GASABO - With the new academic year set to begin early next year, the Ministry of Education has announced that it has put emphasis for the nine years of free basic education to be provided to all Rwandan children, uninterrupted.

A primary level pupil will be expected to attend the same school for primary and the first three years of secondary education before embarking on the advanced education else where.

Dr. Daphrose Gahakwa, the Minister of Education revealed this yesterday at the closure of a two day workshop that brought together all stakeholders in the ministry at Hotel La Palisse in Nyandungu.

"The project will ensure that over 2.2 million primary pupils do not drop out of school before attaining the basic level of education due to various reasons” Gahakwa said.

She added that the ministry will put in place all minimum requirements in time before the commencement of the next academic year.

"We have recruited and talked to most teachers to make sure that they are well prepared. The goal is to reduce the teacher-student ratio from 74 to 45 students per teacher,” she said.

According to Gahakwa, Primary Leaving Examinations will no longer be used as the yardstick to determine whether one is qualified to join secondary because all candidates will be guaranteed to study further up to at least senior three.

"The project will help us discover weak brains that need special attention and it will also part of our campaign to educate the girl-child,” said Gahakwa.

The Executive Secretary of Rwanda National Examinations Council (RNEC) John Rutayisire says that the much awaited development comes at a time when changes have occurred in the council.

"With the expected increased in the number of candidates each year, the system of marking has been changed.The ‘Conveyor Belt System’ of marking has been introduced where a script of a student will be marked by more than one examiner,” Rutayisire said.

Rutayisire highlighted team spirit, security of scripts and marking with speed and transparency as some of the advantages of this new procedure.

"This will also ensure minimisation of examination malpractices and fairness to candidates in addition to maximisation of examiners’ concentration,” he said.

Student Financing Agency for Rwanda (SFAR) pledged continued support for the country’s Human resource development through financing students pursuing higher education in recognized institutions within and outside Rwanda.

"All higher learning institutions should receive student’s tuition fees and living allowances,” Muvunyi pledged.

According to the Director General of SFAR, Emmanuel Muvunyi, this is part Government’s efforts to support the growth, expansion and modernisation of the Rwandan Education system.

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