar. All workplace
learning schemes take place in companies and require the willingness from companies to
cooperate and get committed. All workplace learning schemes represent an increasing
demand on scarce training/hosting resources of companies. In order to avoid unhealthy
competition for company hosting space between the different formalized workplace learning
schemes it is important that development efforts of all schemes are appropriately articulated
and communicated. Incentive schemes to encourage more companies to get involved need to
be unified or at least coordinated. The same applies to regulations required to manage and
optimize each of the schemes. Regulations are likely to be different for each scheme, but
coordinated planning is needed to avoid incoherent incentives and inefficient use of resources.
Finally, capacity building initiatives for company supervisors/trainers, as well as systems to
establish eligibility need to be harmonised and aligned with occupational standards set out
under the Rwanda National Qualifications Framework (NQF)1. The different initiatives
currently underway to improve the capacities of companies for workplace learning need to be
aligned under the umbrella of one set of objectives, methods and standards. At the moment,
different workplace learning schemes using different instruments for steering and reporting
are organised and developed under different government authorities and institutions
depending on their mandate. While the WDA is facilitating the IAP in the TVET sector,
universities are in charge of attachments in higher education. The NCBS is implementing the
NYIP. To avoid duplication of efforts, and inconsistent signals sent to employers through
incentive schemes and regulations, all efforts need to be further developed in a coordinated
way.

4.2 Development of Systems for Workplace Learning

The different types of workplace learning (apprenticeship, internship and attachment)

addressed in this overarching policy are characterized by a different state of development, and
they require different approaches to their development.

Apprenticeship training in the formal sector

Rwanda so far has no system to facilitate and implement apprenticeship training in the formal
sector and to systematically recognise competencies acquired through apprenticeship. The
two core options are to establish a system of apprenticeship training, or to leave the situation
as it is, i.e. to develop workplace learning in the formal sector without apprenticeship training.
Arguments in favour of establishing apprenticeship training in the formal sector include:

1
The NQF is currently being developed to standardize and provide a reference framework for all qualifications in Rwanda.
At the moment, a Rwandan TVET Qualifications Framework (RTQF) is already been developed for the TVET sector.
13
  Larger companies are demanding the introduction of apprenticeship training, as they
are aware of its benefits and the good experiences in other countries.
 Apprenticeship training, if appropriately managed, provides for high quality pre-
employment training, with practically skilled graduates that are ready for work. For
example, all European countries that have well established apprenticeship training
schemes have lower youth unemployment rates than those countries with
predominantly TVET institution-based training traditions.
 Apprenticeship training provides a feasible pre-employment training avenue
especially for those sophisticated occupations where training provided in a TVET
institution is difficult to offer, due to the shortage of skilled technical teachers and
very specialized equipment. This applies in particular to high-level, specialized and
technologically sophisticated occupations.
 Once introduced and established, apprenticeship training requires less resources
from the public TVET system than TVET institution-based training, because the
duration a trainee spends in a publicly-financed TVET institution is less than in
institution-based TVET. Experience shows that in countries with fully developed
apprenticeship structures, up to 75% of training costs are borne by industry2. In
Ethiopia, cost-effectiveness for the public sector was one of the main considerations
for the introduction of cooperative apprenticeship training as the default delivery
modes in the formal TVET system.
 Larger companies in Rwanda already conduct apprenticeship training schemes,
which are self-organized and recognized through internal award schemes. This
system prevents labour mobility, as learning is only company-specific and
certificates are not recognized in the labour market. A formal apprenticeship system
would act to generalize the training for broader fields of application (and therewith
employment opportunities) and integrate such training into formal TVET structures
and the qualification system.

In order to better exploit the workplace learning potential in Rwanda through the development
of modern apprenticeship training, it is necessary to

 Design and recognize apprenticeship training as an alternative formal TVET

program under the Rwanda TVET Qualifications Framework (RTQF);
 Develop mechanisms to ensure that apprentices are awarded formal certification
under the RTQF;
 Develop and formally recognize curricula for modern cooperative training based on
occupational standards, which systematically structure and integrate workplace and
school-based learning;
 Develop mechanisms to ensure that workplace learning as part of cooperative
training is recognized and credit bearing, and is part of the overall assessment;
 Clarify insurance for apprenticeship training; consider to develop a group insurance
system;
 Device a legal and regulatory framework for apprenticeship training. At the moment,
a legal framework is only available for the labor issues related to apprenticeship

2
However, the costs of apprenticeship training for companies can be considerably offset through the benefits arising from
the training for the company, if the training is appropriately implemented.
14
 contracts. Institutional responsibilities for management, implementation and
supervision, mechanisms of quality assurance, incentive mechanisms and financial
arrangements are not regulated. It may be suitable to devise a comprehensive
apprenticeship law.

Worldwide, modern apprenticeship training programs with formal sector companies are
organised as so-called cooperative training schemes, which combine learning in-company
with school-based learning. Usually, the companies bear the main responsibility for the
practical training part, although basic technical skills are also often imparted in TVET
institutions. The main purpose of the school, however, is to teach the theoretical foundations
of the occupation and to complement the learning with generic and employment specific
formation contents, including further general education, life-skills and competences for work
readiness, occupational health and safety, entrepreneurship skills, and others depending on the
context. The cooperative approach takes stock of the fact that important occupational theory
and generic skills necessary to develop modern occupational competence cannot usually be
imparted in a company setting. It was developed to ensure mobility in the labour market, i.e.
that skills and competencies are portable and not limited to individual company requirements.

The patterns of relationship between company-based learning and school-based learning vary
from country to country, and each country needs to develop its own system that fits into
economic contexts, capacities and expectations of companies, organisational requirements
and determinants of students. In the traditional German apprenticeship system, for example,
students are trained at the workplace from the beginning and throughout the entire training
period and attend a vocational school for one to two days every week. As some companies are
specialized in certain products and technologies and not able to provide the trainees with
broad competencies as demanded by the occupational standard, supplementary standardized
practical training is provided in chamber-owned inter-company training institutions to fill this
gap. This system, however, requires a high commitment and long experience with
apprenticeship training from companies, a strong culture of communication between TVET
institutions and companies to ensure training contents are coordinated, as well as a tight-knit
network of vocational schools that enable a student to commute between the company and
school. These requirements are not often met in developing countries and certainly not in
Rwanda. Block release patterns are therefore more common in developing countries, with
intervals of longer school-based and company-based blocks. In Malawi, for example, the four
year apprenticeship training starts with one year school instruction to develop basic
occupational skills before the students go to companies. In the subsequent years, the students
spend two terms in the company and one term in a vocational training centre. In a newly
introduced cooperative training scheme in Pakistan the apprenticeship duration varies from
program to program but usually does not exceed one year. Students spend the first half of the
training year in a TVET centre and the second half in the company.

Considerable differences can be found between apprenticeship systems in various countries

regarding financial arrangements, duration of apprenticeship programs and other
determinants. It is common practice in many countries that apprentices are paid an allowance
by the employing companies to reward the productive work the apprentice is involved in
while in training. These allowances represent the major share of apprenticeship training costs
for companies in advanced apprenticeship schemes, such as those in Europe. However, also
15
apprentices in Malawi or Kenya are paid allowances. In some countries, such as Pakistan, it is
left with the employers to decide whether allowances are paid or not.

To be successful, apprenticeship training needs to be embedded in local training structures,

cultures and systems, and made part of the formal TVET system as an alternative pathway to
formal TVET qualifications. The precise patterns, rules and responsibilities need to be
carefully developed together with participating companies and in line with prevailing work
conditions in companies. For that reasons, the development of apprenticeship training through
pilot implementation is advisable. The alternative option, a full-scale introduction of
apprenticeship training throughout sectors and regions, would require the definition of all
rules and procedures up front and a related legal process. The disadvantage would be that
considerable planning and design resources would be used to set-up a system that is likely to
be substantially revised and adjusted once initial implementation experience has been
gathered. The development through pilot implementation would also better enable companies
to influence the system design, which again appears indispensable for success.

Traditional apprenticeship

Traditional apprenticeship is assumingly one of the most important TVET resources in

Rwanda. It is catering for a large number of TVET students in the country, it is accessible and
accommodates many youths from the poorer segment of society, and it is market-driven. As
such it represents an important resource for an expansion and improvement of workplace
learning opportunities in Rwanda. So far, as described before, sponsored traditional
apprenticeship projects made use of this resource to provide skills development for vulnerable
youth.

To further develop traditional apprenticeship two principle options emerge: (1) develop
further and scale-up sponsored traditional apprenticeship projects, or (2) develop (improve)
traditional apprenticeship training holistically and systematically in order to make training
better, fully recognized and more relevant in line with increasing firm productivity in the
informal sector.

The approach to sponsor increased access to traditional apprenticeship training through

funding from government or development partners has registered some success. Some of the
available project evaluations show that a high number of participants found employment after
completion of the training. An evaluation of the PPPMER project, for example, found that
81% of those who completed the program held permanent jobs, 36% as self-employed and
45% as wage employees. Anecdotal evidence, though, suggest that much of this employment
may well be a continuation of traditional apprenticeship training, i.e. project completers found
assistant work with the trainer or another master craftsperson to continue learning.

The sponsored traditional apprenticeship projects have also been criticised. Main issues raised
included:

 Unit costs in the programs are relatively high, averaging some 500,000 RWF for a
training duration of six months. This will put absolute limits to a large-scale publicly
financed expansion of the approach.
16
  For cost reasons, the duration of sponsored apprenticeship training tends to be
relatively short. Most projects have operated with training durations of three to six
months. Only the PPPMER project allowed for duration of up to one year in special
occupational fields, such as car mechanics. Most evaluations pointed to the fact that
these short durations are not sufficient to ensure that young labour market entrants
develop a comprehensive set of technical and core skills and the professional self-
confidence to fully and productively participate in the labour market. Apprenticeship
training in general, and also the traditional apprenticeship training in Rwanda, is
usually characterized by a longer term training and learning experience, whereby the
trainee does not only develop the relevant skills, but also learns – through experience
–to apply those skills in different situations. The long-term experience of learning on
the job allows for the development of work routines and subsequently a good degree
of professional control and sovereignty. This is specifically important in the labour
market environment of Rwanda, where many youth after training are expected to
venture into self-employment and stay on their own feet.
 The duration of training is also an important aspect of sustainability. The trainee in
an apprenticeship arrangement is not only a learner, but also a worker. As a worker,
s/he contributes with increasing productivity in the normal production process of the
enterprise he is trained in. Initially, the trainee’s productivity is low and the training
constitutes a cost for the master, because he has to invest time, material and possibly
a training allowance. However, the skills level grows as the trainee progresses, and
eventually s/he can fully perform and take over routine tasks. In this subsequent
training period the trainee starts to produce value for the master and tends to “pay-
back” the training costs that incurred initially. The training durations in the
sponsored apprenticeship projects were usually just long enough for the master to
“teach” the young apprentices basic skills. Accordingly, the master is rewarded for
his efforts through training fees, which usually constitute a significant part of the
overall project costs.
 With paying the master a training fee, the sponsored traditional apprenticeship
programs have supported a trend of informal sector operators turning into micro-
training providers. Informal sector workshops or cooperatives have started to
provide training as a commercial activity alongside core production work. Short
training programs are offered against a training fee, and training is no longer part of
the production process, but organized as an informal training center within or
organizationally attached to the enterprise. These providers represent an important
training resource especially in rural areas where formal training supply is scarce.
However, the development also bears the risk of pushing traditional apprenticeship
training out of the market and thus erode a convenient and self-financing skills
development system for youth without access to further formal education.

The alternative approach to develop traditional apprenticeship training in the informal sector
would be activities to comprehensively build capacities and quality of informal sector masters
to provide improved traditionally organised apprenticeship training. A good number of
countries in Africa have embarked on this approach, notable examples are Ghana, Nigeria,
Benin, and others. Development resources are not primarily used to pay training fees to the
masters, but to invest in capacity building (training and possibly equipment and material) of
informal sector operators and at the same time to supplement the apprenticeship with generic
17
and theory training provided by an outside training provider. This approach addresses both,
the skill level and productivity of the informal sector operator and the quality of the actual
training provided in the informal sector, and with this contribute to productivity increases in
the informal sector overall. Findings from evaluations in Rwanda suggest that masters tend to
highly appreciate capacity building support as an incentive to get more involved in
apprenticeship training.

Key to increasing and improving training capacities in the informal sector is also the further
development of recognition of prior learning (RPL). The formal recognition of informally
acquired skills is important to elevate traditional apprenticeship into a socially accepted
training path, to ease the job search for the completers and to open up avenues for further
learning. Equally, for the master, RPL has the potential to improve his professional standing
and competitiveness and provide further incentives to undergo capacity development. Finally,
RPL will be an important tool for quality assurance in a modernised traditional apprenticeship
system.

Industrial attachment and internship programs

Industrial attachments have proven successful to improve the labour-market relevance of

training and education programs delivered in TVET institutions and universities. Evaluations
of present and past programs have also demonstrated that internship periods after graduation,
or for unemployed youth without further technical or higher education, are instrumental to
support the youth to enter into first employment. An internship program for TVET graduates
from the ETO Gitarama implemented with support from the German Technical Cooperation
in 2008 could more than double the employment rate among graduates from 24% to around
50%. Furthermore, all evaluations of attachment and internship programs show that
attachment students and interns are overwhelmingly satisfied with their workplace learning
experience and consider it useful to improve their chances in the labour market.

A major challenge is to find sufficient attachment and internship places in private companies
for the increasing number of learners at all levels in the training and higher education systems.
There are several options to address this challenge. In the first place, organizational changes
in the management of attachments have the chance to relieve the burden on companies. At the
moment, most students are requesting industrial attachment during the months of November
and December following the academic calendar. While it appears reasonable from a curricular
point of view to schedule the attachment period at the end of a coherent block of school-based
training modules, training providers and higher learning institutions should be encouraged to
employ, within the modularized curricula, more flexibility in scheduling lesson plans and
attachment periods to allow for attachments to take place at different times of the year. Within
the TVET sector, the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centres (IPRCs) should take the lead in
facilitating a greater curricular flexibility and coordinate annual training calendars of TVET
providers in their catchment areas with the aim to balance the demand for attachment places
over the year. In the higher education sector, similar initiatives should be driven by the
universities, in close cooperation with the employment sector.

It would be another option, frequently demanded, to force private companies to take interns
and attachment students. However, the culture of workplace learning is still underdeveloped
18
in Rwanda, although an increasing number of firms appear to cooperate. There is a general
agreement that more ownership from the side of the private sector is required. Against this
background, coercive actions run the risk of creating irritation and resistance in the business
community, and ultimately leading to undedicated participation of companies that, in terms of
capacity and ownership, are not yet fully prepared to participate.

Another option - or a supplementary initiative - to reduce the demand for hosting companies
is to encourage and allow alternative practical work schemes, such as work of students in
production centres or school/university-facilitated community projects. The Technical
Secondary School (TSS) Nyanza, for example, has started to embark on community projects
in the water sector where students together with teachers work to develop needed products
and services for the neighbouring community. Such initiatives may be supported with seed
funding. An interesting example for systematic integration of student work in production units
with the curriculum are the Botswana Brigades, which represent the most prominent and
established example for a training-with-production approach in Africa. In universities,
arrangements for project work in cooperation with private companies should be explored.

Quality and quality assurance of internships and attachments is an issue. During the last years,
structures, guidelines and formats to implement, document, evaluate and credit industrial
attachments have been developed in the TVET sector with the introduction of the IAP.
Reiterate further evaluation of the system needs to continue to optimize processes in line with
market requirements and company capabilities. In higher education, attachments are not yet
governed by a similar set of rules and regulations. As a result, they are often not appropriately
structured unless receiving employers themselves have own attachment policies. There are
also no minimum standards and requirements for receiving institutions and employers,
potentially leading to situations whereby supervisors have a lower educational attainment than
the students they are supposed to guide. Initiatives to develop an appropriate set of rules
applicable throughout the higher education sector are needed with the aim to stipulate
minimum requirements for receiving employers, define clear procedures and responsibilities
for supervision and evaluation, develop formats for the identification and documentation of
learning outcomes, and set rules for crediting attachment modules. Similar standards also
need to be systematically introduced in internship programs. Furthermore, participation in
internships need to be certified.

Often employers lack systems and skills to appropriately supervise and guide students during
attachment and internship. This is partly the result of insufficient pedagogical skills, but also
of a lack of awareness of the purpose and goals of the attachment and internship policies.
Awareness creation programs, targeting enterprise managers as well as supervisors, coaching
of companies in the implementation of attachment and internship programs, and structured
and standardized further training programs for company supervisors need to be expanded. The
latter should also include technical skills training. In order to increase the attractiveness for
company supervisors to engage, formal certificates should be awarded to those who
underwent special training. Especially in the informal sector, a major bottleneck for
companies is workspace, working tools and material. Capacity development measures in this
sector may also include, apart from technical skill upgrading, support to improve equipment
and tools and to buy necessary material. Strict arrangements and conditions for such support
is required to avoid misuse.
19
Experience has shown that often also students and youth are not well prepared for workplace
learning. They lack basic work attitudes and appreciation of workplace rule and procedures,
as well as an understanding of the value of workplace learning. Some initiatives, for example
the Akazi Kanoze program, have developed work readiness training modules to prepare youth
for internships. Such kind of training should be made regular and compulsory. In order to
increase efficiency, standard training modules should be developed.

Responsibility for the facilitation of attachments and internships usually rests with TVET and
higher education institutions, and the internship managing body. These need to be
appropriately resourced to fulfil their tasks. Educational institutions have to be provided with
funds to cover facilitation expenses, such as transport costs for initial and supervision visits to
receiving companies.

Insurance of interns and attachment students have been an ongoing challenge. At the moment,
each scheme, and each educational institution is responsible for facilitating insurance, mainly
through raising funding for insurance policies. Another, more cost-effective option may be
that government is establishing a common and overarching group insurance scheme for all
youth involved in recognised attachments and internships schemes.

Appropriate coordination structures between internship and attachment providing

organisations and employers will be instrumental to balance the demand and supply for
workplace learning schemes, to facilitate an increase in participating companies, and to
develop unified and standardized rules and procedures for the implementation and evaluation
of internships. The involvement of SSCs in such coordinating structures could be explored.

4.3 Ownership by Companies

Companies have an interest in workplace learning and gain benefits from it. Workplace
learning increases the work readiness of young graduates from the education and training
system and is instrumental to develop necessary soft skills and positive work attitudes among
the youth. Through offering workplace learning opportunities, companies have the chance to
get to know and to assess future employees, reducing the risk of recruiting wrong personnel.
In case, former apprentices or interns/attachment students are hired, the company is saving
costs for induction (training on the job). Research in other countries has shown that workers
who have been trained as apprentices in the same company in which they are employed show
an over proportionate loyalty towards their employers. Furthermore, apprentices, interns or
attachment students can also have a considerable productive value for the company, as they
are working while learning. Repeated studies in European countries have proven that the
productive work of apprentices is recovering a substantial part of their training cost.

Workplace learning requires a mindset change among employers. In Rwanda, the limited
number of companies involved in education and training reflects, and is a result of, limited
ownership of the country’s training and education systems by companies and a limited
awareness of the benefits of workplace learning. In fact, the current structures and practice in
TVET and higher education tend to prevent the emergence of a full public-private partnership.
Private sector representatives are not visibly involved in influencing the activities of the
20
Ministry of Education or the Workforce Development Authority. The Private Sector
Federation (PSF) is recognized as the representative of the private sector in all TVET and
education matters and it is participating in all relevant fora, but its resources are rather limited
and dependent on projects funded by development partners. The new sector skills councils
(SSCs) have the strongest mandate to advocate for the interests of the private sector in terms
of skills development. However, the influence of SSCs is limited to sectoral issues.

Partnerships between companies and individual education and training providers are, with few
exceptions, usually limited to cooperation in the implementation of industrial attachments.
Public education and training providers are not, like in many other countries, governed by
boards that have a strong or at least significant private sector representation. The practice in
the many sponsored traditional apprenticeship projects to pay training fees to master crafts
persons acts also in the informal sector to define enterprises as service providers to the
education and training sector, rather than as partners on a level-playing field.

An important precondition to create the needed ownership is structures that facilitate an

effective influence of the private sector in education and training at both the policy-making
and coordination level and at the level of implementation. There are several options to
achieve such an increased ownership:

 One option is to strengthen companies’ influence in the operations of education and training
providers through their participation in governing boards of educational institutions. In
governing boards, employers would interact with the management of educational
institutions, would assessment and influence training and education practice, and would be
instrumental to facilitate workplace learning. Governing boards have not yet systematically
been introduced in public or private education and training institutions.
 An option at the system level would be to create private sector/employer-driven structures
with clear responsibilities for facilitating workplace learning. In many countries, including
Malawi, Tanzania, Malaysia and Singapore, private sector representatives are dominating
governing boards of national training authorities. In Germany, chambers perform a statutory
role in the management and quality assurance of apprenticeship training. With the new
emphasis on workplace learning an own industry-driven body, fully financed by industry
and with the mandate to strengthen and concentrate different functions to mobilize and
facilitate private sector services in skills development should also be considered in Rwanda.
Functions for such as body should include mobilization of companies and facilitation of
their involvement in training and learning, development of workplace learning programs in
accordance with labour market needs, quality assurance of workplace learning, and possibly
the management of incentive schemes. Such a body could be attached to the PSF, which is
the recognized representative body of the private sector in Rwanda, or function as an own
independent body with statutory functions in the implementation of workplace learning.
However, this option would require strong steering and implementation capacities in the
private sector in the field of skills development, and the potential of self-financing. Both
conditions are not yet in place. As a result, the option of an independent private sector-
driven workplace learning institution should be considered a desired option in the long term,
but not feasible to be pursued immediately or in the near future.
 A third option for Rwanda is the gradual increase of private sector influence in the steering
and implementation of workplace learning. The capacities for a coordinated workplace
21
 learning development would be developed in an appropriate government institution, which
would be supported by a private-sector driven advisory structure. With its overall mandate
to oversee capacity development in the public and private sectors and civil society, the
National Capacity Building Secretariat - or in future the Capacity Development and
Employment Services Board (CESB) - appears to be an obvious candidate for hosting
important functions in the facilitation of workplace learning. The NCBS is in charge of
coordinating the Sector Skills Councils, which today represent the most advanced structure
in Rwanda to bridge the interests of the public and the private sector in training and
education. The option would entail assigning to the NCBS/CESB the responsibility for
coordinating workplace learning development, including oversight of the development of
apprenticeship training and the further development and regulation of attachments and
internship programs, as well as quality assurance of workplace learning. Implementation
responsibilities would remain with the institutions currently in charge of the different
workplace learning schemes. Through this organizational set-up, workplace learning would
be linked to the SSCs. The solution would require further capacities and resources for the
relevant department in NCBS/CESB. To foster industry influence, advisory structures with
a strong industry influence but also incorporating representatives from the TVET sector and
other stakeholders, would be important. Options to develop further the current governance
board of the SSCs may be considered with the aim to increase the number of representatives
of the private sector. At the moment, only one PSF representatives is member of the board.

4.4 Financing and Incentives

The expansion of workplace learning in Rwanda will not come for free. To date, most
interventions to provide opportunities for youth were financially supported by government
funding or development partners, including the Youth National Internship Program, other
internship programs, and specially the sponsored traditional apprenticeship programs. A
notable exception is by and large the IAP in the TVET sector, while also in this program more
resources will be necessary to provide training institutions with the financial scope to cover
the expenses for transport and insurance of attachment students.

A larger number of companies need to be encouraged to engage in workplace learning. There

are no precise figures on the number of companies cooperating, or on the number of
companies that do not cooperate although being suitable to host attachment students and
interns. Tracer study findings in the TVET sector have indicated that up to 75% of employers
in Rwanda have no cooperation with the TVET sector at all. This indicates that there is still a
large untapped potential to increase the number of hosting companies.

Experiences in other countries demonstrate various options to better exploit the workplace
learning potential. Financial incentives, which are frequently demanded also in Rwanda, play
an important role. Financial incentives are often justified with the costs incurred in training. In
the sponsored traditional apprenticeship initiatives incentives have taken the form of direct
subsidies. However, apart from being an important cost-driver, financial incentives or
“training fees” bear the risk of distorting a traditionally grown training culture. It is already
visible in Rwanda that the old system of cost-free long-term traditional apprenticeship in the
informal sector is slowly being replaced by shorter training units which are fee-bearing. There
is a risk that publicly sourced incentive or training fee programs cannot be cut back any more.
22
Once a company is used to receive a certain amount of money for offering an apprenticeship
or internship place, it will stop doing so once the incentive is cut back. Direct financial
payments to enterprises, furthermore, reinforce the notion that by taking learners companies
deliver services to the government, instead of being partners in a national education system
that ultimately benefits individual companies and the economy at large.

An option, suggested for example in the Private Sector Development Strategy, is to provide
for tax deductibility of costs related to training. This option, however, has proven to have
limited effectiveness in other developing countries. Usually, the bureaucratic efforts to prove
expenses and claim tax reimbursements are too cumbersome for companies and tax
authorities alike. However, the option should be further explored for Rwanda.

Another option is a levy-grant system, which is currently discussed as a potential instrument

to improve the funding of training. A levy system would require companies (or employers) in
the country to contribute a defined amount of money towards the financing of the national
skills development system. A levy-grant system would allocate some or all of these funds
back to those companies that are offering training themselves. Levy-grant systems therefore
provide convenient avenues to reimburse, or part-reimburse eligible training costs to
companies. Through its re-allocation mechanism, levy-grant systems also address the problem
of poaching as they effectively compensate companies that participate in training for its costs
at the expense of those companies that do not train. A levy-grant system functions in this
context as a mechanism that combines funding with incentives. Such systems have been
successfully introduced around the world. Kenya, for example, is operating an industrial levy
scheme for the funding of apprenticeship training and other company-based training
initiatives. Mauritius, Malaysia and Singapore are examples, where in-house training costs are
reimbursed through levy funds. Malawi is an example, where some of the levy revenues are
used to finance training demanded by industry, but also to channel funding to the overall
training system and to provide the funding for the national training authority. While nowadays
most levy system are designed to cover all companies in a country, levy system can also be
organised at sector levels. For example in Germany, the construction industry operatesa levy-
financed system to support workers in the sector through reimbursing parts of apprenticeship
wages to companies.

The consideration of linking a levy-grant system - or sector-specific levy-grant systems in

strong and priority sectors – to the development of workplace learning would increase
acceptance of a levy among employers, as funds that companies contributed would primarily
be used to support training activities in companies. At the same time, however, such a levy
system would also ease the financial burden on government for the funding of workplace
learning. Against the background, the feasibility of introducing a levy system or sector-based
levies should be carefully assessed.

The discussion of workplace learning costs also needs to address the issue of stipends paid to
benefitting students. At the moment, internship programs and sponsored traditional
apprenticeship programs in Rwanda used to provide students and trainees with stipends or
allowances to cover their living expenses. This is different in many other countries.
Workplace learning and especially apprenticeship training constitutes a relationship between a
company willing to train and a young person seeking training. The trainee “pays” for his/her
23
training through the acceptance of no or low wage, or even through a small fee. If s/he is of
value to the company, s/he receives some contribution or small wage. This principle even
remains in highly sophisticated apprenticeship systems such as the German one. Apprentices
receive an apprenticeship wage at a level that is far below a normal worker’s wage. While the
apprenticeship wage is not any longer dependent on the discretion of the individual company,
it is negotiated between industry and trade unions, not fixed by the government. By providing
stipends or salaries for apprentices and interns, as often done in Rwanda, government tends to
erode company-ownership of workplace learning through taking away from companies its
responsibility for caring for their learners. A better option may be to use mechanisms such as
a levy-grant system to compensate employers out of the levy fund for wage/allowance-related
costs of companies, as it is done, for example, in the formal apprenticeship system in Kenya.
A policy of non-payment of stipends to apprentices may not exclude tailored support to
vulnerable and marginalised youth that would otherwise be excluded from the system.

5 Preferred Option

Under the proposed Workplace Learning Policy five broad intervention areas will be
instrumental to achieve the overall policy objective to unleash Rwanda’s full potential of
workplace learning in order to make education and training more relevant to the needs of the
labour market. These intervention areas cover apprenticeship training, attachment and
internship, the institutional set-up to manage workplace learning, financing and incentive
structure, and finally knowledge and awareness creation.

5.1 Development of Modern Apprenticeship Training in the TVET Sector

Apprenticeship training is the most comprehensive and most effective mode of workplace
learning and, once fully established, the most cost-effective type of formal pre-employment
TVET. In order to develop apprenticeship training, a coherent and enabling system and legal
framework needs to be created that encourages and allows companies to engage in
apprenticeship training and that leads to recognized qualifications.

At the moment, the development of apprenticeship training needs to be approached differently

in the formal sector and in the informal sector. Due to different economic conditions and state
of organizational development, interventions and regulations will considerably differ between
the two segments. Over time, both systems will grow together. This objective therefore has
two sub-sets: (1) the development of a cooperative apprenticeship system for companies in
the formal sector; and (2) the modernization of traditional apprenticeship training in the
informal sector.

a) Introduction of a cooperative apprenticeship system in the formal sector

Within the five-year duration of the policy, Rwanda will develop and introduce an
apprenticeship system that is fully recognized as a formal TVET delivery scheme and leading
to a RTQF/NQF certification. Based on and assessed against occupational standards,
apprenticeship training will represent an alternative delivery system, alongside institution-
24
based TVET programs. Drawing on international best practice the formal apprenticeship
training will be delivered as cooperative training, whereby the practical training part will be
delivered as on-the-job training in companies and other workplaces and supplementary
training will be delivered in TVET institutions that are accredited for apprenticeship training.
The training in the TVET institution will comprise theory, basic technical and complementary
skills training, necessary general education, possibly life skills or work readiness training,
entrepreneurship training and other appropriate modules.

An apprenticeship legislation, possibly part of an overarching workplace learning legal

framework, will be devised to regulate necessary relationships such as training durations,
financial arrangements, roles and responsibilities of different partners (employers,
apprentices, TVET institutions, public agency in charge of apprenticeship training) in the
system, contractual arrangements, curricular requirements (minimum training standards),
quality assurance issues, assessment and certification, and others.

The participation in apprenticeship training will be voluntary for companies, but public
awareness creation campaigns and tailored incentive programs will act to stimulate an
increasing number of companies to employ apprentices.

To ensure quality of training and to protect apprentices, appropriate minimum eligibility

criteria for companies that employ apprentices will be stipulated, including criteria related to
the scope of work, facilities, and minimum qualifications for supervisors. To enable
companies to meet the criteria, the authority in charge of apprenticeship training will render
capacity development to companies/employers engaging in apprenticeship training. Capacity
development will focus on technical and pedagogical training of company trainers and
company supervisors. In exceptional cases, capacity building may also include hardware such
as the establishment of workplaces for apprentices, or similar support still to be defined.

Cooperative training constitutes a new partnership between companies and TVET institutions
in the delivery of skills development programs. This also includes a new approach to teaching
of TVET institutions. Capacity building programs will therefore also be directed to technical
teachers and managers of cooperating TVET institutions, to enable them to implement the
cooperative training within the new partnership spirit.

Rules, roles and responsibilities, curriculum formats, delivery patterns and all elements
related to the management, implementation and quality assurance of cooperative
apprenticeship training cannot be copied from other countries, but need to be developed in a
way that specifically fits the Rwandan context. The development of a cooperative
apprenticeship training system will therefore be driven through pilot projects. The legal and
regulatory framework for the new apprenticeship system will only be developed after the
evaluation of a number of pilot projects. The starting point of the system development will be
pilot projects in the construction industry that are currently been implemented by German
cooperation projects.

Apprenticeship is an inherently employer-based training system. In the long run, the

management and quality assurance of apprenticeship training must be controlled by
institutions which are driven by employers. During the development phase, an Apprenticeship
25
Task Team will be formed to perform all tasks necessary for the development of the
apprenticeship system. At least half of the members of the Task Force must be from the
private sector, and the private sector will chair the Task Force. The Task Force will also form
sector specific sub-groups, in cooperation with the SSCs, to prepare specific pilot projects in
identified occupational groups.

Apprenticeship training is potentially possible in all occupational areas in the TVET sector. It
is, however, specifically important in those occupational areas where the formal institution-
based TVET sector encounters difficulties to provide training at high quality due to a shortage
of skilled and experienced technical teachers. This is applicable to occupations with
sophisticated technology and those where skilled labour is in short supply. The introduction of
apprenticeship training will start in boosting sectors, which include construction, ICT and
hospitality.

To make maximum use of available company training resources, the feasibility of introducing
the compulsory participation in apprenticeship training of state-owned as well as foreign
companies in Rwanda will be evaluated, with the aim that foreign and state-owned companies
are adequately involved in apprenticeship training of Rwandan youth. It is also envisaged that
cooperation arrangements between the TVET sector and public investment programs are
concluded to integrate apprenticeship training in the implementation of public works.

In summary, main strategic objectives and main activities include:

Strategic Objectives Activities

Develop and implement  Select occupational specifications for pilot implementation

cooperative apprenticeship
training programs on a pilot basis  Establish sector sub-groups for the pilot implementation
 Develop pilot apprenticeship programs including integrated
cooperative curricula and company training plans, training
material, financial arrangements, roles and responsibilities for
supervision, quality assurance and examinations, and others
 Implement apprenticeship training programs
 Evaluate pilot apprenticeship programs

Build capacities for  Conduct training, study tours and other awareness creation
apprenticeship training initiatives for members of the Apprenticeship Training Task
Force and other involved staff and stakeholders in public and
private institutions
 Develop and implement standardized training packages for
company trainers and supervisors
 Render, if appropriate, material capacity building support
packages for companies
 Develop and implement training packages for technical
teachers and managers of participating TVET institutions
 Create guidelines, handbooks and other supportive instruments

26
Establish legal and regulatory  Establish an Apprenticeship Training Task Force
framework
 Supervise and evaluate the pilot implementation of
apprenticeship programs in selected sectors
 Develop legal and regulatory framework
 Set minimum eligibility criteria for participating companies
and TVET institutions

b) Modernize traditional apprenticeship training in the informal sector

The modernization of traditional apprenticeship training in the informal sector will involve a
departure from the previous project-based sponsored traditional apprenticeship provision for
selected target groups to gradually turn towards a comprehensive and sector-wide
improvement and enrichment of traditional apprenticeship training. Modernization means
specifically the improvement of quality of training through capacity development processes
and productivity enhancement in the informal sector, as well as linking the system of
traditional apprenticeship to the formal TVET qualification and certification system.

The new approach will build on existing traditional structures and start in those sectors, where
traditional apprenticeship is culturally anchored and established. Building on existing
structures is important to develop traditional apprenticeship in a sustainable manner and in the
long term not dependent on government funding. This implies that traditional principles will
be revitalized, i.e. that masters will not be paid by the government for conducting training,
and that training periods are sufficiently long to allow comprehensive occupational learning
and financial viability for the master.

Instead of payment for master trainers to accept trainees, the new approach will include a
comprehensive capacity building package targeting both the master and the apprentice. To
improve their training capacities masters will be offered technical, organizational and
pedagogical training, alongside selected support to improve facilities and workplaces. This
capacity building support will have a positive impact on the enterprises’ productivity and
serve as an incentive for masters to participate in modernized traditional apprenticeship
training. To add value to the training for the apprentices, supplementary training courses will
be provided by TVET institutions or other training providers, comprising trade theory and
basic skills, entrepreneurship education, generic skills, necessary general education, and
others.

Formal occupational certification through RPL will constitute another key incentive element
for both masters and trainees. Participating masters will be offered RPL to formalize their
skills, and hence increase their professional standing in the market. To support this process,
capacity building measures may also include assessment preparation training. The formal
certification will at the same time serve as eligibility criteria for masters to benefit from
interventions. However, also the trainee will be given access to assessment and certification
under the RTQF/NQF at the end of training, to ensure quality of training and to enhance the
attractiveness of traditional apprenticeship training.
27
Similar to the development of apprenticeship training in the formal sector, the modernization
of apprenticeship training will also be approached through initial pilot implementation, to find
the most suitable and scalable model to initiate the modernization. These pilots will build on
the wealth of experience in the previous sponsored traditional apprenticeship projects and
informed by experience in other countries. Through pilots, the most appropriate approaches
for Rwanda will be developed with respect to

 Training standard development based on occupational standards

 In-company training plan/curriculum development
 Duration of apprenticeship
 Financial arrangements between masters and apprentices
 Roles and responsibilities in supervision and quality assurance
 Involvement of local business associations and cooperatives
 Organization, contents (curricula) and financing of additional training programs for
trainees by outside training providers
 Content, standardization, financing and provision of capacity building to masters
 Integration of RPL as incentive and eligibility criteria
 Self-organization of masters in same sectors
 Other elements and interventions that ensure a comprehensive approach.

While in the long run, the entire informal sector should be potentially eligible to benefit from
modernization interventions and capacity development, occupational areas and focal regions
need to be selected for pilot implementation subject to their employment potential and other
factors that influence the success of the pilots, including a high degree of organization of
businesses. In this context, the participation of cooperatives will be encouraged. Furthermore,
occupational areas which are attractive for female youth will be given priority. Where
appropriate, pilot implementation will be initiated in sectors, where other business or value
chain development activities are ongoing to achieve synergies in capacity building and market
development.

Experience in other countries, for example Malawi, has shown the importance of local
organisational structures of informal sector operators and master craftsperson for the
successful and sustainable implementation to approaches to modernize traditional
apprenticeship training. While the overall implementation responsibility for the modernization
of traditional apprenticeship will rest with the public authority in charge of apprenticeship
training, the actual implementation of specific pilots needs to be done in close conjunction
with local business organisations (incl. cooperatives).

A precondition for the eventual development of an enabling regulatory and legal framework
that specifically fits the requirements of the informal sector is the successful completion and
evaluation of pilot implementation in selected sectors. It is expected that sufficient experience
and knowledge to mainstream the approach throughout the Rwandan informal sector based on
legally defined rules and regulations will be available by the end of the policy’s five-year
period.

In summary, main strategic objectives and main activities include:

28
Strategic Objectives Activities

Pilot implementation of  Select occupations and regions for pilot implementation

modernized traditional
 Conduct research and study visits to inform pilot
apprenticeship training implementation
 Establish a Modernized Traditional Apprenticeship Program
Steering Committee to oversee the pilot implementation
 Build capacity of participating and implementing local
business associations
 Develop and implement capacity building packages for
participating masters
 Develop and implement supplementary training packages for
apprentices
 Introduce RPL in pilot sectors
 Develop curricula and training plans
 Implement and supervise modernized traditional
apprenticeship training in the selected pilots
 Evaluate results of pilot programs

Mainstream modernized  Develop legal and regulatory framework

traditional apprenticeship training  Formulate plan for the country-wide roll-out of support to
approach modernized apprenticeship training in the informal sector

5.2 Improvement of System and Management of Attachment and Internships

Compulsory attachments are essential to improve practical learning in TVET and higher
education programs. While IAP organizational structures in the TVET sector are well
advanced, attachments in the higher education system require standards and standardization,
procedures, supervision and monitoring structures. Implementation of attachment programs in
both TVET and higher education are constrained by insufficient resources of education
institutions. Internship programs, especially those that are organized on a large scale by
central (public and private) organisations, face difficulties in engaging private sector
companies.

The overall objective of the Workplace Learning Policy with respect to attachments and
internships is to maximize opportunities for young Rwandans to undergo attachments and
internships in order to improve their workplace exposure and work experience, and to
improve the management and implementation of the schemes for better learning outcomes.

To maximize opportunities for workplace learning, i.e. to improve the match between the
supply of workplace learning opportunities and learning offers provided by companies and
other employers, the policy envisages organizational changes in attachment implementation,
as well as structured initiatives to increase the supply with workplace learning opportunities.
The following measures are envisaged:

29
  For attachments that are part of educational programs in the TVET and higher
education sector coordinated curriculum revisions will be initiated to allow
flexibility in the scheduling of attachment periods throughout the academic year. In
the TVET sector, IPRCs will take the lead in the coordination in their catchment
area. In the higher education sector, the higher education institutions will take lead
for their programs. The institution in charge of overall coordination of workplace
learning (see section 5.3) will facilitate and oversee the development of a
coordinated approach among the different provider systems.
 Alternative paths to work practice will be allowed and credit bearing in cases where
it is not possible to secure sufficient industrial attachment places. This will include
work practice in production centers and through community work projects organized
by education institutions. Education institutions will be provided with seed capital
and other appropriate incentives to set up such schemes.
 Incentives will be provided for companies to accept attachment students and interns.
Details will be developed further in the course of the development of incentives
schemes (see section 5.4). Special incentives will be provided for companies who
sign long-term Memoranda of Understanding about cooperation in attachments and
internships with educational and other implementing institutions.
 The authority in charge of workplace learning will negotiate an appropriate group
insurance arrangement for attachment students and interns who are not part of
company insurance schemes.

To improve the quality and relevance of workplace learning for students and youth, the
following measures are envisaged:

 For attachments for higher education students, standards and procedures will be
developed to regulate minimum standards for hosting companies and involved
company supervisors, quality assurance and supervision mechanisms, documentation
of practical experience and progress, and monitoring and evaluation procedures. The
IAP package, which has been repeatedly revised and further developed in a
consultative process, will serve as example and base to build on. However, also the
IAP will be continuously reviewed to optimize implementation arrangements and
acceptance of employers.
 The Government will provide funding for public TVET institutions and appropriate
incentives for private TVET institutions and higher learning institutions, to ensure
employment of industrial liaison officers, transport and other costs.
 Training and capacity building for supervisors in companies and other workplaces
will be organized. For this purpose standardized modular training packages will be
developed based on current training plans already implemented under the IAP. It is
important that training modules are part of a comprehensive modular system of
company supervisors’ training that also covers capacity development for company
trainers involved in apprenticeship training. Special modules for master crafts
persons in the informal sector may be needed. Certificates will be awarded for all
capacity building measures.
 All TVET and higher education institutions and all internship implementing
organizations will be providing work readiness training to students and youth before
30
 the start of the workplace learning experience. A standard package will be
developed, and relevant staff in learning institutions trained to implement the
package.

Cooperation of all involved parties will be strengthened through a coordination panel for
attachments and internships established and facilitated by the authority in charge of
coordinating workplace learning. The panel will be comprised equally of representatives of
the employment sector and educational institutions. The functions of the panel are, inter alia,
to device and revise from time to time standard rules, formats and procedures for attachments
and internship at all levels, to coordinate management of the schemes between the different
stakeholders, to advise on incentives and other policies to mobilize employers.

In summary, main strategic objectives and main activities include:

Strategic Objectives Activities

Provide workplace learning to an  Revise curricula to ensure attachments are implemented year
increasing number of students in round
the TVET and higher education
sectors and to unemployed youth  Provide incentives to educational institutions to development
practical learning schemes in production units and social and
community projects
 Develop a group insurance scheme for attachment students and
interns
 Facilitate and evaluate internship opportunities to an increasing
number of TVET and higher education graduates through the
NYIP

Improve the quality and relevance

 Develop and adopt a regulation package for attachments in the
of attachments and internships
higher education sector covering all quality assurance aspects
 Provide funding for public TVET institutions for industrial
liaison officers and costs related to the facilitation of
attachments
 Provide support / incentives for private TVET institutions and
higher education institutions to cover increased costs related to
attachments
 Develop and implement a standard work readiness training
module for students, including training of trainers
 Develop and provide certified supervisory training for
company supervisors

Ensure a coordinated approach to  Establish attachment and internship development and

attachment and internship coordination panel
programs
 Facilitate work of panel

31
5.3 Development of an Institutional Framework for Workplace Learning with Strong
Industry Influence

There are three aspects guiding the development of an institutional framework for workplace
learning:

a. To develop ownership for skills development industry must be given a clear and
increasing influence in the TVET sector in general and in workplace learning in
particular. At the current moment, companies in Rwanda tend to play the role of a
service provider to the training and education system. They cannot be considered
partners on an equal footing.
b. The different modes of workplace learning, i.e. apprenticeship training, internships
and attachments, must be developed in a coordinated way in order to optimally
manage scarce workplace learning opportunities and to design harmonized capacity
building and incentive structures.
c. The private sector in Rwanda has still not sufficient capacities to independently
manage, foster, quality assure and finance workplace learning within its own
institutional structures, although in view of international experience an independent
private sector institution for workplace learning may be the preferred long-term
solution.

Against this background, Rwanda will over the period of this policy strengthen the
organisational capacities within NCBS/CESB to drive the development of workplace learning
in a coordinated manner. A detailed organizational solution, still to be developed, will aim at
strengthening the unit currently in charge of SSCs to become a dedicated organizational unit
for skills development and workplace learning, with functions in the facilitation of SSCs and
the development of workplace learning. Functions with respect to workplace learning include:

 In cooperation with PSF, undertake measures to sensitize, inform and mobilize

companies to participate in skills development, in particular through participating in
attachment programs, internship schemes and apprenticeship training
 Coordinate all matters related to workplace learning
 Facilitate the development of apprenticeship training, and oversee the development
of occupational and training standards
 Oversee the setting of standards and facilitate the development of an appropriate
regulatory environment for attachments in TVET and higher education
 Facilitate the setting of minimum standards and requirements for company trainers
and supervisors, and device mechanisms to ensure compliance
 Facilitate training of company trainers and supervisors
 Oversee the development and management of incentive schemes
 Develop policies for workplace learning.

NCBS/CESB would take the function of coordination and oversight. The actual
implementation responsibility for the different workplace learning schemes will continue with
the relevant institution that is currently assigned:

32
  The WDA will be in charge of the IAP and apprenticeship training, in close
coordination with IPRCs.
 The Higher Education Council (HEC) will devise standards for attachments in the
higher education sector; while individual universities will support and quality
assure attachments of their own students.
 The NCBS is in charge of implementing the NYIP.
 Other organizations outside of the public realm will continue to implement their
own programs.
 A key responsibility rests with PSF that will be facilitating the mobilization of
private employers in all schemes.

The strengthened unit for skills development and workplace learning in NCBS/CESB will be
working closely with the implementation institutions facilitating coordinated approaches. The
SSCs will play a central role in facilitating and guiding the implementation of activities in
their sectors.

In order to ensure an institutionalized industry influence above sector-specific concerns that

are the responsibility of SSCs, the current SSC governance board should be broadened in
responsibility and membership to become an Industry Training Governance Board. Ideally,
the board would be headed by an industry representative, and the majority of its members will
be representing industry. It will furthermore comprise representatives from MINEDUC,
WDA, MIFOTRA, HEC, MINECOM, professional associations, and other relevant
stakeholders.

After some years of implementation of the proposed institutional arrangement, the

effectiveness of the arrangement with respect to private sector influence in workplace learning
will be assessed and further developments of the institutional arrangements discussed and
agreed upon. The long-term goal of the Workplace Learning Policy remains a private-sector
driven institution for workplace learning and other private sector interests in skills
development.

Furthermore, all public and private TVET and higher education institutions will be required in
the future to establish governing boards on which representatives of the world of work are
adequately represented. Requirements, rules and procedures will be devised accordingly.

33
In summary, main strategic objectives and main activities include:
Strategic Objectives Activities

Strengthen the influence of the  Devise legal framework for the compulsory establishment of
world of work on the operations governing boards in TVET and higher education institutions
of TVET and higher education
institutions

Capacity building of  Prepare the administrative and legal requirements for the
NCBS/CESB to implement the establishment of a dedicated organizational unit for workplace
workplace learning policy unit within NCBS/CESB
 Recruit staff for the implementation of the workplace learning
policy and build relevant capacities

Establishment and capacity  Develop/revise regulations and TOR for the governance board
building of the Industry Training
Advisory Board  Appoint the board and build capacities of members
 Facilitate board meetings
 Conduct an assessment of the effectiveness of employers’
influence under the prevailing institutional set-up

5.4 Creation of Sustainable Financing and Incentive Structures

The further development of apprenticeship training in both the formal and informal sector, of
internship programs and attachment schemes required substantial resources. While initial pilot
programs will be implemented with the support of development partners, internal financing
structures need to be designed to ensure the long-term sustainability of workplace learning in
Rwanda.

A concept for incentives for companies to participate in workplace learning will be developed
based on research and consultation. Options to be explored will include:

 Tax rebates (tax deductibility) of eligible training costs incurred by companies;

 Linking access to public tenders to the involvement in workplace learning.
Representatives of the private sector in Rwanda have suggested that companies
qualifying for public tenders have to prove their participation in workplace learning
schemes, either through employing apprentices or accepting interns and attachment
students;
 Capacity building support to companies that participate in workplace learning.
Measure may include certified technical and didactical training to supervisors and
trainers in companies, and management and organizational support. The possibility
to support the improvement of equipment, as well as the establishment of new
workplaces, need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis (capacity building needs
are also discussed in sections 5.1 and 5.2);

There will be no direct financial support (through subsidies or training fees) to companies that
participate in workplace learning out of the public budget. However, the introduction of a
levy-grant system (or sectoral levy systems) may be considered, which would provide a
34
mechanisms of incentive awards based on contributions of employers themselves. A levy-
grant system for skills development sourced through contributions from employers has been
proven in many countries to be an effective instrument to increase resources available for
training and at the same time to introduce incentives for companies to provide training,
including apprenticeship training and other workplace learning schemes.

As part of the overall strategy to sustainable financing of skills development, the

appropriateness of a levy-grant system for the funding and promotion of workplace learning
will therefore be assessed. Feasibility studies will explore possibilities to introduce a levy-
grant system either industry-wide or in specific growth sectors of the economy. Mechanisms
will be devised to use levy resources to finance and facilitate workplace learning in the form
of apprenticeship training, attachment, internship and possibly other employer-based training
schemes. The levy-grant system would need to be designed to facilitate workplace learning at
all levels in the educational system, including TVET and higher education, and internships
supporting young Rwandan labour market entrants. The fund that would be created from a
levy system could also be conceptualized as a multi-source fund, whereby other partners, such
as the government or development partners, would contribute.

The design of a levy-grant system requires extensive consultations with employers to be

accepted by the private sector, and credible and accountable collection and fund management
structures to be successful. Experience in other countries suggests that levy funds that are
managed by institutions with a strong private sector influence are better accepted by private
companies.

Baseline research is needed to assess potential income of a levy system and to estimate
implications of different options of using the funds. Procedures and rules need to be adapted
to the Rwandan economic reality. International expert support will be necessary to finalize the
design process.

Issues that need to be answered through solid research and consultation include, for example:

 Appropriate levy base (e.g. wage bill),-

 Appropriate levy rate (x %),-
 Which employers are to be targeted,-
 How best to collect the levy revenue,-
 For what are the funds used,-
 Who decides about disbursements,-
 Who is managing the levy fund.

It is expected that by the end of the plan period of this policy, agreement has been reached
about the feasibility and desirability of a levy-based incentive scheme, and, if appropriate,
about the design and policies.

35
In summary, main strategic objectives and main activities include:
Strategic Objectives Activities

Develop and implement a concept  Undertake baseline research and agree on incentive packages
for incentives for workplace in a consultative process
learning  Implement agreed incentive packages

Assessment feasibility of levy-  Feasibility study for a levy-grant system/sector levy grant
grant system in Rwanda mechanisms based on international experience; if relevant
design study
 Stakeholder consultation

5.5 Knowledge and Awareness Creation

Although attachment programs in TVET and higher education and internship programs have
been introduced some time back, the majority of Rwandan companies still lack awareness and
the right mindset. The idea of modern cooperative apprenticeship training still needs to be
introduced into the Rwandan public. A better understanding of the importance of workplace
learning and of the benefits for individual companies is essential to encourage more
companies to participate. A bold, continuous and evidence-based campaign to inform private
companies is needed with the aim to make workplace learning a national development project.

Efforts will be undertaken to create knowledge about costs and benefits of workplace learning
for companies and the society at large, through systematic graduate tracking systems and
employers surveys. Results of such research will be published and disseminated to increase
the level of awareness and to assist further planning.

Awareness creation measures need to target managers and trainers from private sector
companies, youth, TVET providers and universities, government officials, trade unions, and
the society at large. Methods for public relations and awareness creation include the use of
mass media, special events for business associations, political decision-makers and other
selected target groups, the collection and publishing of good practice, role models and success
cases, public recognition of employers with outstanding cooperation record, and others in
accordance with a communications strategy still to be developed.

A website for workplace learning will be created for easy access of all information on
different workplace learning schemes, rules, conditions, incentives, guidelines,
implementation aids, experience and other interesting information.

Responsibility for driving knowledge and awareness creation rests with a special
communications unit in the new Skills Development Department in the PSF.

The involvement of Rwanda’s top leadership in advertising the relevance of workplace

learning is essential.

36
In summary, main strategic objectives and main activities include:

Strategic Objectives Activities

Institutionalization of  Establishment of communications and research unit in

communication structures PSF/Skills Development Department
 Capacity building of communications and research unit staff

Improve the knowledge base  Systematic collection, documentation and publishing of

about workplace learning in experience, good practice, role models and success cases
Rwanda
 Reiterative assessments of costs and benefits of different
workplace learning schemes

Awareness creation about  Development of a communication strategy

workplace learning opportunities
 Implementation of awareness creation activities as agreed in
strategy, including mass media presence and other PR events
 Creation and population of website
 Public recognition schemes for employers with outstanding
performance

5.6 Consideration of cross-cutting issues

Gender Equality
In order to promote gender equality in skills development and employment, the
implementation of this policy will be systematically gender-mainstreamed. All relevant
indicators in the monitoring framework will be disaggregated by gender. In the
implementation arrangements, especially in the selection of occupations for the development
of apprenticeship projects both in the formal and informal sectors, the responsible
coordination unit will ensure that those occupational groups are prioritized that are attractive
to female youth. Arrangements for supervision of workplace learning will provide appropriate
mechanisms to address for special needs and concerns of young women who may be subject
to discrimination, sexual harassment and other forms of unfair and intolerable practices.

People with Disabilities

The Government of Rwanda is committed to inclusive education to fully integrate people with
disabilities (PWD) into education, the economy and the society in general. In the selection of
occupations where workplace learning is supported, and in the design of support programs,
special requirements to fully integrated young PWD will be taken into account. One of the
staff members of the Industry Training Secretariat will be specially trained to address the
needs of PWD. Capacity building packages for enterprises will include special incentives for
those employers that offer workplace learning places for PWD.

37
The Workplace Learning Policy is also committed to support sustainable economic
development and the further dissemination of environmentally sound technologies in Rwanda.
Learning programs supported will specially emphasise on green skills solutions, and all
curricula will incorporate sustainability principles.

6 Stakeholders Views

The development of this policy was based on a preceding analysis of workplace learning
experience in Rwanda. The analytical work included extensive consultations and discussions
with a large number of stakeholders including private sector organizations (PSF and chamber
representatives), cooperatives, large, medium, small private enterprises, informal sector
operators, micro-training providers, public and private TVET institutions, representatives
from the higher education sector, officers and decision-makers from MINEDUC, MIFOTRA,
NCBS, WDA and MINICOM, from the community of development partners, and
representatives of other stakeholders. After the preparation of an input paper on workplace
learning in Rwanda (attached) a stakeholder workshop was held discuss the findings of the
report and the initial recommendations. The policy draft prepared on the basis of the
stakeholder recommendations was discussed with representatives of different stakeholder
groups. Among others meetings, a special meeting for private sector representatives was
organized by the PSF. A final stakeholder consultation workshop to discuss the policy draft
was held on July 16th, 2015.

Virtually all stakeholders, including students and the Rwandan youth in general, agree that
more and better workplace learning is essential to improve skills and employability of
Rwanda’s youth and to form a corps of new labour market entrants that is better equipped to
productively contribute to the economic development of the country. It is also felt to be very
important that workplace learning experience and achievements are appropriately quality
assured and recognised through formal certification based on the National Qualifications
Framework.

TVET institutions that can look back to a considerable experience with attachment programs
consider mechanisms most important that would bring more employers on board. They prefer
incentives for employers. However, some are also calling for coercive action, such as making
it compulsory for companies to take attachment students. Furthermore, TVET institutions
unanimously call for financial support to bear the costs related to the implementation of
attachment programs.

For higher education institutions, the main challenge is to improve the management and
organization of attachments with the aim of ensuring minimum qualifications of receiving
companies, improving the matching of student specialization and company profile, and better
structuring workplace learning contents, supervision and evaluation of attachments. They call
for the development of appropriate regulations of attachments for higher education students
and for minimum requirements applicable to companies and public workplaces to be eligible
to host interns and attachment students.

The private sector is generally very much supportive of the new policy initiative and fully
backs the intended further development of workplace learning. However, it wants to be
38
acknowledged that the private sector can only participate if it benefits from the initiative, and
if its interests are fully taken into account. The private sector is therefore supporting the plan
to gradually hand-over responsibility for workplace learning to a private-sector organization.
With respect to the institutional arrangements, it advocates in favour of mechanisms to ensure
a dynamic process of increased responsibility of employers in coordination and oversight of
workplace learning.

Private sector representatives are aware of the need to generate additional resources for
workplace learning and are supporting the plan to study the feasibility of a levy-grant system
together with an extensive consultative process. Especially mechanisms (such as a levy-grant
mechanisms) that act to create more equality between those companies that invest in training
and those that do not invest are welcomed. However, the private sector also calls for
contributions to workplace learning from stake holders other than the private sector.
Accordingly, if a fund for workplace learning would be created, funds should be generated
from different sources, including the Government, development partners, and others.

Especially companies in need of specialized workforce, which experience a shortage of

appropriate skilled labour, are in favour of a more comprehensive and long-term
apprenticeship system, in particular those with exposure to international practice.

Mainly stakeholders in the civil society point to the fact that many important formats and
instruments have already been developed in the framework of development projects, notably
training programs to improve the work readiness of youth, training of company trainers, and
others. In order to increase efficiency in policy implementation, they call upon the public
sector to make use of available instruments.

7 Implementation Arrangements

The implementation of the Workplace Learning Policy shall require solid implementation
efforts from all involved parties, representing a diversity of organizations in the private sector,
the public sector and among development partners. Significant inputs in terms of financial and
human resources are required to support the implementation of variousproposed interventions
in each of the five priority areas of this policy. It is therefore important to put in place a solid
governance and implementation structure to enable smooth and effective implementation
arrangements.

7.1 Proposed Institutional Arrangements for the Successful Implementation of the

Workplace Learning Policy

The successful implementation of Workplace Learning Policy shall depend on strong

partnership arrangements between the Ministries of Education and Public Service and Labour
(MIFOTRA), MINECOFIN, MINICOM, public agencies including the Workforce
Development Authority (WDA), Higher Education Council (HEC), Rwanda Development
Board (RDB), the National Capacity Building Secretariat (NCBS), Sector Skills Councils
(SSCs), under the newly created Capacity Building and Employment Services Board
(CESB/NCBS), public and private educational institutions and the umbrella organization for
39
private sector practitioners in Rwanda (PSF). The institutions and the respective roles and
responsibilities at the level of oversight, coordination and implementation are outline below:

Office of the Prime Minister

Given the constitutional mandate vested with the Office of the Prime Minister of coordinating
the overall national planning and implementation oversight, it shall ensure the overall
Monitoring and Evaluation of implementation processes of the Workplace Learning policy in
Rwanda.

MIFOTRA

As the ministry responsible for national coordination of all programs and activities concerning
employment promotion, the Ministry of Public Services and Labour, in terms of
implementing workplace learning, shall perform the following functions:

o Leading the process of transforming the current SSC Secretariat into a strengthened
Skills Development and Workplace Learning Unit within the NCBS, or the CESB;
o Leading the process of appointing the Industrial Training Governance Council;
o Leading the process of putting in place or revising the legal and regulatory framework
for workplace learning with respect to internship and labor relations in apprenticeship
training;
o Leading the process of developing a policy and the legal instruments for putting in
place, in long run, the proposed private sector-driven institutional framework
Ensuring that relevant workplace learning policy interventions especially those
related to internship are part of the development and annual work plans of all
institutions and organizations (in the Public sector, private sector, Development
partners and Civil Society Organizations) involved in the implementation of this part
of the Workplace learning policy;
o Participating in the process of reviewing the existing curriculum for Higher Education
and TVET in Rwanda with a view to allowing flexibility on when students in their
final academic years can undertake their industrial attachments;
o Leading the process of preparing capacity building programs that target to address
gaps in the context of implementing the workplace learning policy;
o Participate in the process of raising public awareness on the importance of promoting
and supporting workplace learning as one of the venues of addressing the employable
skills gaps;
o Participate in the monitoring of the progress in the implementation of the Workplace
Learning Policy.

Ministry of Education

The core roles and responsibilities of the Ministry of Education shall be those of putting in
place and/or reviewing policy and legal framework for guiding workplace learning schemes in
the education sector. It shall entail the following:

40
 o Leading the process of putting in place legal and regulatory framework for
apprenticeship training and attachments;
o Leading the process of adjusting curricula in the TVET and higher education sub-
systems to ensure an equal distribution of attachment students in companies
throughout the year;
o Ensuring that TVET and higher learning institutions are appropriately resourced to
undertake their functions in the facilitation and supervision of attachments;
o Leading the process of designing a strategy and incentive packages for providing
alternative practical learning schemes in TVET institutions for students who
cannot be provided with industrial attachments;
o Leading the process of putting in place the legal framework for the compulsory
establishment of advisory councils for TVET and higher learning institutions;
o Taking a lead role in the monitoring of pilot apprenticeship programs;
o If appropriate, participating in the process of developing the legal instrument for
putting in place the proposed long-term private sector-driven institutional
framework and the introduction of the levy-grant system for sustainable financing
of the workplace learning;
o Leading the processes of regulation and certification including alignment
apprenticeship programs to Rwanda TVET Qualification Framework (RTQF)
o Participate in the monitoring of the workplace learning policy implementation.

MINECOFIN

 As a Ministry in charge of national planning and finance, MINECOFIN shall be

responsible for allocating the necessary budget required to implement various
interventions provided under workplace learning policy.
o Leading the process of designing levy-grant system for sustainable financing of
workplace learning in Rwanda;
o The Ministry shall also participate in the monitoring of the implementation of
interventions envisaged in workplace learning policy.

MINICOM
o Participate in the process of raising awareness on the importance of workplace
learning to the general public and also ensure that the private sector is on board and is
fully acting as a partner in skills development in the country; Participate in the
process of designing and adoption of a Levy-grant system that will ensure sustainable
financing for workplace learning;
o Participate in the design a proposed institutional framework for workplace learning
where the private sector will have strong influence
o The Ministry shall participate in the implementation /operationalization of the levy
grant

41
National Capacity Building Secretariat or Capacity Building and Employment Services
Board)/ Industry Training Governance Board
Skills Development and Workplace Learning Unit

The Skills Development and Workplace Learning Unit under NCBS/CESB shall grow out of
the previous SSCs Secretariat in the NCBS and shall be responsible for the overall
coordination and oversight of workplace learning activities in Rwanda. The operations of the
unit shall be overseen by the Industry Training Governance Council (ITGC) which shall
replace the current SSC Governance Board. Its functions in the implementation of the
Workplace Learning Policy shall particularly include:

o Leading all efforts to coordinate and to further develop workplace learning in

Rwanda;
o Oversee the process of developing a comprehensive M&E framework to track
implementation of activities envisaged in the Workplace Leaning Policy to deliver
target policy actions;
o Leading the process of monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the
Workplace Learning Policy;
o Leading and facilitating the process of appointing members of the proposed sub-task
Forces/operational sub-task forces for: (1) Cooperative Apprenticeship, (2)
Modernized Traditional Apprenticeship and (3) Coordination of Internships and
Attachments;
o Leading the process of coordinating implementation of professional internship
programs in both private and public organizations
o Devise incentives packages for companies receiving/participating in the training of
internees and attachees as well as apprentices;
o Facilitating the operations of the three sub-task Forces (apprenticeship; attachments
and internship);
o Initiating the process of resource mobilization to facilitate implementation of
activities envisaged in the workplace learning policy;
o Leading the process of raising public awareness on the importance of promoting and
supporting workplace learning as one of the venues of addressing the employable
skills gaps
o Participating in the process of raising awareness on the importance of workplace
learning among employers (Private Sector) in Rwanda;
o Leading the process of facilitating research and disseminating research findings about
workplace learning;
o Leading the process of preparing and implementing capacity building programs for
addressing capacity gaps in line with the need to effectively implement interventions
envisaged in workplace learning policy;
o Ensuring that the SSCs are involved in all matters to workplace learning
o Participate in the process of putting in place legal and regulatory framework for all
types of workplace;
o Ensuring that relevant workplace learning policy related activities are mainstreamed
within annual work plans of all institutions and organizations (in the public sector,
private sector and CSOs) involved in the implementation of the Workplace Learning
Policy;
42
 o If appropriate, participating in the process of developing the legal instrument for
putting in place the proposed long-term private sector-driven institutional framework
and the introduction of the levy-grant system for sustainable financing of the
workplace learning;
o Conduct all other activities necessary to coordinate and oversee the development of
workplace learning in Rwanda.

Private Sector Federation

The roles and responsibilities of Private Sector Federation in the successful implementation of
Workplace learning policy is indispensible given the fact that private sector practitioners are
the owners of the industry and companies. Therefore, without the active role and visible
cooperation of the PSF, developing workplace learning as an approach to training in Rwanda
shall remain an unattainable goal. The following roles and responsibilities shall be handled
under the ambit of PSF:

o Participate in the process of implementing of capacity building interventions for

company supervisors of workplace learning schemes;
o Leading the process of public awareness creation about workplace learning in the
private sector and mobilizing companies to participate in workplace learning;
o Actively participating in the process of putting in place legal and regulatory
framework for workplace learning in Rwanda;
o Actively participate and own the process of developing the legal instrument for
putting in place the proposed long-term private sector-driven institutional framework
for workplace learning;
o Participate in design and implementation of the levy-grant system for sustainable
financing of the workplace learning;
o Participating in the monitoring and evaluation of the workplace learning policy;
o Actively participate in decisions making at the level of the Industry Training
Governance Council;
o Chairing the proposed Industry Training Governance Board that shall oversee
activities to implement the Workplace Learning Policy;
o Forming part of the sub-Task Forces that shall be formed under the Industry Training
Governance Council(ITGC);
o Actively participate in the process of implementing pilot “Modernized
apprenticeship” and cooperative TVET training in Rwanda;
o Long run PSF will Mobilize and manage necessary resources from own funds to
facilitate implementation of various activities envisaged in workplace learning policy;
o Participating in the process of raising public awareness on the importance of
promoting and supporting workplace learning as one of the venues of addressing the
skills gaps among the youths.

Sector Skills Councils

o Leading the development of occupational standards for apprenticeship training

programs in the formal and informal sectors;
43
 o Participating in the development of RPL for operators and learners in the informal
sector;
o Participating in the Task Forces on cooperative apprenticeship training and
modernized traditional apprenticeship training;
o Actively participating in the selection of occupations for pilot implementation of
apprenticeship training;
o Participating in the awareness creation and mobilization of companies in their
respective sectors to take part in workplace learning;
o Participate in the monitoring and evaluation of the workplace learning policy with
special emphasis on activities in their respective sectors.
o Participate in assessment and certification of the graduates of workplace learning
schemes

Workforce Development Authority

The specific roles and responsibilities of WDA remain these of a regulator and facilitator of
TVET in the country and these shall involve:

o Putting in place training standards and ensuring their compliance by the TVET
training providers in the country with respect to apprenticeship training;
o Participate in the process of putting in place legal and regulatory framework for
workplace learning including attachment and apprenticeship (Cooperative and
modernized apprenticeship);
o Actively participating in the Task Forces under the ITGC
o Leading the process of implementing pilot apprenticeship training programs both
in the formal and informal sectors;
o Leading the process of monitoring pilot apprenticeship programs
o Leading the process of continuously reviewing the implementation and monitoring
arrangements for the IAP in TVET;
o Participating in the process of adjusting curricula in the TVET and higher
education sub-systems to ensure an equal distribution of attachment of students in
companies throughout the year;
o Participating in the process of designing a strategy and incentive packages for
providing alternative practical learning schemes (empowering production
wings/units) in TVET institutions for students who cannot be provided with
industrial attachments;
o Participating in the process of putting in place the legal framework for the
compulsory establishment of governing boards for TVET and higher learning
institutions;
o Taking a lead role in the monitoring of pilot apprenticeship programs;
o Participating in the monitoring of the workplace learning policy implementation.
o Leading the process of developing curricula and training plans, TLM and
assessment tools and procedures for both and pilot “Modernized apprenticeship”
and cooperating TVET training in Rwanda;
44
 o Participate in the process of preparing capacity building programs for addressing
capacity gaps in line with the need to effectively implement interventions
envisaged in workplace learning policy;
o Leading the process of capacity building of TVET teachers for apprenticeship
training;
o Participating in the process of mobilizing resources required for implementing
activities envisaged in the workplace learning policy;
o Participating in the process of raising public awareness on the importance of
promoting and supporting workplace learning as one of the venues of addressing
the skills gaps among the youths;
o Leading the process of accreditation, assessment and certification in collaboration
with the Private sector chambers and/or professional associations/bodies;
o Leading the process of recognizing skills and knowledge acquired informally
through the system of Recognition of Prior Learning (PRL)

Higher Education Council

o Participating in the process of reviewing the existing curricula for High Education
in Rwanda with a view to allowing flexibility on when students in their final
academic years can undertake their Industrial attachments;
o Leading the process of developing standards, rules and quality assurance
mechanisms for the development of attachments for higher education students;
o Participating in the monitoring and evaluation of the Workplace Learning Policy.

TVET institutions

o Participating in the delivery of apprenticeship training;

o Participating in the process of developing pilot apprenticeship training
arrangements;
o Participating in the monitoring and evaluation of apprenticeship training programs;
o Facilitating the implementation of the IAP through design, identifying attachment
places, supervising and evaluating industrial attachments;
o Contributing to the evaluation and revision of IAP formats, rules and procedures
o Facilitating in curricular revisions to ensure that attachment students are places in
companies all year round.

Higher institutions of learning

o Facilitating the implementation of attachments of their students;
o Participating in the monitoring, evaluation and quality assurance of attachments;
o Contributing to the evaluation and revision of the attachment policies, formats,
rules and procedures in the higher education system.

45
Proposed institutional arrangement for the implementation of workplace learning policy

Policy level MINEDUC/MIFOTRA

Coordination NCBS/CES
level B
PSF Industry
(chambers & Training
associations) Governance

Intern Appr IA SSCs

e

Coordination
Partners
in WPL

companies WDA HE NCBS/CESB

C
Implementation IPRCs, TVET HE inst. Unit for internship
level inst.

46
7.2 Implementation Plan
Policy area 1:Development of Modern Apprenticeship Training in the TVET Sector
1.1 Introduction of a cooperative apprenticeship system in the formal sector
Strategic objective Major policy actions Lead Other implementing and Year of
implementing stakeholder institutions implementation
Institution
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
SO 1.1:Develop and  Appoint and facilitate the work of an Apprenticeship Training Task NCBS/CESB WDA, PSF, MIFOTRA, SSCs
implement a pilot Force
cooperative apprenticeship  Establish sector sub-sub-task forces of Apprenticeship Training NCBS/CESB WDA, PSF, MIFOTRA, SSCs, IPRCs
training program in selected Task Force in line with selected sectors
sectors  Select occupations to be piloted for each of the trades selected NCBS/CESB WDA, PSF, MIFOTRA, SSCs, IPRSs
under the pilot program
 Develop pilot apprenticeship programs, which includes: WDA PSF, SSCs, NCBS/CEB, IPRSs
o Development, if necessary, occupational standards
o Development of integrated cooperative curricula and
company training plans, and TLM
o Agree on financial arrangements and contractual
relationships
o Definition of roles and responsibilities of various
stakeholders;
o Develop quality assurance and assessment and
certification mechanisms
o Agreement on minimum eligibility criteria for
participating companies and TVET supply institutions
 Implement and supervise pilot implementation WDA PSF, SSCs, NCBS/CEB, IPRSs
SO 1.2: Build capacities for  Develop and implement standardized training packages for WDA PSF, NCBS/CEB, SSCs
individuals and institutions company trainers and supervisors;
involved in the  Develop and implement training of participating trainers in TVET WDA IPRCs, SSCs
implementation of pilot institutions
cooperative apprenticeship  Conduct capacity building and awareness creation about NCBS/CESB PSF, SSCs, WDA
apprenticeship training for members of the Apprenticeship
Training Task Force and sub-sector groups, including study tours
SO1.3: Establish legal and  Evaluate the pilot implementation of cooperative apprenticeship NCBS/CESB PSF, SSCs, WDA, IPRCs,
regulatory framework for programs to identify appropriate practice for Rwanda
cooperative training MINEDUC
program in Rwanda  Develop legal and regulatory framework for cooperative MINEDUC NCBS/CESB, PSF, SSCs, WDA,
apprenticeship training program in Rwanda
IPRCs, MIFOTRA
1.2 Modernize traditional apprenticeship training in the informal sector
Strategic objective Major policy actions Lead Other implementing and Year of
implementing stakeholder institutions implementation
Institution
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
SO 1.4: Pilot  Appoint and facilitate work of Traditional Apprenticeship Task NCBS/CESB PSF, SSCs, WDA, MIFOTRA
implementation of Force to oversee the pilot program design and implementation
modernized traditional  Conduct research including study visits to inform pilot program NCBS/CESB PSF, SSCs, WDA, MIFOTRA
apprenticeship training in design and implementationprocess, and design of pilot models
Rwanda  Select trades and regions for pilot implementation based on NCBS/CESB PSF, SSCs, WDA, MIFOTRA
evaluation of potential and considering gender equity
 Develop curricula, training plans, TLM and assessment tools to WDA PSF, SSCs, MIFOTRA, NCBS/CEB,
facilitate training and assessment of apprentices
IPRCs, local business associations
 Develop and implement capacity building packages for participating WDA PSF, SSCs, MIFOTRA, NCBS/CEB,
master trainers
IPRCs, local business associations
 Develop and implement supplementary training packages for WDA PSF, SSCs, IPRCs, NCBS/CEB, local
apprentices including basic skills training, work readiness training,
training in basic entrepreneurship skills, financial management, business associations
human resources management, right market attitude, among others
 Coordinate and supervise pilot improved traditional apprenticeship WDA NCBS/CEB, PSF, MIFOTRA,
training programs
IPRCs, local business associations
 Conduct assessment in line with RTQF WDA PSF, SSCs

SO 1.5: Mainstream  Conduct a comprehensive evaluation of results of the pilot NCBS/CESB PSF, SSCs, WDA, MIFOTRA
modernized traditional implementation to identify the best model for Rwanda
apprenticeship training
 Develop a legal and regulatory frameworkfor a modernized MINEDUC NCBS/CESB, PSF, SSCs, WDA,
approach
apprenticeship training approach
MIFOTRA
 Roll-out improved traditional apprenticeship approach in the WDA NCBS/CEB, PSF, MIFOTRA,
country
IPRCs, local business associations

48
Policy area 2: Improvement of System and Management of Attachments and Internships

Strategic objective Major policy actions Lead Other implementing and Year of
implementing stakeholder institutions implementation
Institution
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
SO 2.1: Provide workplace  Adjust curricula in TVET and higher education to ensure that MINEDUC PSF, NCBS/CESB, WDA,HEC, HIL,
learning to an increasing attachments are implemented all year round
number of students in the IPRCs
TVET and higher  Design and implement incentives packages for educational MINEDUC PSF, NCBS/CESB, WDA,HEC, HIL,
education sectors and the institutions developing practical learning schemes in their respective
unemployed production units and social and community projects IPRCs
 Develop group insurance scheme for attachment students and NCBS/CESB MINEDUC, PSF, WDA,HEC,
interns
 Facilitate internship opportunities to unemployed TVET and higher NCBS PSF, NCBS/CESB, WDA, HEC
education graduates under the NYIP
 Monitoring and evaluation, and revision of NYIP NCBS PSF, NCBS/CESB, WDA, HEC
SO 2.2: Improve the quality  Develop and adopt regulatory package for attachments in the higher HEC PSF, WDA, NCBS/CESB, HIL
and relevance of education sector detailing all the necessary quality assurance aspects
attachments in Higher  Develop and introduce (including training of stakeholders) rules, HEC PSF, WDA, NCBS/CESB, HIL
Education and TVET and formats and procedures for quality assurance and supervision of
improve the quality of attachments provided to higher education students
internships  Monitoring of IAP in TVET and make adjustments as necessary WDA PSF, IPRCs, NCBS/CESB,
MIFOTRA
 Monitoring of attachment programs in the higher education sector HEC PSF, MIFOTRA, NCBS/CESB, HIL
and revisions as necessary
 Provide funding to public TVET institutions for supporting MINEDUC PSF, WDA, MINEDUC,
industrial liaison officers and meeting costs related to the facilitation
of attachments NCBS/CESB, HEC
 Develop and implement a standard work readiness training module NCBS/CESB WDA, HEC, HIL, IPRCs, NCBS
for attachment students and interns, including a package on training
of trainers
 Develop and provide certified supervisory training packages for PSF NCBS/CESB, WDA, HEC
company supervisors, in cooperation with company training
activities in policy area 1
SO 2.3: Ensure a  Establish attachment and internship coordination task force and NCBS/CESB PSF, WDA,HEC, NCBS
coordinated approach for facilitate its operations
the development of

49
attachment and internship
programs

Policy area 3: Development of an Institutional Framework for Workplace Learning with Strong Private Sector Interest

Strategic objective Major policy actions Lead Other implementing and Year of
implementing stakeholder institutions implementation
Institution
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
SO 3.1: Strengthen the  Devise legal framework for the compulsory establishment of MINEDUC PSF, IPRCs, HEC, HIL
influence of employers in governing boards in TVET and higher education institutions
the operations of TVET
and higher education
institutions
SO 3.1: Capacity building  Prepare the administrative and legal requirements for the establishment MIFOTRA MINEDUC, WDA, HEC, PSF, NCBS
of NCBS/CESB to of a dedicated organizational unit within NCBS/CESB for skills
implement the workplace development and workplace learning
learning policy
 Recruitment and capacity building of staff for the implementation of MIFOTRA PSF
the workplace learning policy
SO 3.2: Ensure private  Establish ITGC: MIFOTRA PSF, MINEDUC, WDA, HEC
sector influence in WPL  Develop regulations and TOR for the ITGB
through the Industry  appoint chairperson and members
Training Governance  Build capacities for board members
Council(ITGC)  Facilitate board meetings NCBS/CESB PSF, MIFOTRA

50
Policy area 4: Creation of Sustainable Financing and Incentive Structures

Strategic objective Major policy actions Lead Other implementing and Year of
implementing stakeholder institutions implementation
Institution
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
SO 4.1 Develop incentives  Undertake baseline research and agree on incentive packages after NCBS/CESB NCBS/CESB,PSF, MINECOFIN,
for companies to an extensive consultative process
participate in WPL MINEDUC, MINICOM, MIFOTRA,
RDB
 Implement adopted incentive packages NCBS/CESB NCBS/CESB, PSF, MINECOFIN,
MINEDUC, MIFOTRA, others
SO 4.2: Assess the  Conduct feasibility study for a levy-grant system/sector levy grant MINECOFIN NCBS/CESB, PSF, MINECOFIN,
feasibility of levy-grant mechanisms based on international experience
mechanisms for WPL in MINEDUC, MIFOTRA, others
Rwanda  Conduct design study for a levy-grant system MINECOFIN NCBS/CESB, PSF, MINECOFIN,
MINEDUC, MIFOTRA, others
 Conduct comprehensive stakeholder consultations MINECOFIN NCBS/CESB, PSF, SSCs

51
Policy area 5: Knowledge and Awareness Creation

Strategic objective Major policy actions Lead Other implementing and Year of
implementing stakeholder institutions implementation
Institution
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
SO 5.1: Institutionalization  Establish a research unit in NCBS/CESB MIFOTRA NCBS/CESB
of research and knowledge
management structures  Build organizational and staff capacities in the communications in MIFOTRA NCBS/CESB, PSF
research and knowledge management unit
SO 5.2: Improve  Conduct systematic collection, documentation and publication of NCBS/CESB PSF, WDA, HEC, SSCs, MIFOTRA,
workplace learning in experience, good practices, role models and success stories
Rwanda IPRCs, HIL, others
 Conduct assessments of costs and benefits of different workplace NCBS/CESB PSF, SSCs, MIFOTRA, MINDUC,
learning schemes
WDA, IPRCs, HIL
SO 5.3: Awareness creation  Develop communications strategy NCBS/CESB PSF
about WPL opportunities  Awareness creation activities, including mass media presence, NCBS/CESB Print and electronic media, PSF,
targeted PR events,
and benefits MIFOTRA, MINEDUC, WDA, HEC
 Creation and population of webpage NCBS/CESB PSF
 Public recognition schemes for employers with outstanding MIFOTRA NCBS/CESBPSF, PMO, MINEDUC,
performance

52
8 Financial Implications

The Ministry of Public Service and Labour shall be tasked with providing oversight and
coordination in the implementation of workplace learning policy, though all concerned
Ministries and agencies shall contribute through their own budgets.

Currently, funding for workplace learning activities mainly come from the government and
development partners. In line with the need to implement the Workplace Learning Policy,
Government shall in the short term (1 to 5 years) commit itself to increase its budget spent on
activities related to workplace learning before the private sector takes the lead to manage and
finance training activities at workplace. In the first five years of implementing this policy the
Government will increase its budget to the tune of approximately 27 million US dollars.

9 Legal Implications

The adoption of the Workplace Learning Policy shall result in new legal commitments and/or
obligations for the Government of Rwanda since the implementation of some interventions
envisaged in this policy paper shall require developing and/or reviewing the existing legal
instruments that regulate workplace learning in Rwanda.

New legal/regulatory stipulations framework need to be effected to enable the NCBS to

implement the coordinative and oversight role in the implementation of the Workplace
Learning Policy. In the long run, a new Workplace Learning legal and regulatory framework
will need to be developed that places the private sector in “a driver’s seat” in as far as
developing workplace learning is concerned.

The Workplace Learning Policy calls for the development of a comprehensive legal and
regulatory framework for apprenticeship training, to be developed only after pilot
implementations have proven the appropriate arrangements for Rwanda. The legal and
regulatory framework is expected to clearly spell out different roles and responsibilities of
various stakeholder organizations in the private sector and the public sector, and of individual
companies, in the implementation of apprenticeship training. The present stipulations in the
Labour Law concerning the rights and responsibilities of employers, apprentices and intern,
will remain valid. Pilot implementation of apprenticeship programs both in the formal and
informal sectors will show whether modifications of the current legal provisions under the
Labour Law are required to improve workplace learning in Rwanda.

The possible introduction and management of the levy-grant system cannot be launched in
Rwanda with no clear legal instrument to enforce it. There is therefore a need to develop an
appropriate legal framework that clearly articulates design and management of levy-grant
system in the country, should research and consultative processes demonstrate the feasibility
and acceptability of such as levy-grant system for Rwanda.

53
10 Impact on Business

The successful implementation of policy actions envisaged under this policy shall render the
Rwandan workforce, especially the youth, with more employability skills and increased
competitiveness at local and regional labour markets. Improved quality of the workforce shall
not only further enhance production and productivity but also increase employment
opportunities, which in the end would spur economic growth. The industry and private
companies shall also benefit from cost reductions resulting from reduced overhead costs
related to competent and yet cheap labour on the local markets.

The implementation of the Workplace Learning Policy shall visibly contribute to national
employment targets (200.000 per annum) envisaged under the National Employment Program
(NEP). If the 200.000 employment creation is realized every year, this would have a great
business impact at both individual and national levels. The business impact shall feature
inform of increased incomes earned from self-employment and/or employment opportunities
created by the existing and the newly created ones as a result of the development outcomes
realized from the implementation of WPL policy.

11 Handling Plan/Communication Strategy

As part of Policy Area 5 of this policy, a communications strategy will be developed and
implemented to raise awareness about the importance of workplace learning among the
general population and disseminate key information packages to stakeholders involved in
promoting and implementing activities related to workplace learning at all levels. The
Workplace Learning Policy envisages different interventions that target public awareness
raising campaigns on the importance of workplace learning as one of the potential venues for
training and exposing learners to the real work environment.

Several media of communication shall be used to raise public awareness on workplace

learning with a view to mobilizing for support and ownership by all stakeholders especially
the private sector practitioners.

54
Annex 1: Summary Indicative Costings for WPL policy (in US Dollars)

Summary Costings for Policy Area 1

Policy Action Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total
1.1.1.

Task Force for Pilot Program Implementation 22.88 15.50 11.81 4.43 4.43 59.04
1.1.2.
Agree on occupational programs to be piloted 21.30 12.07 1.00 34.37
1.1.3.

Development and Implementation of Cooperative

Training Programs 111.81 261.62 337.64 413.65 377.86 1,502.57
1.2.1.
Capacity building of different actors in cooperative
training 58.01 99.85 158.89 188.41 181.70 686.86
1.3.1.
Evaluation of Pilot Cooperative Programs 42.07 78.97 121.03
1.3.2. Legal and Regulatory Environment 25.83 25.83
1.4.1.
Traditional Apprenticeship Task Force 2.21 2.21 2.21 2.21 2.21 11.07
1.4.2. Research to inform program design and selection of
trades and regions 103.32 103.32
1.4.3.
Preparation of Programs: Development of
curricula, training plans, TLM, assessment tools 79.70 79.70 79.70 79.70 79.70 398.52
1.4.4.
Capacity building packages for master trainers 826.56 826.56 826.56 826.56 3,306.24
1.4.5.
Supplementary Training packages for apprentices 73.80 132.84 191.88 250.92 649.44
1.4.6. Coordination and supervision of pilot
implementation 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 12.00
1.4.7. RPL Assessment 166.05 184.50 258.30 332.10 940.95
1.5.1.
Evaluation of TA pilot experience 81.18 81.18

55
1.5.2.

Legal and regulatory framework for a modernized

apprenticeship training approach 7.38 7.38
1.5.3.
Roll-out of TA approach

Sub-total 1 399.22 1,540.37 1,738.15 2,010.21 2,251.83 7,939.79

Summary Costings for Policy Area 2

No Policy Action Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total

2.1.1.

Adjust curricula in TVET and higher education 2.21 2.21 0.00 0.00 0.00 4.43
2.1.2.
Incentive packages for alternative practical
learning schemes 369.37 369.37 369.37 369.00 369.00 1,846.11
2.1.3.
Group insurance scheme 7.38 7.38 7.38 7.38 7.38 36.90
2.1.4.
NYIP 371.07 461.07 611.07 761.07 911.07 3,115.35
2.1.5.
NYIP Monitoring 4.76 8.75 4.76 8.75 4.76 31.78
2.2.1.

Regulation for attachments in higher education 5.17 14.02 0.00 0.00 0.00 19.19
2.2.2.
Rules, format, procedures for QA, supervision,
in HE 0.00 8.86 10.33 0.00 0.00 19.19
2.2.3.
Monitoring/revision of IAP 7.38 7.38 7.38 7.38 7.38 36.90
2.2.4.
Monitoring/revision of HE 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.48 1.48 2.95
2.2.5.

Funding for TVET institutions to facilitate IAP 321.40 692.80 1,235.60 1,678.40 1,678.40 5,606.60

56
2.2.6.

Standard work readiness training module -

development and implementation 14.02 19.93 19.93 19.93 0.00 73.80
2.2.7.
Develop/provide certified training for company
supervisors 75.28 75.28 23.62 23.62 23.62 221.40
2.3.1.
Attachment/internship coordination task force 0.74 0.74 0.74 0.74 0.74 3.69

Sub-total 1,178.77 1,667.78 2,290.17 2,877.74 3,003.82 11,018.28

Summary Costing for Policy Area 3

No Policy Action Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total

3.1.1.
Legal framework / compulsory governing
boards in educational institutions 5.17 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 5.17
3.2.1.
Administrative/legal requirements for
Industrial Training Secretariat (ITS) 3.69 3.69 0.00 0.00 0.00 7.38
3.2.2.
Capacity Development of ITS 0.00 34.14 45.00 36.00 36.00 151.13
3.3.1.
Establish ITGC, facilitate meetings 1.11 1.48 1.48 1.48 1.48 7.01
3.3.2.
Evaluation/concept study for further
development of institutional set-up 0.00 0.00 0.00 42.07 42.07 84.13

Total 9.96 39.31 46.47 79.54 79.54 254.82

Summary Costings for Policy Area 4

No Policy Action Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total

4.1.1 Baseline research/consultation incentive
packages 0.00 23.62 23.62 1.48 0.00 48.71

57
4.1.2.
Implement incentives 0.00 0.00 0.00 22.14 22.14 44.28
4.2.1.
Feasibility for levy-grant system 0.00 62.73 62.73 0.00 0.00 125.46
4.2.2.
Design study for levy grant system 0.00 0.00 0.00 44.28 62.73 107.01
4.2.3.
Stakeholder Consultations 0.00 0.00 0.00 14.76 14.76 29.52

Sub-Total 0.00 86.35 86.35 82.66 99.63 354.98

Summary Costings for Policy Area 5

No Policy Action Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total

5.1.1.
Establish communications/research unit 0.00 2.50 7.43 5.93 5.93 21.78
5.1.2. Organizational and staff capacity development
communications research unit 0.00 14.76 14.76 0.00 0.00 29.52
5.2.1.
Data collection 0.00 3.00 5.00 7.00 7.00 22.00
5.2.2.
Research: cost benefits assessment and other research 0.00 0.00 47.23 47.23 47.23 141.70
5.3.1.
Develop communications strategy 0.00 23.62 23.62 0.00 0.00 47.23
5.3.2.
Awareness creation mass media and different events 0.00 5.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 50.00
5.3.3.
Webpage 0.00 2.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 4.00
5.3.4.
Public recognition schemes 0.00 0.00 11.07 11.07 11.07 33.21
Sub-total 0.00 51.38 124.61 86.73 86.73 349.44

58
Summary Cost of Workplace Learning Policy

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total

1 - Development of Modern Apprenticeship Training 399.22 1,540.37 1,738.15 2,010.21 2,251.83 7,939.79
2 - Improvement of Systems and Management of Internship and
Attachments 1,178.77 1,667.78 2,290.17 2,877.74 3,003.82 11,018.28
3 - Institutional Framework 9.96 39.31 46.47 79.54 79.54 254.82
4 - Sustainable Financing and Incentives 86.35 86.35 82.66 99.63 354.98
5 - Knowledge and Awareness Creation 51.38 124.61 86.73 86.73 349.44

Grand-Total (in US Dollars) 1,587.96 3,385.18 4,285.75 5,136.87 5,521.55 19,917.31

Grand total in (in “000” Rwandan Francs) US$ (1US$ = 738 RWF) 2,151,710 4,586,960 5,807,244 6,960,530 7,481,776 26,988,220

59
Annex 2: Monitoring and Evaluation plan
Indicator Target Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 MoV
over five
years
Policy Area 1: Development of Modern Apprenticeship Number of 10,000 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 WDA MIS
Training in the TVET Sector students (at least (at least (at least (at least (at least
graduated from 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
modern female) female) female) female) female)
apprenticeship
training
Sub-Policy Area A: Introduction of a cooperative No of 8 1 2 2 2 1 WDA
apprenticeship system in the formal sector apprenticeship M&E
pilots completed system
SO 1.1: Develop and implement a pilot cooperative apprenticeship
training program in selected sectors
 Appoint and facilitate the work of an Apprenticeship Training Task Task Force 12 per 12 12 12 12 12 Minutes
Force meetings annum
 Establish sector sub-groups of Apprenticeship Training Task Force in Meetings of sub- 3/annum/ 3 9 15 21 24 Minutes
line with selected sectors groups program
 Select occupations to be piloted for each of the trades selected under the Occupations 8 4 4 Minutes of
pilot program selected Task Force
 Develop pilot apprenticeship programs, which includes: Training 8 training 1 2 2 2 1 Training
o Development, if necessary, occupational standards packages packages packages
o Development of integrated cooperative curricula and company available documents
training plans, and TLM
o Agree on financial arrangements and contractual relationships
o Definition of roles and responsibilities of various
stakeholders;
o Develop quality assurance and assessment and certification
mechanisms
o Agreement on minimum eligibility criteria for participating
companies and TVET supply institutions
 Implement and supervise pilot implementation
SO 1.2: Build capacities for individuals and institutions involved in the
implementation of pilot cooperative apprenticeship
 Develop and implement standardized training packages for company No of company 120 10 30 30 30 20 WDA MIS
trainers and supervisors; trainers/superviso
rs trained
 Develop and implement training of participating trainers in TVET No of TVET 80 10 20 20 20 10 WDA MIS
institutions trainers trained

60
 Indicator Target Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 MoV
over five
years
 Conduct capacity building and awareness creation about apprenticeship No of experts and 65 20 15 15 15 NCBS
training for members of the Apprenticeship Training Task Force and stakeholders MIS
sub-sector groups, including study tours trained
SO1.3: Establish legal and regulatory framework for cooperative Legal Legal GoR
training program in Rwanda framework framework Gazette
adopted adopted
 Evaluate the pilot implementation of cooperative apprenticeship Evaluation Consultanc Final Report
programs to identify appropriate practice for Rwanda report y team report document
discussed appointed approved
 Develop legal and regulatory framework for cooperative apprenticeship Draft legal Draft law Legal
training program in Rwanda framework available documents
Sub-Policy Area B: Modernize traditional apprenticeship No of MSEs
training in the informal sector targeted through
modernized TA
SO 1.4: Pilot implementation of modernized traditional apprenticeship
training in Rwanda
 Appoint and facilitate work of Traditional Apprenticeship Task Force to Task Force 30 6 6 6 6 6 Minutes
oversee the pilot program design and implementation meetings
 Conduct research including study visits to inform pilot program design Study report Report Report
and implementation process, and design of pilot models available document
 Select trades and regions for pilot implementation based on evaluation No of identified 100 10 20 30 40 50 Task Force
of potential and considering gender equity different minutes
locations for pilot
implementation
 Develop curricula, training plans, TLM and assessment tools to No of training 10 2 2 2 2 2 Training
facilitate training and assessment of apprentices packages packages
 Develop and implement capacity building packages for participating No of master 2000 0 500 500 500 500 Contracts
master trainers trainers
capacitated
 Develop and implement supplementary training packages for Number of 10,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 WDA MIS
apprentices including basic skills training, work readiness training, apprentices (at least (at least (at least (at least (at least
training in basic entrepreneurship skills, financial management, human provided with 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
resources management, right market attitude, among others training female) female) female) female) female)
 Coordinate and supervise pilot improved traditional apprenticeship Supervision Annual
training programs reports supervisio
n report
 Conduct assessment in line with RTQF No of 12,000 0 1,500 2,500 3,500 4,500 WDA MIS
assessments (50% (50% (50% (50% (50%
female) female) female) female) female)

61
 Indicator Target Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 MoV
over five
years
SO 1.5: Mainstream modernized traditional apprenticeship training Mainstrea Mainstrea
approach ming Plan ming Plan
available available
 Conduct a comprehensive evaluation of results of the pilot Report Consultant Report Report
implementation to identify the best model for Rwanda s identified approved document
and
discussed
 Develop a legal and regulatory framework for a modernized Legal documents Legal Draft legal
apprenticeship training approach framework documents
prepared
 Roll-out improved traditional apprenticeship approach in the country

Policy area 2: Improvement of System and Management of

Attachments and Internships
SO 2.1: Provide workplace learning to an increasing number of students No of youth
in the TVET and higher education sectors and unemployed youth completed
workplace
learning
 Adjust curricula in TVET and higher education to ensure that Attachment plans New
attachments are implemented all year round attachment
plan
available
 Design and implement incentives packages for educational institutions No of institutions 250 50 50 50 50 50 Reports of
developing practical learning schemes in their respective production supported institutions
units and social and community projects
 Develop group insurance scheme for attachment students and interns All youth Group Police
in WPL insurance document
insured policy
signed
 Facilitate internship opportunities to unemployed TVET and higher No of NYIP 10,200 1,200 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 NCBS
education graduates under the NYIP beneficiaries (at least (at least (at least (at least (at least (at least MIS
50% fem.) 50% fem.) 50% fem.) 50% fem.) 50% fem.) 50% fem.)
 Monitoring and evaluation, and revision of NYIP No of evaluation Report
reports document
SO 2.2: Improve the quality and relevance of attachments and
internships
 Develop and adopt regulatory package for attachments in the higher Regulation Legal

62
 Indicator Target Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 MoV
over five
years
education sector detailing all the necessary quality assurance aspects s adopted documents

 Develop and introduce (including training of stakeholders) rules, QA Document

formats and procedures for quality assurance and supervision of package
attachments provided to higher education students prepared
 Monitoring of IAP and revisions as necessary Monitoring 2 1 1 Report
reports documents
 Monitoring of attachment programs in the higher education sector and Monitoring 4 1 1 1 1 Report
revisions as necessary reports documents
 Provide funding to public TVET institutions for supporting industrial No of institutions 350 100 250 350 350 350 Budget
liaison officers and meeting costs related to the facilitation of supported document
attachments
 Develop and implement a standard work readiness training module for No of 300 30 90 90 90 0 Training
attachment students and interns, including a package on training of trainers/teachers reports
trainers trained in
readiness
programs
 Develop and provide certified supervisory training packages for No of company 1,000 200 200 200 200 200 Training
company supervisors, in cooperation with company training activities in supervisors/traine reports
policy area 1 rs trained
SO 2.3: Ensure a coordinated approach for the development of
attachment and internship programs
 Establish attachment and internship coordination task force and Task Force 2 annually 2 2 2 2 2 Task Force
facilitate its operations meetings minutes
Policy area 3: Development of an Institutional Framework
for Workplace Learning with Strong Private Sector
Interest
SO 3.1: Strengthen the influence of employers in the operations of TVET % of education 100% 20% 40% 60% 100%
and higher education institutions institutions with
governing board
 Devise legal framework for the compulsory establishment of governing Legal documents Legal Legal
boards in TVET and higher education institutions framework framework
developed approved
SO 3.1: Capacity building of NCBS/CESB to implement the workplace
learning policy
 Prepare the administrative and legal requirements for the establishment of WPL unit WPL unit GoR
a dedicated organizational unit within NCBS/CESB for skills development functional functional establishm
and workplace learning ent

63
 Indicator Target Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 MoV
over five
years
 Recruitment and capacity building of staff for the implementation of the No of staff 4 0 3 4 4 4 Work
workplace learning policy working in unit contracts
SO 3.2: Ensure private sector influence in WPL through the Industry
Training Governance Board (ITGB)
 Establish ITGB: Board established Board Appointme
 Develop regulations and TOR for the ITGB established nt letters
 appoint chairperson and members
 Build capacities for board members
 Facilitate board meetings No of meetings 19 3 4 4 4 4 Minutes of
meetings
Policy area 4: Creation of Sustainable Financing and
Incentive Structures
SO 4.1 Develop incentives for companies to participate in WPL

 Undertake baseline research and agree on incentive packages after an Agreement Report Agreement Legal
extensive consultative process on discussed on document
incentives incentive
package
 Implement adopted incentive packages No of companies X number X X Approval
receiving of documents
incentives companies
SO 4.2: Assess the feasibility of levy-grant mechanisms for WPL in
Rwanda
 Conduct feasibility study for a levy-grant system/sector levy grant Study report Feasibility Report
mechanisms based on international experience study document
ready and
discussed
 Conduct design study for a levy-grant system Concept Levy-grant Report
document concept document
available
 Conduct comprehensive stakeholder consultations No of stakeholder 4 2 2 Workshop
consultation reports
events
Policy area 5: Knowledge and Awareness Creation
SO 5.1: Institutionalization of communication structures

 Establish a communications and research unit in NCBS/CESB Admin structure

64
 Indicator Target Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 MoV
over five
years
approved

 Build organizational and staff capacities in the communications and Staff recruited
research unit
SO 5.2: Improve the knowledge base about workplace learning in
Rwanda
 Conduct systematic collection, documentation and publication of No of X X X X X X
experience, good practices, role models and success stories publications
 Conduct assessments of costs and benefits of different workplace No of studies X X X X X X
learning schemes

SO 5.3: Awareness creation about WPL opportunities and benefits

 Develop communications strategy Strategy available Strategy

approved
 Awareness creation activities, including mass media presence, targeted No of events and X X X X X X
PR events, etc media
appearances
 Creation and population of webpage Clicks of X X X X X X Web report
webpage
 Public recognition schemes for employers with outstanding performance No of events One award 1 1 1 1 Media
event reports
annually

65