Education is one of the most crucial aspects of every person’s life. Through education, people attain knowledge and enhance their skills. A good teacher is one of the important pathways to good education. That’s one of the reasons why the Presidential Order Nº 24/01 of 24/11/2016 Establishing Special Statutes Governing Teachers in Nursery, Primary and Secondary Education was established in Rwanda.

Article 6 of the Presidential Order speaks to the basic requires for teacher recruitment. These include an academic qualification, a minimum age of 18, no serious criminal record, no past dismissal from public or teaching service, and no prior conviction of the crime of genocide, genocide ideology or other related offenses. It’s important that a person who imparts knowledge is morally upright and mature.

Before a teacher starts the job, they must take an oath. This is in accordance with article 11 of the Presidential Order Establishing Special Statutes Governing Teachers in Nursery, Primary and Secondary Education. In the oath, the teacher swears to fulfill his/her duties with dedication, to remain loyal to the Republic of Rwanda, and to uphold the constitution and other laws.

The teacher also commits to strengthening the unity of Rwandans, to abstaining from discrimination of every kind, and swears not to use his/her position for personal motives. They also commit to respecting freedom and basic human rights in general and rights of children in particular while protecting common interests of Rwandans.

According to article 41 of the Presidential Order Establishing Special Statutes Governing Teachers in Nursery, Primary and Secondary Education, a teacher is required to personally perform duties as required. This means devoting themselves to work all the time with integrity and impartiality. They must respect the institution in which they work, preserve public property, be responsible and have public interest.

Because of the abovementioned statute declaring that teachers must be fully dedicated to their work, there are certain activities which are incompatible with a teacher’s profession. These are defined in article 42 of the Presidential Order Establishing Special Statutes Governing Teachers in Nursery, Primary and Secondary Education.

The incompatible activities include holding another full time post in public service, carrying out activities that may be detrimental to the performance of teaching duties, and participating in permanent leadership or administration of a company or enterprise which will put a dent in performing the duties of a teacher.

A teacher must also not have any interest or title in any enterprise because it is likely to compromise their duties or restrict their independence, truth, justice and objectivity.  

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