Kigali, on October 7, 2021: This Thursday, Esther Ishimwe and Denyse Igiraneza who represented IPRC Karongi won Bronze Medals and cash prizes worth 200,000 FRW each in the National Skills Competition 2021 which took place at IPRC Kigali from 5-7^th October, 2021.

They competed in Electrical Installation and Welding trades respectively. Esther Ishimwe studies in Electrical Technology Program/Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department whereas Denyse Igiraneza is in Production and Manufacturing Technology (PMT) program/Mechanical Engineering Department.

Denyse Igiraneza who contested in Welding said that though she did not achieve her aim to be among the first winners, the competition brought her experience, much more inspiration to work hard and strive for the overall winner awards in next competitions.

"Engaging in this competition, my objective was to be the overall winner, but finally it was not the case. In the beginning, I was so scared to the extent everything I touched I trembled. Consequently this was a challenge for me and even for other contestants," said Denyse.

She added, "The National Skills Competition was very advantageous for me, I got more experience because we had chance to exploit various equipments and tools with which we are not familiar, many were new for us. It inspired me to aim high in order to continuously evolve my career level."

Denyse encouraged her fellow students especially girls to join TVET and work vigorously, because apart from such competitions, none who attended TVET by passion lose a job to live on decently as for example she earns money during holidays while she is not graduated yet.

She recommended her College's Management and trainers to efficiently prepare students early when they have competitions. "I entreat the management and trainers to provide selected students with sufficient coaching/trainings before the competition, because even though we contested, we were not prepared the same," said Denyse.

The National Skills Competition was preceded by the competition for Provincial Selection, from which were obtained competitors at the National level, which took place at IPRC Huye, IPRC Karongi, IPRC Kigali, IPRC Musanze and IPRC Ngoma from 26-27^th August, 2021.

It focused on four trades namely Bricklaying, Electrical Installation, Plumbing & Heating and Welding. Four winners, each per trade, from the National Skills Competition will represent Rwanda in the World Skills Africa 2020 that will take place in Namibia from 28^th March to 2^nd April, 2022.

Four overall winners are from IPRC Kigali (3) and IPRC Gishari (1). Each was awarded a Gold medal, cash prize worth five hundred Rwandan Francs (500,000 FRW) and certificate of participation.