Lack of furniture hinders Gasabo elders’ literacy program

{Men, women, young boys and young ladies in Ndera sector say that attending literacy programmes without any furniture but learn while sitting on mats, affects the way the concentrate and grasp what they are taught. }

Mukandayisenga Jacqueline, the volunteer who offers literacy courses to elders in Gitaraga village of Kibenga cell said that learners sit on mats in the building of the office of the village since they have no desks. The same building is used by kindergarten learners.

“There are very small desks used by nursery children. They can be broken if elders try to sit on them as they are reserved for children. This is a serious challenge for participants in the illiteracy program provided that they don’t have where to place their tools in case they need to write,“ says Mukandayisenga Jacqueline who doesn’t receive any help from government.

“Learners hardly find basic materials. Some of them come without notebooks and I am obliged to unfasten a paper in my notebook for them to write. I am the one supposed to lend those who have no pen and I buy chalk using my cash,” she said.
Mukandayisenga Jacqueline said that she started volunteering to teach in 2012 receiving chalk from cell administration.

She has equipped 80 elders with literacy skills despite the challenges she faced.
Ntaganzwa Jean Marie Vianney, the officer in charge of employees and admistration in Gasabo district said that donating materials helping the education of elders is an obligation of leadership.

“It is the responsibility of the sector’s administration to provide chalk used to teach elders. At district level, we provide cash to buy chalk and motivation. We are going to follow up the case to make it clear,” he said.

The census of 2012 indicated that 31.7% of Rwandans aged from 15 years and above (1,807,533 people) were illiterate. Since then, about 319,046 Rwandans have benefited from literacy programs.