Working Toward Success
In Rwanda, a work readiness program is changing the way youth prepare for the future
When he was young, Shema Claude dreamed of becoming a lawyer. But growing up in Kigali, Rwanda, Claude saw many people just like him locked in a cycle of unemployment and poverty. It left a lasting — and discouraging — impression.
“I thought that only those people that came from rich families could find jobs,” he says.
Claude attended school, but says he lacked motivation, convinced he would never find any job, much less pursue his real dream of becoming an attorney.
That outlook changed when he took an entrepreneurship course at school that used “Work Ready Now!,” a curriculum developed by Education Development Center (EDC). Claude learned basic job-seeking skills, such as how to complete a job application and write a resume. He also learned how to communicate with peers, resolve interpersonal conflicts and manage finances — soft skills needed for workplace success.
The course challenged his preconceptions about what was possible.
“I remember learning that there is no such thing as bad work,” he recalls. “Having some work, no matter what it was, would give you the opportunity to improve your life. So I developed a new plan for my life. I would study as hard as I could and graduate with good grades and a secondary diploma, and then I would find work.”
Skills for a changing economy
Rwanda is a country with an eye toward the future. It has made significant investments in infrastructure to support its economic growth and aims to become a middle-income country by 2020. Nowhere is this goal more evident than in Kigali, home to many technology startups and innovation labs powering Rwanda’s transition to a knowledge-based economy.
But it’s also a young country — 40 percent of Rwandans are between the ages of 14 and 35 — and many need to find meaningful, productive work until the technology jobs of the future come online.
For nearly a decade, USAID’s EDC-implemented Akazi Kanoze project has been helping the Rwandan government improve opportunities for hundreds of thousands of young people who are coming of age during the country’s economic transition. This project created the foundation for additional funding and scale-up expansion by the Mastercard Foundation, known as Akazi Kanoze 2.
Akazi Kanoze originally delivered livelihood and work-readiness training for out-of-school youth, but it was so successful that the program’s core approach — which developed the Work Readiness Curriculum (”Work Ready Now!”) partnerships with local employers — has been scaled up nationally, reaching over 92,000 high school and vocational students each year.
The goal is simple — facilitate a smooth school-to-work transition by teaching students entrepreneurship and workplace skills and giving them opportunities for work-based learning.
“We encourage youth to set realistic goals and build on the strengths they have,” says EDC’s Tim Haskell, who has directed both projects. “Akazi Kanoze doesn’t just place youth into one opportunity — it gives them the skills they need to get the second, third and fourth opportunities.”
Because of the success of the original USAID-funded Akazi Kanoze project, Akazi Kanoze 2 was able to continue the focus on building on a sustainable youth workforce development system. A recent evaluation found that seventy-eight percent of students reported being comfortable developing a business plan, versus just over half of those students who did not take the program. Akazi Kanoze 2 participants were also more likely to set personal goals, communicate effectively and exhibit higher levels of confidence than students who did not participate.
According to Haskell, support from the country’s Ministry of Education and Workforce Development Authority has been critical and the program came to Rwanda at just the right time.
“Rwanda is a case where it has all come together,” he says. “It has the political will to advance education, and it has enough businesses that can provide real employment and real work experiences for youth. The country is ripe for empowering and transferring work skills to young people.”
Planning for the future
After graduating, Shema Claude eventually landed work as a custodian at a local pharmacy. It was not his ideal job, but it was work, and he dove into it.
“I was able to finish my work quickly each day — much faster than the others who didn’t know the benefit of working quickly,” he says. “In Akazi Kanoze 2, we had learned that if we did our work efficiently, that would please our bosses and open up the opportunity for them to give us other kinds of work.”
Impressed with his performance, Claude’s boss expanded his role, asking him to keep the shelves stocked with medicine, too. Over time, he became the pharmacy’s night security guard, then its courier, and eventually its accountant. Each time his role increased, his paycheck expanded.
Now, Claude earns more than four times what he did when he started as a custodian, and he’s able to save enough to revisit a long-held plan for his life.
Says Claude, “In January, I’ll start studying law at university, just like I’ve always dreamed of doing.”
About the Author
Burt Granofsky is a Senior Writer with Education Development Center (EDC). This article originally appeared on EDC’s website.
