Universal primary education has achieved impressive results
Rwanda is on the right track of achieving the third millennium development goal of ensuring that every child gets free education. This is evidenced by the fact that the universal primary education in the country has achieved tremendous success.
Rwanda is on the right track of achieving the third millennium development goal of ensuring that every child gets free education. This is evidenced by the fact that the universal primary education in the country has achieved tremendous success.
According to the 2009 statistics of the ministry of education, more than 2 million children have enrolled in primary school compared to 1.4 million pupils registered during 1998-99 academic year.
The increase in enrollment, according to Ernest Rutungisha, the education management systems expert at the ministry, is due to the fact that the universal primary education policy was well conceived and well promoted among Rwandans.
“The program has had a positive impact on the enrollment in primary schools,” Rutungisha says.
To stress his point, Rutungisha indicates that currently only 7.1% of the net enrollment does not go to school and mostly these are children with disabilities.
So far the government has achieved its target of ensuring that universal primary education is a success. The program however does not stop at the primary level.
Unlike in other countries where free schooling is restricted to primary level, Rwanda now provides six years of primary education and three years of post-primary education, where students undertake a common core syllabus equivalent to junior secondary. Now the entire nine year basic education is free and the Rwanda seems to be on course to achieve the education for all targets in 2015 as stipulated in the MDG’s.
While the enrollment rate is encouraging, the number of classrooms has yet to increase to reduce congestion and create a proper learning environment for the pupils. This is evident in the six year primary education where there is an average of 50 pupils per class compared to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Culture Organization (UNESCO) recommended 35. The ministry however has pledged to assist reduce the number.
And although the education is free, there have been cases where poor parents are unable to send their children to school due to lack of basic material that parents have to provide. For instance, while there is no tuition fee charged, parents are required to provide uniform and exercise books, which are still too expensive for destitute parents.
“We have experienced such cases where the parents cannot afford to provide basic equipment for the children, yet we cannot deny such children a chance to study,” says Juvenal Muhire, the dean of studies at Groupe Scolaire Protestant Remera.
Muhire further points out that through the parents committee, which is represented on the school board, parents are required to pay teachers’ bonuses. He insists however that pupils who come from families that are unable to contribute, are always allowed to continue to study.
“We cannot chase a pupil away on the grounds that they cannot afford to pay teachers’ bonuses since it’s their right to attend school given the government’s effort to ensure they access free education,” Muhire adds.
The school instead offers a helping hand through the agaseke k’urukundo (love basket) fund where both parents and pupils contribute to assist the less privileged get school uniforms as well as other basic need that they cannot afford.
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Posted by The Rwanda Focus
on Jun 23 2010. Filed under National.
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