The new education curriculum currently under review will integrate peace education content as a cross-cutting course into all other subjects in pre-primary, primary and secondary school, Dr Joyce Musabe, the deputy director-general in charge of curriculum and pedagogical materials in Rwanda Education Board has said.

Dr Musabe was speaking during a forum of stakeholders in peace education, which aimed at looking at how best peace can be integrated into humanity courses like history, religion, social studies, general paper, communication and geography.

The curriculum expert said this should also look at how to embed peace education in science subjects.

The forum, organised by Rwanda Peace Education Programme in collaboration with the Rwanda Education Board, sought to promote social cohesion, positive values, empathy and critical thinking to build a more peaceful society starting from the youth.

"This will not be a particular subject; the content will be integrated into all other courses to make it easy for children to understand,” she said, adding that this will be packaged in a way that can be applicable in daily life.

Targeted curriculum

The new curriculum, which goes into effect in 2016, will be competence-based, thus discouraging cram-work among learners, officials said.

"Peace education was not harmonised. It was taught only in some sections while it seems critical for all sections and many teachers did not clearly understand what peace education and related topics mean nor did they know appropriate teaching methods,” said Dr Aggee Mugabe Shyaka, a member of the pedagogical committee set up to develop modalities of how peace education can be mainstreamed into the education system.

He said peace education should put into context the country’s history which teachers appear to have little understanding of.

"Through the new approach, teachers will first be trained in different matters, including how to tackle difficult topics such as the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi,” Dr Shyaka said.

Dr Jean Baptiste Habyarimana, the executive secretary of National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, welcomed the development, saying this would increase national cohesion.

The curriculum revision, which started in July, last year, is now at the stage of designing textbooks and will be rolled out in 2016 after teachers have been trained on new teaching methodologies.