The government remains committed to improving infrastructure for schools to ensure that students are in a better environment and get quality education that would drive the country towards knowledge based economy. The assurance was given on Friday by Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente during the launch of a quality education enhancement awareness campaign in Gicumbi District.

The premier said that much as a lot has been done in the education sector, there are still challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, which is prerequisite to quality education.

He said that the government would build more classrooms and provide them with the necessary equipment.

"We are all aware that there are some schools which are yet to get amenities such as water and electricity and we pledge that the government will put in more effort to address this, this goes with the fact that some schools do not have enough classrooms while others are too old and need renovation,” the premier said from G. S Kagorogoro in Manyagiro sector.

He said that once more classrooms are built, students will no longer have to make long distances to get to school. The aim is to ensure schools are brought as close as possible for everyone.

"We still have some secondary schools without laboratories and computers for practical classes while others have computers but are not being used effectively because of internet, we will keep improving such facilities,” he added.

Quality education

The premier said government was cognizant of the plight of teachers, saying that despite the progress made, there was still much more to be done to boost their welfare which he said impacts positively on the quality of education they offer.

Ngirente urged education officer both at sector and district level to ensure they supervise schools in their jurisdictions and report regularly so that the latter can provide quality education.

He said he was optimistic the campaign would be productive and yield expected results.

The campaign whose first phase will end on Friday next week looks at issues undermining quality education in schools such as dropout and repetition in schools, unwanted pregnancies, drugs abuse, school mismanagement among others.

It targets at least 600 schools across the country.

"Quality education is one of the country’s priorities and will help deliver a knowledge based economy. For quality to be achieved, it requires address all the challenges that affect education faster and in a sustainable way,” he said.

Fidele Birushya, a parents’ representative at GS Kagorogoro, said parents were ready to work with schools to improve quality education.

"We have electricity, water and we have now got over 100 computers that our children will use for learning, we are grateful as few people had seen computers before,” he said.

"We will do our best so that all our children go to school and we will work with the school administration to improve education quality and ensure that everyone at school benefits from school feeding programme, we have measures for every parent to contribute towards this,” he said.

According to Education minister Eugene Mutimura the drive will be held at on quarterly basis.

He said the awareness campaign would help boost education quality.

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