The History Of Rwanda Education System

By Jennifer Butler


A total of 52 countries makes up a continent known as Africa. Most of these countries are struggling to liberate themselves from chains of postcolonialism by embracing change. Adopting culture from western countries has proven to be inevitable simply because modern standards keep popping up. To improve their statuses and remain relevant in the corporate arena, they have always emphasized on embracing technological advancement. It is clearly evident that Rwanda education system has continued to grow.

In the early 1900s, education sector in Rwanda was mainly considered as informal and mainly done through the family. They mainly dealt with the military, war skills, artwork and blacksmith courses. By 1960, Rwandese embraced formal schooling thanks to Belgian census which helped in classifying the population based on ethnic and racial lines. The main group known as Tutsis had a brilliant opportunity of enrolling in the best schools to get the best at the expense of Hutus. This caused a lot of ethnic tensions which later led to the civil war.

The system tries to emphasize on equal distribution of resources to favor each child. It has led to exposure among students who want to acquire basic education. In fact, they have managed to set up numerous classrooms to cater for all students who keep enrolling. Also, they have managed to provide their students with learning materials and competent teachers to help them in achieving their dreams.

Rwandese authority recognizes the impact of modern technology and it is doing everything in its power to stay updated. It has developed a national strategy for information and communication technology. Right from junior classes, it is emphasizing on using ICT to improve the sector. Each child is taught how to use a laptop as a way of improving their statuses.

In this country, each student must go through 6 years in primary school, 3 years in junior high, 3 years in senior high and 4 years in tertiary institutions. They are allowed to take courses in medicine, science, art, and law. They are mainly taught in English and Kinyarwanda as their main languages. French is also taught in primary schools as a supplementary language.

It is believed that a total of 44,000 students are admitted to universities each year. In these tertiary universities, students are offered the opportunity of learning science, law and art related courses as part of the career fulfillment. Their union of teachers has received full recognition from the government towards improving the welfare of teachers.

The country has managed to construct a total of 31 universities; 17 of which are public and 14 are private. Each university is fully equipped with resources to enable students to learn better. This measure has led to continuous growth since productive citizens are absorbed into the industry.

Rwanda is one of the fastest growing African nation owing to its educational capacity. In fact, it has managed to absorb technically efficient students into the job market. As a result, it has continued to attain the top mark in terms of development.




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