{{Kigali, Rwanda……..Thursday 16th July 201 }} {A delegation of 16 students and two teachers from 2 schools in Sherborne in the United Kingdom, who are visiting Rwanda with the Amakuru Trust, a UK based NGO, met with the Minister of State in charge of primary and secondary education, Olivier Rwamukwaya. }
After an overview of education provision in Rwanda from the Advisor, Emmanuel Mucangando, the students asked some pertinent questions regarding the future of education in the country.
One question centred on the provision for all abilities (including disabilities). The Minister satisfied the audience by assuring them that policies were in place to ensure equality of provision and that the government was fully committed to this objective.
Another question asked about future policy and what it would seek to achieve in the next 5 years. This time, the Minister and Director General, Solange Mukayiranga both responded by focussing on reducing pupil teacher ratio and increasing completion rates at primary level as well as building more public schools. They also referred to the need for improving quality of teaching; in particular, ICT training.
When asked by the Minister what the students thought of their experiences in Rwanda, the students responded by saying that they loved the country, that “students here are more enthusiastic than the UK” and “they are studying at a high level even in primary school.” Maybe the UK has a lot to learn from Rwanda! Mike Hayes, the founder of the Amakuru Trust, promised to try to build partnerships between UK and Rwandan schools in response to a request from the Minister as he saw this as a way to improve educational experiences in the future.
The students will now go on to debate and discuss issues with Rwandan students before returning to the UK to lead presentations and facilitate workshops on behalf of the Amakuru Trust.
The Amakuru Trust was founded 3 years ago and is heavily involved in supporting educational, health and humanitarian projects in Rwanda; these include water collection facilities, programmes for students with special educational needs, electricity provision and house repair as well as the proposed provision of a new nursery and primary school in Rwamagana.
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