IGIHE

Category: Education

  • Ivory Coast’s ‘hero’ professor backs student mothers

    An Ivory Coast professor, who was photographed carrying a student’s baby in class in a widely shared image, has said being a mother should not stop women getting an education.

    Honore Kahi offered to take the baby as he was crying and preventing the mother from sitting in class.

    He said his students were surprised, began to laugh and then took pictures.
    He told the BBC that they then realised that “this is a good father, this is a real man… [and] a role model”.

    Some of those sharing the photograph on social media praised him as a hero.

    Mr Kahi, who teaches communications at Ivory Coast’s Bouake University, said that women should not be discouraged by people’s perceptions of what they should be able to do.

    Girls are less likely than boys to start primary education in sub-Saharan Africa and are under-represented at higher education, the UN says.

    “What prevails here is… male chauvinism,” he said and then quoted an ancient philosopher in his interview with BBC Afrique.

    “‘It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare. It is because we do not dare that they are difficult.’ In our environment we let ourselves be discouraged by others.”
    He said that when he took the baby and tied him on his back he stopped crying and fell asleep.

    He knew how to do it by observing how women carry their children.

    “In fact, men are able to do certain things, and usually it’s the way society sees men that prevents them from doing these things.

    Professor Honore Kahi put the baby on his back so that the mother could concentrate on the class

  • Tanzania:Presidential deadline on desks supply intact

    The government has reaffirmed on June deadline for school desk crisis as fixed, calling on all relevant authorities to industriously meet the target line.

    Minister in President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Governments), TAMISEMI, Mr George Simbachawene, reiterated that the directive issued by President John Magufuli and Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa was unchangeable.

    “All district and council executive directors who will by June still face shortage of desks in primary and secondary schools they should count themselves failures,” he said in Morogoro at the weekend.

    Official government figures shows primary and secondary schools in the country are facing a shortage of over 3,000,000 desks with primary schools having a shortage of 2,800,000 while 200,000 desks are needed in secondary schools.

    But speaking in Morogoro at a meeting with district commissioners, council directors and head of departments, the minister recalled the president’s order saying it seeks to unseat pupils from the floor.

    He said there is no debate on the presidential directives. All directors whose pupils and students still sit on the floor will be held responsible for failing to execute their duties.

    “One way to address the crisis is by approving the use of forest resources to address the problem,” he told Regional and District Commissioners who doubles as Chairpersons of decision making units at district and regional levels.

    The minister immediately cautioned the directors and commissioners to be vigilant of the forest resources permits for the undertakings.

    Morogoro is facing a shortage of 73,972 desks in primary schools and 11,038 desks in secondary schools. Similarly the region is in short of 4,508 classrooms in primary schools and 352 classrooms in secondary schools. “There is still a big challenge in Morogoro all alone.

    The region is reach in forest resources somewhat more than Coast Region,” he said. The minister warned over likely surge in debts owed by civil servants and bidders offering food service among public schools as a result of corrupt employment and finance officers.

    “No stone shall remain unturned,” the minister said calling the on Regional Commissioner Mr Kebwe Steven Kebwe to start screening deceitful servants before it’s too late. “Accountants are a mere problem in the region.

    You can be surprised a debt amounting to 25bn/- if audited it falls to 5bn/- we will wipe them out,” he said.”

  • Sub-standard international schools given two months to improve or be closed

    The Ministry of Education has said that International Schools operating in Rwanda without international competence will not be allowed to operate in Rwanda from the beginning of the next academic year in September, 2016.

    The state minister in charge of primary and secondary schools in the Ministry of Education, Olivier Rwamukwaya has said that the MINEDUC conducted an audit and was surprised to find some schools claiming to be international yet they lack standards.

    Rwamukwaya noted this yesterday as he officially opened the meeting on education in Kigali city yesterday.

    “We have carried an audit and realized that some schools don’t have standards allowing them to operate as international schools. At the time we gave them two months to uplift standards. Last month we conducted another audit and realized that many of such schools claiming to be international have no licenses from Rwanda Education Board (REB) or Workforce Development Authority (WDA) and are not even known by headquarters of main international schools to which they attribute their activities, “he said.

    Rwamukwaya said that subjects of international schools must be linked to programs of the mother school to offer the same education.

    “If you emulate an international program, you have to demonstrate the license from main school founders or tell Rwandans the truth .Don’t cheat them but follow the education system of the country which also requires licensing,” he said.

    Even though Rwamukwaya declined to point out such sub-standard schools, he said; ‘No school will operate again without complete required standards since they will not operate from September, 2016.’

    The deputy mayor of Kigali city in charge of social welfare, Kazayire Judith highlighted that such schools exist and jeopardize quality education as they hoodwink parents and fleece them of their hard earned money.

    The state minister in charge of primary and secondary schools in the Ministry of Education, Olivier Rwamukwaya

  • Carnegie Mellon boosts Kigali tech leaders

    Carnegie Mellon University’s commitment to educating Africa’s next generation of technology leaders and entrepreneurs received a boost yesterday with a $10.8 million commitment from The MasterCard Foundation.This new partnership, which will be established at Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering program in Kigali, Rwanda, will benefit 125 academically talented but economically disadvantaged students from Sub-Saharan Africa as part of The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program.

    Carnegie Mellon University will join a global network of 23 Scholars Program partners, comprising educational institutions that are committed to developing Africa’s young leaders. These Scholars will go on to use their knowledge and skills to lead change in their communities and contribute to meaningful transformation across the continent.
    Since 2011, Carnegie Mellon University in Rwanda has contributed to enhancing the quality of the engineering workforce in Africa. This effort has addressed the critical shortage of information and communication technology (ICT) skills required for Africa to compete in the Fourth Industrial Revolution where physical, cyber and biological systems converge through information, computing and communication technologies to transform the lives and livelihoods of citizens around the world in unprecedented ways.

    The talented graduates of Carnegie Mellon in Rwanda play a strategic role in Africa’s trajectory, leveraging ICT to digitally leapfrog socio-economic development across the continent. With transformative support from The MasterCard Foundation, Carnegie Mellon will be able to multiply its impact on higher education and the ICT sector in Africa, as part of the Rwandan government’s vision to create a Regional Center of Excellence in ICT and to serve as a technological hub for the region.

    “We are excited to partner with Carnegie Mellon University in Rwanda, an exceptional institution committed to training the next generation of African engineers, innovators and entrepreneurs to meet pressing global challenges,” said Reeta Roy, President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation. “Investment in STEM education is pivotal to Africa’s future and will ensure that African nations have the opportunity to identify, develop and deploy their wealth of talent.”

    From right:Dr Musafiri Malimba,the Minister of Education ,Subra Suresh, the president of Carnegie Mellon University in Rwanda and Kim Kerr, Deputy Director, Education and Learning at The MasterCard Foundation.

  • Mexico: Six killed in clashes during teachers’ protest

    Police and protesters clash as teachers rally against education reform and colleagues’ arrests.

    Violent clashes between police and members of a radical teachers’ union who had blockaded roads in southern Mexico have left at least six people dead and more than 100 injured, officials said.

    The teachers from the National Coordinator of Education Workers, or CNTE, are opposed to the mandatory testing of teachers as part of Mexico’s sweeping education reform and are also protesting against the arrest of union leaders on money laundering and other charges.

    In Sunday’s clashes in the southern state of Oaxaca, protesters threw stones and Molotov cocktails, and burned vehicles, while journalists saw riot police firing on demonstrators. Clashes took place in several municipalities in Oaxaca, but the most violent were in Nochixtlan, north of the state capital also called Oaxaca.

    Officials said six people were killed in Nochixtlan while 53 civilians, 41 federal police agents and 14 state police agents were injured.

    Oaxaca state Governor Gabino Cuesaid said all the dead were civilians, with two having ties to the CNTE union. A state official had previously said a state police officer was killed but it turned out the person was a civilian.

    ‘Gun attacks’

    Earlier on Sunday, Mexico’s federal government released a statement saying 21 federal police had been wounded, three of them by gunfire, and that its agents who participated in the operation were not carrying guns.

    “The attacks with guns came from people outside the blockades who fired on the population and federal police,” it said.

    But footage filmed by The Associated Press agency shows at least one police officer firing a gun several times, though it was unclear if he was a federal or state agent.

    Late on Sunday night, Federal Police chief Enrique Galindo acknowledged that he had sent in some officers with guns after agents came under fire.

    “The police obligation is to protect the population,” he said.

    Clashes were continuing on Sunday night outside of Oaxaca city and in the municipalities of San Pablo Huitzo and Santiaguito, where protesters had burned federal police installations.

    Over the past week, unionised teachers have blockaded streets, a shopping mall and even train tracks in the western state of Michoacan. They have also forced some bus lines to cancel trips to Oaxaca, which is a popular tourist destination, and blocked a highway. And in Oaxaca city, protesting teachers have set up an encampment in the city’s main square.

    Federal prosecutors accuse union leaders of setting up an illegal financial network to fund protests and line their own pockets. They allege the scheme operated in 2013-2015, when the union effectively controlled the payroll of Oaxaca’s teachers.

    Following the arrest of some if its top leaders, the union called for a revolt against Mexico’s government.

    Ten years ago, the teachers started a six-month takeover of Oaxaca that did not end until police stormed the barricades.

  • TVET teachers undergo capacity building

    WDA has embarked on a drive of addressing the matter of teachers with inadequate skills which would affect students graduating with limited knowledge in areas of their specialization.

    The government introduced TVET Qualification Framework aimed at helping students to get jobs or extend their studies to the university.

    The deputy director of WDA in charge of trainings,Irene Nsengiyumva said that teachers are undergoing trainings under the auspices of GIZ to equip teachers with better skills.

    “Such trainings are meant to increase the capacity of teachers since some we have in TVET schools studied in archaic education systems while others attended university but hadn’t upgraded to align with new technologies. We have realized the need to train them for effective teaching,” he said.

    GIZ has provided experts to train TVET teachers in masonry, domestic and industrial plumbing, electricity and carpentry.

    Beate Dippmar, Promotion of Economy and Employment Component Manager in Eco Emploi said that offering such trainings is the foundation of development.

    “Economic development must go with skilled employees. It becomes better if they are natives of the country satisfying local market and reserve for foreign countries other than spending money on foreign teachers,” she said.

    She said that Training of Trainers will continue till 2019.

    Ezekiel Ngoboka, Promotion of Economy and Employment Expert for Private Sector Skills Development in EcoEmploi said that strengthening such trainings will increase the value of Made in Rwanda and enable international competence since Rwanda will have school leavers producing items of high quality attracting Rwandans who would place orders of equipments abroad.

    A total of 90 teachers and employees from industries have completed capacity building trainings under this program which started from September 2015.

    The ceremony of handing certificates to trainees will be held on June 21st 2016.

    GIZ has provided experts to train TVET teachers

  • Uganda:Lango College closed, 60 students arrested

    The district security committee has temporarily closed Lango College following Wednesday afternoon violent strike which resulted into a massive destruction of school property.

    “I have closed the college,” the head of the district security committee, Mr Emmanuel Mwaka Lutukumoi, also the Resident District Commissioner, said on Wednesday.

    “We closed Lango College after violent strike. Several students arrested and some teachers called to police.”

    The students reportedly vandalised teachers’ vehicles, including the school bus, and destroyed the head teacher’s apartment. The students claimed the protest sought to gain reliable food schemes, and adequate schooling infrastructure.

    A total of 62 students were arrested in the aftermath and two teachers summoned to record statements at Lira Central Police Station.

    It all started on Tuesday night when students reportedly rioted, burnt a pick-up truck belonging to the school and destroyed the school bus.
    It is also alleged that they broke the kitchen window panes and attacked the home of the head teacher, Mr Fred Okello, who is currently out of the country.

    They were protesting what they say is ‘bad’ food. On Wednesday morning, Mr Lutukumoi led police in an operation at the school to arrest the ringleaders.

    Wrong action

    “If the students were dissatisfied with the quality of food they are being fed, it was not proper to turn their anger to the school property since these belong to government,” he said.

    The RDC blamed the high level of indiscipline among students on the district education department, which he said is incompetent.

    By press time, Lango College administrators were holding a meeting to assess the damage. However, the deputy head teacher, Ms Florence Adupa, was uncertain when the school would be reopen.

    Students stand outside the fence after being sent home following a strike at Lango College, Lira Town, on Wednesday.

  • Students,teachers worried of inadequate literature

    Students at Mururu Teachers Training Center (TTC) of Mururu in Rusizi district have expressed worries for having taken four years without receiving new text books since they were relocated to the branch of University of Rwanda in Rusizi district.

    Students of the college which would receive books from Rwanda Education Board (REB) before getting transferred to the management of University of Rwanda, College of Education, told IGIHE that getting well updated information has become a challenge since the library is stocked with old literature.

    “We have inadequate old books at the college that have been used for many years. We want new books with updated information,” said Valentine Uwizeyimana, one of the Mururu TTC students.

    “I can’t see any dictionary at our school; indeed other books to read are not available,” said another student Tuyizere Siméon.

    The Mururu TTC director, brother Rusanganwa Protais said lack of adequate literature has existed for four years since the school was handed to the management of University of Rwanda, College of Education.

    “The matter started when TTCs were handed to the management of University of Rwanda, College of Education. Since then it has been four years without receiving any book yet there was a budget of availing books to all schools in Rwanda. It means all schools in Rwanda receive books except TTC’s while they should be supported with much emphasis as TTC’s are foundations of education for training teachers,” he said.

    The Mururu TTC director, brother Rusanganwa Protais in the middle

  • English language teachers’ skills polished, urged on professionalism

    A total of 150 English Language teachers in primary, secondary of university from various parts of the country met in Kigali yesterday to attend a two-day training on polishing their professional skills in the delivery of their services.

    The annual meeting which was held for the 3rd time was organized by Association of Teachers of English in Rwanda (ATER) under the auspices of the British Council and IPRC-Kigali.

    Stakeholders told IGIHE that they gained knowledge to improve teaching skills in teaching the English language.

    “We hope everyone that attended the training shall improve in service delivery,” said Niyibizi Richard, the Chairman of ATER.

    The Principal of IPRC Kigali, Eng. Diogene Mulindahabi requested all teachers to maximize opportunities of trainings, share knowledge and professionally transfer acquired knowledge. The trainers, 50, were drawn from Uganda, Sudan, Cameroon, Namibia, and Senegal.

    The trainings were funded by British council and IPRC Kigali among others.

    Teachers had the opportunity to share knowledge

  • Seventeen Kageyo teachers resign

    A total of 17 teachers transferred to Groupe Kageyo in Gicumbi district from schools in Gihembe refugee camp have left the school citing failure of concerned parties to pay their salaries.

    The teachers of senior one and two had been transferred to Groupe Scolaire Kageyo with 552 student refugees in March 2016, promised a pay-rise which has not been forthcoming.

    “They promised us to receive same payments as teachers we met at Groupe Scolaire Kageyo but the promise was never honored. We claimed and were told that the matter is in process of being solved. We decided to leave since there were no changes occurred,” said Roger Kaberuka one of teachers who left the school.

    Kaberuka says that after getting informed that there is no enough budget to fill the gap, they sent a resignation letter to Gicumbi district officials.

    The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) which is in charge of paying salaries of these teachers say they know the salaries are meager but had agreed with them to first conduct advocacy and increase the salary when support is found.

    “Before teachers were transferred we agreed that we were going to conduct advocacy .We asked them to be patient with their meager salary till we get enough funding,” said Betty Batamuriza, the representative of ADRA in Gihembe refugee camp.

    Batamuriza says that they have received on June 1st a claim letter signed by the 17 teachers that they will not return to the job in case their salary is not increased.

    The executive secretary of Kageyo sector in Gicumbi district, Irankijije Nduwayo says that they received the first letter from the 17 teachers on May 19th, 2016 saying they would stop teaching the next day which prompted Gicumbi district to call a meeting with all stakeholders on May 25th, 2016 where teachers consented to wait the outcomes of the advocacy promised at the time.

    Irankikije says that it is sad to see teachers leaving 700 students at school which he considers as lacking parental spirit.

    “We were surprised to receive on June 1st, 2016 a resignation letter from 17 teachers brought by one of students at Groupe Scolaire Kageyo. We have a serious matter of 700 children lacking education after these teachers left,” he said.

    Some classrooms of Groupe Kageyo in Gicumbi district