William Du Bois, an American sociologist and civil rights activist, was way ahead of his time when he thoughtfully observed that, "a system of education is not one thing, nor does it have a single definite object, nor is it a mere matter of schools. Education is that whole system of human training within and without the school house walls, which molds and develops men.” Had he been alive today, he would be totally taken aback!

In all honesty, we are on the right track. We introduced and are practicing (I would like to believe) the Competency Based Education (CBE) that focuses on outcomes as opposed to the traditional teacher centered approach. Surely this must count for something. This aside, we send our students out for practicum for about three months or so—something meant to give them full exposure to work reality and ethics. Practically speaking though, our graduates still need insurmountable levels of fortitude and tolerance of Biblical magnitude to take on the challenges of the workforce. How are they to tread the unchartered territories with no manual or experience? Being on the right track is great, but we aren’t there yet.

Believe it or not, most students are unaware of the cultural differences and social issues in their communities. Even worse is that some teachers are often limited in delivering academic content inside the classroom, which might prevent learners from contextualising knowledge in real-life situations. Consequently, helping students understand that there is a relevant relationship between their professional skills and their role as citizens within their communities is important. The best way to do this is through community-based projects that not only instill in students a sense of social responsibility and cultural awareness at an early stage in their professional life, but also give them real time exposure.

That being said, community based instruction integrates classroom materials with community outreach activities that build specific skills according to the level of the students. In one of my leadership classes, the students must go to the community to identify a problem and get to its root cause. They then must plan focus group meetings with their identified population and connect them to a functional NGO that can continue with the project. In the process, they acquire several skills, team work, confidence and interpersonal skills inclusive. With time, my students become more focused on their career, enthusiastic about learning and more culturally sensitive.

Project based learning can work with any subject. In math, physics, biology or geography, the students can be guided into choosing a project to work on. Once a geology instructor asked a group of students in his class to compare different kinds of soils to the nature of buildings in three different parts of Kigali. The project ended with an exciting presentation giving a summary of their findings. An accounting teacher can assign community projects based on fundamentals of the subject and students will be exhilarated to take them up. Before grudging about anything, you should try this out.

Some of the cogent arguments leveled against project based learning are that it is time consuming and costly. While these are true, they can be remedied by carrying out the projects outside school time and working within the communities where learners reside so as to minimise transportation costs. Boarding students can work within the school neighborhood.

I can’t think of a better conclusion to this than by the words of Daniel H. Pink, an American Author: "Education in general, and higher education in particular, is on the brink of a huge disruption. Two big questions, which were once so well-settled that we ceased asking them, are now up for grabs. What should young people be learning? And what sorts of credentials indicate they’re ready for the workforce?”