Gilbert Murengezi, a student at Lycee de Kigali recently expressed his admiration for Kagarama Secondary School in Kicukiro District. If you do not know the history of Kagarama, it is understandable to dismiss such a statement as "idle talk”, but when that complement comes from a student of Lycee de Kigali, one of the best schools in the country, that gets you thinking about many things.

Birth of Kagarama

After the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, a number of people who had been living as refugees within the region and beyond craved to return home to rebuild their country. Lawyers, medical workers, teachers, engineers and business people among others put their efforts together to resurrect the economy that had long been buried. And that is where the story of Kagarama begins.

On May 8, 1995, Rwanda International Academy (presently called Kagarama Secondary School) was born. A group of 45 Rwandan students that had been studying at Kagurwe Secondary School in Mpigi district, Uganda under the leadership of Peter Clever Nkurunziza, the headmaster, were the pioneers of this Anglophone school that had just five teachers. For various reasons, the number quickly rose to 600 by the end of the year, according to Nkurunziza.

"When we returned home, the Ministry of Education gave us land at Ecole Technique Officiel de Kicukiro (E.T.O), currently IPRC College in Kicukiro District, on which to build the school,” Nkurunziza, who was the first headmaster, says.

Soon the school came to be known for a number of things especially debating where they were undisputed champions in the land for years.

Kagarama had also acquired a sizable amount of land, and attracted more students and teachers. But they hadn’t arrived yet considering that Rwanda was largely a Francophone country.

"In order for my students and other few English speaking schools to sit for national exams, we had to form a body called Rwanda English Medium Schools Association. It is from this association that we formed an examination board based on the East African Community system,” Nkurunziza said.

Kagarama that had emerged out of nowhere soon started excelling academically. Nkurunziza says the school was always ranked among the best five schools in the country, and no wonder over 200 students joined university on government sponsorship.

"Students loved the school so much. To them it was one of the most prestigious schools in Rwanda,” says Nkurunziza.

Indiscipline

However, this new fond love (Kagarama) didn’t make headlines only for the good reasons.

According to some people who lived in the school’s neighbourbood, Kagarama students had earned a reputation as drunkards, drug addicts and chaotic.

"I wouldn’t say students discipline was excellent. We received all kinds of students from different countries, backgrounds and cultures. Naturally such people cannot all behave in the same way.

It was challenging but we never stopped shaping them morally and eventually we started posting good results,” says Nkurunziza.

Benjamin Mwijuke, who was a student at the school in 1997, says: "Although the public had its reservations about our discipline, they admired our excellent performance in academics and extracurricular activities. We were always the best in debating and sports.”

In 2000, the private school was shifted to a hill in Nyanza sector, Kicukiro district before being turned into a public school five years later. It was from that point that it changed name from Kigali International Academy to Kagarama Secondary School.

Enter Rwagatare

In 2007, Joseph Rwagatare was appointed headmaster of the notorious Kagarama. Although it had registered a lot of success particularly academically, a lot was still desired discipline-wise.

"When I joined Kagarama Secondary School in January 2007, I found students’ discipline very appalling. There were drunkards and those taking drugs. The whole school environment was unpleasant,” says Rwagatare, who has been applauded by many old students of the school and well-wishers for his commitment to reforming naughty students.

"Rwagatare greatly transformed the school. He improved students’ welfare, recruited several experienced teachers and laid down strong measures to combat students’ indiscipline. It was during his time that strikes became history in that school,” Emmanuel Nsengiyumva, the school librarian, explains. "The image of the school also changed in the eyes of the public.”

But how did he pull it off after many years of little success in that area of discipline.

Rwagatare says he used a number of methods to return sanity to the school that is now referred to as ‘school of excellence’.

"For instance we worked closely with the students’ leadership and it brought a lot of promising results. We also worked with the local authorities who would come and address our students about various issues and I’m proud to say that our students’ discipline turned an impressing chapter,” he says.

Rwagatare, who was at the school for about three years, admitted that the school environment was not very favourable at the time.

"For our students to show any positive results both in terms of discipline and academics, we had to create a favourable environment to facilitate student life. We planted grass and trees around the school, created foot paths, repaired the entire infrastructure such as dormitories, dining hall and their classes and eventually, we sanitized them to love and be proud of their school through protecting it,” he adds.

Rwagatare believes it was this favourable environment and improved discipline that has ensured the school’s consistent academic excellence. "We often invited several people with great achievements to talk and inspire our students and guide them morally. Eventually, it was this inspiration that produced extraordinary young people that I left at Kagarama in May 2010.”

The sky is the limit

When Rwagatare left the school, Samuel Nkurunziza, who was previously acting as the Director of Studies, was handed the baton, and he has not disappointed.

He says his priorities included equipping the library and laboratory, improving hygiene and students’ well being, promoting student leadership and extracurricular activities, plus motivating teachers.

"We empower students to believe in themselves, work hard and be innovative. That is why in the last three years all our candidates have passed the national exams with excellent grades,” Nkurunziza says.

In extracurricular activities, Kagarama Secondary School has won several trophies and medals in different competitions. For example in last year’s Idebate competition, Kagarama’s Patrick Muhizi emerged overall best speaker. And that is not all. For the last four years, Kagarama has continued to dominate cricket in the country.

In the last inspection by Kigali City authorities, Kagarama scored 97.5 percent in terms of good management.

Teachers, parents proud

Joseph Ngabonziza, the discipline master, attributes the fruits to effective counselling by the disciplinary committee and student leadership.

"The role of mentoring has finally come to reflect in our works as our students exhibit an extraordinary level of discipline by creating an atmosphere in which they can easily thrive academically,” Ngabonziza says. "We have also given prefects the authority to handle some discipline cases and the results are promising.”

Even beyond school, students from Kagarama continue to shine. Theophile Habiyambere, the director of studies, says: "Our students have continued to be professional and innovative even after school. This is mainly because of several career guidance sessions they are put through while still at school.”

Agnes Mukashema, a parent of two children studying at Kagarama, talks about the school with pride.

"I’m impressed by the quality of education my children are acquiring at Kagarama Secondary School. They joined the school when their grades were poor but I’m beginning to see a big improvement in their grades and discipline,” Mukashema says.

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STUDENTS TALK ABOUT SCHOOL

Devota UwaseI’m proud to be in this school of excellence. We have educational clubs which promote career guidance and self reliance among others. Kagarama also takes extracurricular activities seriously and this has earned us a lot of respect countrywide. I‘m glad I’m in the right school.

Brian Gahima Initially I had a negative perception about this school and this was based on the bad reputation it was known for. But last year when I joined the school, I came to realise that the school was far better than I thought. I think Kagarama is among the best three schools in Rwanda.

Belinda Ingabire I love Kagarama for many reasons. The quality of education offered by our experienced and good leadership from both management and students has created a favourable academic environment for us to thrive.

William Kabarebe I have spent only one year at Kagarama but I will confess that it is much better than my previous school. In this school, we are not taught to just pass exams but to understand concepts.

Gloria IribagizaKagarame has a well equipped library and laboratory which have enabled us to become academic giants in Rwanda. Students here also tend to be very informed about a number of things due to the style of teaching and availability of resources. In my view, this is the best school n the country.

Mike MucyoThe school promotes talent discovery through promoting sports, drama and different clubs. That is why many students have realised their potential while here. Also, the school encourages creativity.