Newly recruited teachers to pass mandatory English, ICT tests

The Director General of Rwanda Education Board (REB), Dr Irenée Ndayambaje made the remarks on Friday after meeting with English and Mathematics teachers attending an orientation in Rubavu District to improve their teaching practice.

The exercise was organised by Building Learning Foundations (BLF).

The changes aim to ensure teachers have high standards of English and ICT skills and this will also boost the number of capable teachers entering the profession, according to a directive by The Ministry of Education (MINEDUC).

“In a bid to support learning and teaching of English and ICT in Rwandan schools, I would like to inform all district mayors that with effect from 1st June 2018, all aspiring teachers who are recruited by your relevant districts must have passed an English and ICT assessment test before teaching primary or secondary levels,’’ reads part of the directive signed by the State Minister in charge of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Isaac Munyakazi.

Dr Ndayambaje said, “Most teachers were trained in French language which makes it difficult for them to teach in English; this negatively affects the performance of learners. It is difficult to teach in a language you do not understand. Therefore, programmes like this BLF aims to support teachers to improve their teaching practice in English.’’

In Rubavu District, 75 state funded primary schools will benefit from the English and Mathematics training that will provide them with the skills to improve their teaching practice with support from printed and audio visual materials.

Agnes Mukeshimana, an English teacher in the district acknowledged the weakness of English teachers citing specific difficulties. ‘’We were trained in French and now we are expected to deliver lessons in English. At most times, we mix English and Kinyarwanda to make a student understand the lessons but it is not a good practice. Now that we have some tools that will help us coach ourselves, I am optimistic that we will improve our language skills,” she said.

Building Learning Foundations funded by DFID is a 25-million pound programme that will support 12,500 teachers of English and Mathematics to improve their teaching practice. The programme was launched a few days after the leaders in the education sector had come under pressure to improve English efficiency in Rwanda’s education system.