Rwanda: Vocational Schools Make Good Investment, Strategic Sense

Posted to the web 9 October 2008 Kigali The Nelson Mandela Education Centre in Bugesera that President Paul Kagame opened on Tuesday, could be taken as a demonstration vocational institution. The school, funded by Germans through a non-government organisation known as the Green Helmets, teaches such practical subjects as electrical engineering, making solar equipment, carpentry and joinery, to mention only these few. These are skills that every Rwandan would aspire to acquire; in local lingua the people who have such technical knowledge are said to hold "jobs of the head" - a literal translation that means acquiring a practical skill only grasped by an apt brain that not only never fails to put food on the table, but also serves to create employment for others. There are many other skills that fall into this category, like... [read full story]