Update on SACCA’s TVET training program
SACCA's Livelihood and Vocational Training Program is committed to ensuring the well-being and rights protection of vulnerable street children. The program focuses on the effective reintegration of children into various communities, supporting the most vulnerable families to meet their basic needs. Many of these reintegrated children have successfully joined short vocational training courses, enabling them to complete their studies quickly, access employment opportunities, and start independent lives. This positive experience has prompted SACCA to consider expanding support to more street youth and those who dropped out of school, aiming to prevent them from returning to the streets.
Currently, SACCA provides short-term vocational training in hospitality management (culinary arts), hairdressing, tailoring, and construction trades. These programs are designed for youth and teen mothers who have dropped out of school due to various circumstances affecting their lives. Under the Enable Project, known as "Back to Work," SACCA has obtained accreditation for a Technical and Vocational Training Centre (TVET) called SACCA COMPLEX TVET SCHOOL. Since 2018, from the first cohort to the current cohort 11, SACCA has graduated 1,241 students, with 92% of them gaining employment. To monitor and evaluate the program's impact, SACCA maintains records and updates a six-month employment data spreadsheet, developed by WJR. Each year, the program graduates between 450-600 youth.
Throughout the implementation of this program, SACCA has encountered and addressed several challenges. Notably, young mothers, often referred to as teen mothers, who dropped out of primary or secondary school due to pregnancy, faced difficulties enrolling in SACCA's vocational training as they had no one to care for their babies. To address this issue, SACCA established a baby care room, allowing teen mothers to bring their young children to the center. SACCA's staff takes care of the babies while the mothers attend their classes, ensuring that many teen mothers can complete their training successfully. The innovative "Baby Care Room" and its impact on supporting vulnerable youth in vocational training recently garnered recognition from the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), which invited 29 NGOs to SACCA for a two-day peer learning session. Additionally, SACCA offers extra soft skills training to program participants, covering entrepreneurship, life skills, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), gender awareness, and teen pregnancy prevention.
The boarding section of the program addresses the challenges faced by youth who come from faraway areas, often having to undertake a long journey to reach the SACCA center. Many students who commute as day scholars do not receive lunch at SACCA until 5 pm when classes conclude, resulting in irritable and low-energy trainees. This issue is particularly significant because most of these youth come from vulnerable families that often lack evening supper. To address this serious challenge, SACCA is exploring the possibility of implementing a school feeding program, with each trainee requiring 32,000 Rwandan Francs (approximately 32 pounds) per month for a four-month period.
In terms of facilities, workshops and classrooms are urgently needed to meet accreditation requirements. While SACCA has workshops for tailoring, hairdressing, and hospitality, there is a lack of workshop equipment, as recommended by the National Examination and School Inspection Authority (NESA), especially for tailoring and masonry trades.
SACCA plans to introduce three new cohorts (September 11, January 12, and May 13) and support the May 2023 cohort, with 148 current participants engaged in internships. This will bring the total to 437 new participants for this year.
This initiative has grown out of SACCA’s longstanding Enable Livelihoods project funded by World Jewish Relief and development funding from the Rwandan Governance Board and Rwandan Training Board. The TVET operation is supported by World Jewish Relief and Local Government funding.
