Govt wants 1000 English teachers from neighbours

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News and Events > Govt wants 1000 English teachers from neighbours Rwanda has asked its English speaking neighours to avail some 1000 teachers following the country’s switch from French to English as the language of instruction in schools.  Rwanda wants teachers from Uganda and other neighbouring countries to support its switch to English. The teachers will be posted to various primary and junior secondary schools. Others are slated to get jobs at the government’s International Languages and Management Institute (ILMI), which was commissioned early this year to teach English to local citizens, business executives, and public officials English. Aggrey Kibenge, Uganda’s education ministry’s spokesperson, in a press statement, said Rwanda communicated about the vacancies on September 27, 2010. “The Education Service Commission in collaboration with the ministry of education of Rwanda announced that the government of Rwanda has embarked on a massive recruitment of teachers of English,” he wrote. “Teachers (will be sourced) from within and outside Rwanda; including the East African Community region.” Rwandan officials said the same message has been sent to Kenya and Tanzania. In 2008, the government of Rwanda decided to switch from French to English as one of the languages of instruction. As a result, a number of Ugandan teachers have been getting jobs there to train Rwandan teachers to speak and write English. However, Rwanda’s remuneration of teachers is not far better than Uganda’s. According to an article published in the New Times, Rwanda’s daily newspaper, last year, primary teachers in public institutions earn between Frw20,000 (about sh73,666) to Frw62,000 (about sh228,365) per month depending on their experience. On the other hand, drivers in many government institutions, the paper said, earn between Frw100,000 (about sh368, 330) to Frw150,000 (about sh552, 495). It is not clear if the Ugandan teachers would be paid as expatriates. Celebrating the world teachers’ day last week, Rwandan teachers demanded for a pay rise, saying what they earn does not match with the market prices. In Uganda, a primary teacher earns between sh240,000 and sh260,000 monthly depending on experience. Additional reporting from New Vision Updated on Mar 1, 2011 by Salvatore Desiano (Version 2) Attachments (1) Rwandan Teacher.jpg - on Mar 1, 2011 by Salvatore Desiano (Version 1)