NYARUGENGE - Kigali City Council last week rewarded six top primary and secondary schools in the city with brand new HP computers for their exceptional performance in last year’s national examinations released at the beginning of 2008.

Speaking at the awarding ceremony at KCC offices, Martha Yankurije, the KCC Officer in charge of Education said that the computers were part of KCC’s response to government Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy.

"This is KCC’s way of supporting school-going children to boost their performance; we also reward the best students every year with cash, tuition and other scholastic materials.”

Yankurije said KCC has embarked on a vigorous campaign to raise education standards in the city.

"We continue to monitor the performance of schools by constantly inspecting their facilities,” she noted.

She added that in May, KCC rewarded students who came ahead of their peers in national exams in Kigali and the gifts included tuition subsidies for top students proceeding to tertiary institutions.” She revealed that KCC was in the final stages of organizing academic competitions for students in Kigali.

With Kenya recently scrapping working permits for Rwandans seeking employment there, Yakurije said KCC was set to introduce a "rigorous” campaign to teach school children regional languages like Swahili and English so that they can compete for jobs regionally.

"Early next year, we are organizing an oral competition for pupils and we will reward the winners handsomely.” She added that Kigali was also set to begin the One Lap Top per child programme launched recently by President Paul Kagame.

The programme seeks to introduce ICT and its related functionaries to school children early so as to grow and master the information age.

Some 50,000 laptops have been supplied in the pilot project in three districts and will move to Kigali in January 2009. Yakurije said KCC is currently sensitizing parents on how they could help the laptop project become a success.

Among the schools that benefited from the KCC gifts include Apaper Cyahafi, Petit Seminaire Ndera, Fawe Girls School and Lycee Notre Dame de Citeaux.

Reverand Jean Bosco Ntagungira, the Headmaster of Petit Seminaire, said his school would use the computers to boost its ICT department.

"We are happy that in our endeavors to raise the standard of education in the country, we have the support of KCC,” he said.

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