In the aftermath of 1994 against the Tutsi, over 50% of the teachers were non-professional as many had been killed; others had fled into exile while many were being held for participating in the genocide.
The government, however, has retooled teachers the Government entities rebuilt themselves, the education sector also rebuilt itself that today 98% of the 63,000 teaching practitioners in primary and secondary studies have teaching certificates.
Most of them have got the teaching certificates from the Government’s programme known as ‘Iyakure’ which was initiated in 1998 while others acquired government sponsored scholarships to pursue bachelor degrees in education.
Speaking exclusively to IGIHE, Ndayambaje said that plans are underway to have 100%of primary and secondary teachers equipped with pedagogical skills.
“When assessing the quality of education, you first assess those who provide it, the teachers. REB will therefore expend immense efforts and resources to improve the professionalism of teachers,” Dr. Ndayambaje said.
In a bid to give more value to the teaching profession in Rwanda so as to adhere to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) standards and the special statutes governing teachers in Rwanda, Dr. Ndayambaje said that improving teachers’ skills will be given more emphasis.
“Whatever intelligence he or she may have, if someone is teaching while he never studied education, he has to sit for a pegodagical programme that enables him get a teaching certificate. Our government put in place a pedagogical programmed that was pursued by teaching practitioners and they now have got a post graduate certificate in education. Others got bachelor degrees in education from the former Kigali Institute of Education (KIE), now College of Education,” Ndayambaje added.
“There are others who got their bachelor degrees in education from the private universities,” Dr. Ndayambaje noted.
According to REB Director General, Rwandan rural areas have the largest number of the non professional teachers in primary and secondary education. This is due to the fact professional teachers apply for the teaching jobs mostly in urban areas.
Dr Ndayambaje said, “When there is a vacant teaching job in the urban area, about 500 to 1000 people will apply for only 10 positions, for example, meaning that there are professional teachers in urban areas.”
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