{{The Rwanda Education Board (REB) is holding a series of eight town hall meetings, due to end in November. }}
The meetings are to reinforce synergy among REB, vice mayors of social affairs, district and sector education officers, and head teachers as well as to reinvigorate efforts to implement policies and programs.
This Friday, 500 education officials are expected in Huye. Last week, approximately 185 from Gatsibo, Kayonza and Nyagatare districts attended the meeting held in Nyagatare town.
On the agenda was REB’s School-based Mentoring Program, the upcoming national examinations, curriculum reform, and ICT in education, particularly One Laptop per Child.
As part of the mentoring program, 60 senior mentors provide support at the district level, and upwards of 900 school-based mentors are deployed at schools.
The program, supported by partners including the USAID-funded Literacy, Language, and Learning (L3) Initiative, aims to provide primary one to senior three teachers with continuous professional development in English language and teaching practice.
According to REB Director General Dr. John Rutayisire, English language should be seen as a tool for development, business, and trade.
“We are talking about how to utilize language to achieve stated objectives,” Dr. Rutayisire said at last week’s meeting in Nyagatare.
During discussion, Twesigye Francis, a head teacher from Kayonza district, proposed several suggestions on how English can be promoted at the school level. “We should teach this language by motivating students,” he said.
Dr. Joyce Musabe, head of REB’s curriculum department, explained the ongoing, intensive process of primary and secondary curriculum reform, supported by UNICEF and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).
The reform will result in a skills- and competency-based curriculum designed to equip children with the in-demand skills needed for Rwanda’s development.
Curricula will integrate the use of ICTs as pedagogical tools and will be closely linked with examinations.
The success of these projects, Dr. Rutayisire stated, depends on actors at every level. “The transformation that has happened in this country is because of leadership,” he said. “You are the most important person in the lives of the children of Rwanda.”
Muganwa Stanley, the Vice Mayor of Economic Affairs in Nyagatare district, representing the Mayor, delivered closing remarks. “This policy, we are going to implement it,” he said, to rounds of applause.
In September and earlier in October, meetings were held in Rubavu, Musanze, and Karongi districts. Additional meetings are scheduled in Huye, Nyanza, Rwamagana, and Nyarugenge, ending on November 19.
Leave a Reply