"It is important to bear in mind the significant differences between the research laboratory and the teaching laboratory (or classroom); and between research scientists exploring the boundaries of the known and students trying to come to terms with already accepted knowledge. In the context of teaching scientific knowledge, practical work is best seen as communication, and not as discovery.”

According to the 2016 A-Level examination results released by the Education ministry last week, the general pass rate was registered at 89.5 per cent, a 0.3 per cent improvement from the 2015 performance. The results also show that only three in 21 best candidates in science combinations are girls. However, even with this high pass rate, teachers and students continue to decry inefficient materials to use in laboratories, saying it hinders their preparations for national examinations.

Some schools say they do not have enough laboratories to carry out practical lessons for sciences, yet education experts assert that learning sciences can be achieved only by doing experimentation. They argue that any course of science which does not offer opportunities for lab work is incomplete from the point of view of efficient teaching.

How big is the problem?

Sister Therese Nyinawumwami, the headmistress of Groupe Scolaire Ruyenze in Nyanza District, says the school continues to grapple with insufficient equipment for practicals which affects the students.

The school offers mathematics, chemistry and biology (MCB) as a combination, among others, she says.

Nyinawumwami says that students do not do practicals for both chemistry and biology, yet these courses are examined in practical aspects in national exams.

"We have very few materials for practicals which were provided by Rwanda Education Board and we use them to do little practice. We also don’t have enough space and it is risky doing practicals in tiny rooms,” she says.

"For our students to do practical lesons, we have to visit laboratories in neighbouring schools. We have to make a request and wait for approval, and whenever we are allowed in we don’t have enough time to learn,” she adds.

"All students do the same exams and yet they do not have the same access to labs. This is unfair and we pray that the ministry looks for ways to get us laboratories.”

Francine Muragijemariya, a biology and chemistry teacher at APAPER Complex School in Kicukiro, Kigali, says as a science teacher, there are a lot of challenges when it comes to teaching students during experiments.

"We have the laboratory but there are some experiments that can’t be carried out because the chemicals and materials needed are expensive. What we normally do is to take students through basic principles,” she says.

According to Muragijimana, this is not the best as most of them miss out since the school can’t afford these materials.

However, Muragijemariya says they try their best to help students carry out practical activities amidst these challenges.

"For my students, I encourage them to bring along materials that I believe can be easily found at their homes. For instance, if we have a topic concerning reptiles, students can trap and bring some specimens such as lizards so that we learn about them through experiment,” she says, commenting on how she teaches biology.

On the other hand, she says that another big setback when it comes to practicals is lack of trained teachers to carry out these activities, noting that most of the current breed of teachers did theory mainly.

"It therefore becomes hard for them to take students through experiments when they themselves don’t know how it is done,” she says.

Another issue that contributes to students not performing well in practicals is that there is no specific law governing teachers when it comes to their safety during experiments.

Some students also say they have no practical skills given that the schools they are from do not have laboratories.

"We have few basic materials which we use when teachers are demonstrating how to mix chemicals. In some cases we don’t have access to practice at all and we fear that we won’t make it in national exams. In my school, for instance, we have not done any experiments inside any lab,” says a student from Groupe Scolaire Busogo I in Musanze District who prefers anonymity.

At Nyange I Secondary School in Musanze District, Nestor Niyitegeka, a computer and ICT teacher, says there are still a lot of challenges when it comes to using the laboratory in daily lessons.

Computer science and ICT are subjects that involve practiacals, but at his school, Niyitegeka says there are only 30 computers and one lab which are supposed to be shared by at least forty students per lesson.

"Although they do this in groups, it’s hard for all students to utilise the computers well. For instance, we have nine hours of lessons per week, whereby, four hours is strictly set aside for practice. The problem comes in when it comes to utilising that time productively as some students end up leaving the lab discontented because of limited time,” he says.

There is always a problem of poor internet connection and unstable power supply, which contributes to time wastage and poor content delivery to students. According to Niyitegeka, this challenge also applies to other subjects such as biology and chemistry that are done in the lab.

"Teachers are forced to start from scratch to teach a student how to even hold a mouse. These learners most of the time don’t have an idea on how to operate a computer, so imagine what happens when even the computers are not enough,” he says.

For Rachael Uwizeye, a former student at Lycee De Kigali now University of Rwanda College of Science, she says she had no problem with practicals.

"Our lab was well-equipped with all the material needed. During final exams I did well in sciences. But to other students this is not the case as most of them end up performing poorly in sciences because they lacked or didn’t ever do practicals at their school,” she says.

Ministry to offer relief

According to Isaac Munyakazi, the Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education, they have not yet received narrative results for practical exams, but generally, he says there are efforts in place to ensure every student gets access to a laboratory during their normal lessons.

While releasing the 2016 senior six exam results, Munyakazi said the government acknowledges the issue of insufficient labs and other materials that can be used, adding that the ministry will support schools as long as they get financial means.

He said that currently, the only alternative is for those struggling schools to negotiate with schools with equipped laboratories to let their students access them once in a while to acquire practical skills.

"The government does not have means to equip all secondary schools due to limited resources and we encourage school leaders who do not have laboratories to make sure they look for a nearby school with all the equipments, so that they can get access to the laboratory services,” he said.

For schools offering science combinations, Munyakazi encouraged them to at least put in place their own simple labs, noting that for the public schools, the government provides materials although they are limited.

For private schools, he said one of the must-have requirements is a well-equipped laboratory before they open.

Munyakazi also noted that every school should have virtual lab where students can use internet to search for more information on science subjects.