Education in Rwanda

1. Education in Rwanda Presentation to the People to People Ambassador Programs delegation Dr Shirley Randell AM, Senior Advisor Education, SNV Rwanda July, 2008

2. East and Southern Africa

3. Four surrounding countries

4. Joint Review of the Education Sector Goal • To achieve Economic Development and Poverty Reduction through Quality Education Objectives • To review progress in the education sector towards meeting the GoR’s economic development and poverty reduction goals; • To assess sector development progress in key sub sector areas and discuss emerging priority areas identified in the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS); • To review the systems and processes of the sector wide approach and its commitment to donor coordination and harmonisation.

6. Statistics at a glance (Primary)

8. Challenges in Primary Education • The EFA and MDG goals for primary education call for universal completion of quality primary education: 52% in Rwanda is below the SSA rate and of course only half of the target • Dropout (15 %) and repetition (18%) rates are unacceptably high • Teacher pupil ratio is increasing (from 1:69 in 2005 to 1:74 in 2007 • Transition rates from P6 (50%) unacceptably low, especially for girls

9. Why do girls drop out of school? • Child labour - girls are kept home to fetch water, collect firewood, help in the garden, care for sick siblings and parents and grandparents suffering from HIV/Aids • Parent attitudes - culturally education is not so important for girls because they get married early and they go to their husband’s family • The toilets are often quite inadequate and girls stay home during their menstrual periods • Girls education policy is now approved by Cabinet and an implementation strategy is being developed

11. Statistics at a glance (Secondary)

12. Challenges in Secondary Education • Untrained teachers • Inadequate classrooms • Few science laboratories • Only 40% of girls transit to government secondary schools as against 60% of boys • Private schools are expensive

13. Challenges in TEVT • Responsibilities and budgets shared across two ministries • Limited budget • Courses do not match market demand • Geographic location of colleges • Poorly trained teachers • Private sector not involved • Limited equipment and materials

15. Challenges in Tertiary Education • Gross Enrolment Rate for Higher Education in Rwanda is currently only 3.5 percent • Net Enrolment Rate is one percent (compared with 5 percent in Sub Saharan Africa) • Quality very low • Secondary students ill prepared for tertiary education • Limited equipment • Qualifications of staff poor • Gender issues – staff and students

16. Women graduates

17. Challenge of Teachers • Only 52 percent of teachers in the workforce are qualified • Teachers colleges are graduating 1090 teachers a year but 2,600 are needed • Teachers earn half of what civil servants at an equivalent level earn - $73 a month • Most teachers leave the teaching service after three years - little motivation to stay in classrooms • Acute shortage of teachers in science subjects • Conditions and performance of 1600 contract teachers

18. Challenge of Teachers • Teachers are trained and familiar with didactic, interrogatory methods rather than learner-centred participative approaches • Limited inservice training • Recognition, appreciation, incentives and support are needed to motivate and retain teachers • Teaching Service Commission has been established and a Teachers Management and Development policy is being developed

19. Challenge of Classrooms

20. Other Education Challenges • The funding gap Curriculum • The gap between teacher supply and demand • Textbooks – supply and distribution • Education Management and Information System (EMIS) • Quality standards • Monitoring and Evaluation

22. EMIS - Education Management Information System • Importance of data for planning purposes and to improve quality • Need for sex-disaggregated data to monitor girls’ progress • Challenges in getting data from schools • Connectivity and electricity • Lack of capacity at national, district and local levels

23. Sector as a whole The JRES concluded that there is need to further consider the education sector as a whole, within one holistic analysis, to explain and remedy phenomena such gender disaggregated drop-out, transition rates, learning achievement, TVET and higher education - Nursery, primary, secondary, TVET, tertiary – Budget share 45% 20.7% 0.1% 23.8%

25. SNV Rwanda • Goal: Poverty reduction and good governance • Mission: • SNV is dedicated to a society where all people enjoy the freedom to pursue their own sustainable development. • Our advisors contribute to this by strengthening the capacity of local organisations.

26. Education in SNV Rwanda Two broad impact areas • Access to basic services (BASE) - Education - Water, sanitation and hygiene - Biogas • Income, production and employment (PIE) - Coffee - Beekeeping - Pro-poor tourism

28. Focus for impact • Human resources increased from one to five full-time advisers • Focus on five districts in the South and one in the City of Kigali - Nyarugenge - Nyamagabe - Ngororero - Gisagara - Ruhango

29. ² BTCCTB UN Institutions (UNICEF, UNIFEM…) International organisations (World Vision, SCFI, CIDA, Care Int'l, VSO, Concern, AAIR…) EKN International DFID GoR Institutions (Ministries, NISR, RIAM, ..) Education Cluster MINEDUC RIAM, CIDA, SNV, RAUW national FAWE KIE SNV Education Team RAUW FBO District Teacher colleges FBOs International orgs represented at local level FAWE VVOB meso RIAM APEFE Umurenge District SNV Education Team A has a partnership with B A provides funds to B A participates in B Other type of relationship A provides capacity services to B Schools Local NGOs micro PTAs

30. Bridging the macro-micro divide • At national level, supporting the Ministry of Education in policy development and implementation - Parent and teacher association policy - Joint Action Forum Education Subcommission policy - Girls education policy implementation - Non-government collaboration – NGO forum and NGO cluster

31. Bridging the macro–micro divide • At meso level building capacity in District Education Directors - Support to improve functioning of JAFESC - Support to improve functioning of school management boards - Support to improve the functioning of PTAs

33. Activities SNV and other education stakeholders Capacity building of clients Data available Reports available Policieselaborated Inputs Improved client performance Improvedenablingenvironment Improved and applied management strategies Improvedschoolboardfunctioning Improved parent teacher association (PTA) participation Improvedaccess to and quality of education for boys and girls Improvedcapacity in policymaking Improved M&E toolsavailable Improved girls educationpolicy Improved PTA policy Improved NGO coordination at national and district levels Outputs Improved educational environment Wider access to education Improved quality of premises, teachers, teaching materials Outcomes Improved motivation for boys and girls to learn and go to school Impact

34. Positioning choice ‘Primary education’ SNV, LCBs, Partners Advice to improvefunctioning of PTAs Support to Policymaking in Mineduc Support to baseline data collection Inputs Support to DEUs to organise JAFESCs Support to Mineduc to organise NGO forums and clusters Support DEUs to organise PTA training program Support to DEUs to organise school management NGO forums and clusters operational Quality PTA training programs organised JAFESCs operational Outputs Improvedfunctioning of PTAs Quality school management organised Policiesavailable in Mineduc Reliable databases available Improvedclient performance Improvedenabling environment Outcomes Improvedparticipation of parents and teachers in decisionmaking Coordination of educationinterventions at District level Coordination of educationinterventions at National level Girlseducationimproved Good planning in schools Yr. 1-2 Quality of service deliveryimproved School Business Plans available Competences and quality of interventions of membersimproved Yr. 2-3 Goodfunctioning of PTAs Impact Specific issues ongirlseducationaddressed Quality of and equity in educationimproved Dropout and repetitionreduced, transitionincreased Self reliance of schools realized Quality M&E done in school Harmonization, synergyhigherresult of input Improvedaccessfor the poor Improvedquality of education More girls complete primary and transit to secondaryeducation More educated boys and girls Improved well being of the poor

35. Importance of educating girls • Improving women’s literacy and the education of girls are basic to achievement of all Millennium Development Goals. • Quality education will equip people with knowledge and skills needed to - improve their lifestyle - enhance their job opportunities - protect themselves from diseases - take an active role in social, economic and political decision-making.

37. Thank You!