ICT EMPLOYMENT FUND COMMISSIONED

The Government of Rwanda has embarked on transforming its economy from agricultural-based to knowledge-based by the year 2020. This translates into an increase of income per capita from $200 to $900.

In order to make this objective a success, Rwanda needs to have a very competent, highly skilled workforce, including in ICT. While a number of Rwandan institutions train Rwandans in ICT, graduates typically lack the work experience required by employers.

Addressing this need, and enhancing young graduates’ employability and work skills, RITA and HIDA have collaborated to develop an ICT Employment Fund (ICTEF). The ICTEF is an innovative approach, creating a win-win situation for employers and young graduates alike: it provides organisations with ICT interns free of charge in return for on-the-job mentoring and helps young graduates acquire initial work experience and thus enhance their employability.

It is for this particular reason that RITA, the Government institution that is charged with the coordination and evaluation of the ICT initiatives, supported by HIDA and financed through the Public Sector Capacity Building Project (PSCPB), seeks to establish an ICTEF which will create, oversee, and pay for 10 entry-level jobs in ICT to provide recent graduates with valuable professional experience. These young ICT graduates would work for institutions such as HIDA, RITA, Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA), UN agencies, and NGOs.

The purpose of the program is to increase the supply of qualified ICT specialists with hands on work experience on the Rwandan labor market. To this end, the primary objective of the program is to provide young graduates with one year of initial work experience, supported by mentoring, to enhance their employability. The secondary objective is to provide qualified ICT interns to public and private sector organizations.

The ICTEF will be managed by RITA. A secretariat will be set up within RITA to coordinate this program under the guidance and supervision of the Deputy Executive Director of RITA (DED) in collaboration with the Director of Human and Institutional Capacity Building of RITA (DHICB) who will be acting as a program coordinator in charged of the following up on the trainees where they are placed with in different institutions country wide.

A Mentoring committee (MC) which will be mainly in charge of overseeing the selection and monitoring and evaluation process will be established and composed of: (i) DED of RITA (Chairman); (ii) DHICD of RITA (iii) ICT director of MININFRA; (iv) ICT Specialist at HIDA

The mandate of the MC is to review and approve the selection of young graduates, identify institutions which require an ICT personnel and place the selected candidate. The DHICB will get the monitoring report from the ICT professional (mentor) in charge of supervising the trainee and in turn report to the MC. The MC will review the monitoring report and evaluate the performance of the trainees in collaboration with the institution the trainee is assigned to. At the end of the year, The MC will to determine the level of professional gains for the first 10 ICT graduates once they leave the program and negotiate with the institution to retain them as full time employee.

Through an MOU between RITA and the organization employing the ICT graduate, an office and a computer will be provided by the organization employing the young graduate and a more skilled and experienced person will be identified. The identified person will be serving as a mentor, coaches and counsels the less experienced young graduate for the purpose of promoting his professional and personal development.

A group of 10 ICT graduates will be selected every end of academic year and placed in a suitable work environment. The young graduates will be supported by the employment fund for a period of one year only.

The selection process will be conducted in a manner where RITA will announce the program in the local media (newspaper and radio) and ask all interested and eligible individuals to apply. The selection criteria will include but be limited to: (i) to be Rwandan; (ii) to have a degree in ICT related field from a recognized institution of higher learning; (iii) to have finished within the last year (not more than 1 year after completion of the degree) currently not employed; (iv) to write an application letter indicating why the applicant want to join the program never been formerly employed in the area of ICT (short term ad hoc tasks excluded) and provide a recommendation letter from the institution the applicant graduated from.