The Rwanda Education Board (REB) has
come up with a programme aimed at helping innovative ICT students create jobs.
It will equip them with skills to
enable them access funding for their projects. The lack of start-up capital is
one of the major factors hindering graduates from starting income-generating
projects.
Currently, there are two projects
targeting innovative ICT students. They include Rwanda Innovative Endowment
Fund (RIEF), which has received a Rwf375 million government, and the Innovation
for Education Support Fund (IESF), which is funded by the United Kingdom to the
tune of 10 million pounds.
Dr. Evode Mukama, the head of ICT at
the Education Department at REB, told The Sunday Times that according to their
findings, people fail to access the funds due to poor project proposals. He
said that the programme is designed to also cover the challenges met in
applying for funds.
"The programme will also enable
students in rural areas to easily access and get used to ICT," he said,
one of the strategies REB is coming up with to implement resolutions of the
International Conference on Technology in Education that took place in Kigali
last month.
The conference, which attracted
representatives from over twelve countries, aimed at sharing experiences and
promoting ICT in education. The Director of Content Development
and Open Distance e-learning at REB, Alex Nkurunziza, who is overseeing the
programme, said that as part of the mechanisms to achieve the objectives, about
60 representatives of young innovators in ICT sit together next month to share
experiences.
The New Times of Rwanda