China-supported polytechnic contributes to technical training in Rwanda

IPRC Musanze has the second highest number of applicants for admission among eight IPRCs across the country, after IPRC Kigali in Rwanda's capital, which has established for 10 years, according to him.

The college offers five advanced diploma and diploma programs including Agriculture and Food Processing, Civil Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Hospitality Management as well as Irrigation and Water Engineering, and provides 10 short courses such as carpentry, culinary arts and electrical domestic installation.

The programs provided in IPRC Musanze fall into the country's priorities, said the principal, noting that the college is contributing to developing skilled people and bridging the gap of shortages of technical people in Rwanda as the central African country is investing in technical schools.

"The support from the Chinese government is very significant, not only because of the students we train, but also surrounding community who benefit from this school," Abayisenga told Xinhua.

Residents from surrounding community get jobs in the college that has more than 100 staff and receive training of different skills like agriculture from the college, he said. They also get shelters constructed by students who learn construction, and cows from the college which are also used to teach students agriculture, he added.

Level three student Marcel Nyirimihigo majoring in irrigation and water engineering has completed his final project of designing a concrete gravity dam in Rwanda's Eastern Province to deal with water shortage during the dry season.

"Agriculture in Rwanda is like a foundation in our daily life. I want to modernize Rwanda's agriculture through irrigation and that's why we conclude to design that dam," said Nyirimihigo, who was helping his schoolmates do a final project at a workshop within the college.

Agriculture accounts for 33 percent of Rwanda's gross domestic product and engages 70 percent of the population, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

"This institution funded by China is important for us students. China put infrastructure that has helped and will help our study," he said.