Rwanda National Police

In the just concluded Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) fourth annual exhibition, Gishari Integrated Polytechnic (GIP) emerged the second best exhibitor in the education cluster beating close to 200 competitors. 

The school that was established and managed by Rwanda National Police (RNP) in partnership with WorkForce Development Authority (WDA), showcased its best innovations that left fellow exhibitors, the public and government officials overwhelmed by the students’ skills.

Like any other participant, GIP brought out the best of their technology but judgement on who made the impression solely lied to the public.

According to GIP’s Vice Principle in charge of Academics and Training, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Nicholas Kalisa, what made the two-and-a half  years old school emerge the second best was due to their fire fighting technology and ultra modern technological irrigation mechanisms.

“We displayed our Automated Irrigation System Based on Electronic Circuit and the Fire Alarm Signal Transmission from Fire Outbreak Point that signals the RNP Fire and Rescue Brigade, and Property Owners’ Cell Phone. These two innovations show a direct application to their industry with clear impact on the public,” said SSP Kalisa.

The Automated Irrigation System Based on Electronic Circuit operates based on sensors that are buried underground; they are programmed in a way that they can detect the level of humidity or the soil moisture. When the moisture levels are down or up, the sensors send a signal to the sprinklers and automatically trigger the irrigation or stop it depending on the command from the sensors.

When HE Paul Kagame the president of the Republic of Rwanda visited GIP last year, one of his advices to the school was to ensure that they grow into becoming a pilot center in modern irrigation systems and agricultural mechanization. It’s on this note that the school started coming up with new and user friendly innovations.

“This is a concept we have tested and the results were very impressive. During the Expo, we received many requests from small to wide scale farmers who partners with us. Soon we will call them exchange views on how this project can me put in use in their farms,” said Kalisa.

With regards to the Fire Alarm Signal Transmission from Fire Outbreak Point to Rwanda National Police Fire and Rescue Unit and Property Owners’ Cell Phone, Kalisa described that the technology has two installments; one on the police side while the other on the beneficiaries’ side.

“We get the name of the beneficiary, their plot number, geographical coordinates and his or her cell phone. On the beneficiary property or home, we install a smoke detector in all points that could cause a fire outbreak,” he said.

“Any time there is an abnormal fume in the house, the detectors send a signal to the police control room. Immediately the fire and rescue unit gets a notification on their display board about a fire and where it is. The same message is sent to the beneficiary’s cell phone.”

The advantage in this technology, according to vice principle,  is quick intervention. 

“The fire brigade doesn’t have to spent time trying to identify the location of the house where there is a fire since the coordinates guide them directly while the beneficiary may as well call on the neighbor immediately and they help to put out the fire before it spreads to the entire facility or neighbourhood.”

The annual TVET expo organized by the Ministry of Education through WDA with the partnership of Private Sector Federation (PSF) focuses on exhibition of innovative products.

The fourth edition was organised under the slogan “TVET, my skills, my future” and drew close to 200 exhibitors, both local and international. It was part of the TVET week that started on October 2 to October 8.

Other activities that marked the TVET week included the ‘Africa ministerial conference on TVET’, that brought together Ministers in charge of Technical Vocational Education and Training.

The conference was organised under the theme “Partnership for Youth employment through market relevant Skills.”

Towards the end of the week, a two day symposium was held and brought together local and international experts to discuss and share best practices in TVET from their respective countries.

The symposium was held under the theme “From experience to best practices.”