In a bid to improve the quality of education in the country, the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) has launched an initiative that will see society and the private sector supported to pilot innovative projects with the potential to be adopted by the government and implemented on a nationwide scale.
The initiative, called ‘Innovation for Education’ is a result of a partnership between the MINEDUC and UK Government through DFID (UK Government Department responsible for promoting development and poverty reduction).
Speaking during the launch in Kigali on Tuesday, the line minister, Dr Vincent Biruta, said stimulating innovative thinking and practices will steer MINEDUC towards becoming a hub for innovation.
“We welcome this initiative as one route to achieving a step-change in education,” Dr Biruta said, adding that innovation for education is an opportunity to test new ideas to improve the quality of education.
“I firmly believe that innovation can play a critical role to help Rwanda reach the vision 2020. This is an opportunity for us to stimulate new ideas that have the potential to create real impact in the education sector. It’s not only about the fact that these ideas are new, it’s also about generating evidence and testing new ideas to see if they really work in practice. This initiative will help us to assess what new interventions work so as to be adopted in the education sector.”
According to information from MINEDUC, applicants are invited to address one or more of the six themes within their projects. These themes include, accountability and empowerment, inclusive education, climate change and environment, effective teaching and learning, skills development, and use of appropriate technologies in education.
Funding of between 50,000 GBP (Rwf 49M) and 800,000 GBP (Rwf 784M) will be awarded to applicants for projects lasting approximately two years and expected to commence in December 2012.
DFID Rwanda head, Mr Mike Hammond said through the initiative, good education practices will be shared, not just within the country, but across the continent and the world. He also stressed that doing things the same won’t help Rwanda achieve its vision.
“We have to do things differently,” he said.
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