Rwanda has won the prestigious Commonwealth Education Good Practice Award for its innovative project of supporting teachers’ English proficiency through Mentoring (STEM). 

The award was handed out during the opening ceremony of the 19th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in the Bahamas.

Emmanuel Muvunyi, the director general in charge of examinations at Rwanda Education Board, who received the award on behalf of Rwanda, attributed the achievement to the quality of teachers in the country.

"Rwanda cannot achieve sustainable quality without a quality workforce: the teachers. The quality of the education system cannot exceed the quality of the teachers in the system,” Muvunyi said.

However, he maintained that more efforts were still needed in the education sector to ensure that English proficiency kept improving.

"STEM and other interventions have enhanced the English language proficiency and, to achieve more development in the sector, we need to sustain this in schools around the country,” Muvunyi added.

This is the second time Rwanda has won the award. In 2012, the country was recognised for its Nine-Year Basic Education programme.

The award, given in honour of Steve Sinnot, former General Secretary of the UK’s National Union of Teachers, recognises the practices that contribute the most to the professional development of teachers.

The Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers brings together ministers for education, senior officials, stakeholders, teachers and youth from across the 53-nation Commonwealth bloc.

Other countries recognised at the conference include India, for its ‘Design for Change’ project; South Africa, for its ‘Taking Quality Education to where it Matters through Webcasting’ project; and Singapore, for its ‘Primary Education Review and Implementation Assessment Project’.

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