One of the key goals for the Government is to turn the country into a
knowledge-based economy, and there is no better way to do it than equitably
expand on the educational opportunities and improve on the quality of education
imparted.
During the year that just ended, the country’s education sector registered
remarkable success in achieving its goals. As we usher into the New year, it is
important to analyze the successes of 2010, as a foundation for continued
progress.
The Nine-Year Basic Education
The nine year basic education programme was introduced to reduce the school
dropout rates. The programme, however, had to deal with the shortage of the
infrastructure, mainly classrooms, to accommodate the increased numbers of
students.
To deal with the challenge, the public was urged to join in the efforts to
build the classrooms, the Government provided building material and the people
provided the labour.
In a space of only three months, a total of 3, 171 classrooms and over 10,
000 restrooms were completed before the beginning of the 2010 academic year. The
classrooms accommodated the over 170,000 students who joined the lower level of
secondary in 2010.
Teachers train in English
Over 50,000 teachers from Primary and Secondary schools around the country
were trained on how to use English as a language of instruction in schools. The
move, aimed at facilitating the promotion of English as a language of
instruction in the country’s education sector.
Performance of rural schools was incredible
Again in the just-concluded year, rural schools showed an intensity of
excellence during the 2009 A-level exams, beating city schools that had
previously been the best performers.
Groupe Scolaire de Janja in Gakenke District came first in secondary
education with average weighted aggregated points of 51.3 percent.
Rural schools also excelled in science with most students who excelled in
science subjects coming from rural schools.
In explaining the shift in
performance, the State Minister of primary and secondary education said that the
excellent performance of rural schools was a result of government’s efforts to
equip the public schools with equipment that foster a conducive environment to
study..
Higher education budget slashed
This year also saw the reduction by government spending on Higher Education.
In the 2010/11 budget that was read in June, the Minister of Finance
announced that the funds allocated to Public Institutions of Higher Learning
would be reduced by 25 percent, in favour of lower education.
The decision had an immediate effect on the benefiting institutions as many
were reported in massive cost cutting activities like reducing their staff while
others resorting to setting up income generating activities to bridge the
gap.
With the reduced budget, the Ministry of Education announced the
scrapping of the monthly stipend that was being given to university students on
government sponsorship.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Charles Murigande, said that the scrapping of
the Rwf25, 000 allowance was to save more funds which will be injected in the
9-Year Basic Education (9YBE) programme and the Technical and Vocational
Education and Training (TVET).
He, however, assured them that the government will continue to pay for
tuition. Those at risk of dropping out because of the cuts would get special
consideration.
High school graduates in Adult literacy drive
Having a population that is able to read, count and write is one way of
ensuring development. The Education Ministry, within the EDPRS framework, set a
target of having 85 percent of men and 80 percent of women literate by 2011.
It is against this background that students who are in their senior six
vacations were recruited to teach their adult illiterate neighbours how to read
and write.
The campaign involved 8,600 students on voluntary basis.
An estimated
162, 000 adults were part of the programme by the end of 2010.
The milk feeding programme
After realizing that there were high numbers of malnutrition in some parts of
the country, the Ministry of Health, Agriculture and Education decided to carry
out a pilot programme of feeding school children in lower primary.
The ‘One
pint of Milk per child programme’ kicked off in May and by the end of the year,
close to 20,000 pupils in 30 primary schools in six districts of the country
were beneficiaries.
The districts selected were Bugesera, Kamonyi, Nyanza, Ngororero, Gakenke and
Karongi, based on the malnutrition index.
The plan is to roll out the programme country wide.
In conclusion, the
above mentioned projects were not only a success, but a strong foundation for
the education sector to build on this year and the future beyond.
By Charles Kwizera
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