At 11am in Muhoza sector, Musanze district, Fiston Rudakemwa, a primary six student, and Claude Muhorere, a secondary student, are closely following the live classes aired by the national broadcaster. Their studies are being monitored by Alice Uwase, a senior six candidate for the national exam in computer sciences.

This is the family of Bezai Ruhanga and Esther Nyirarukundo, and they say that the move is looking to include people in remote areas who face the problem of internet connectivity.

"Here in Musanze, and most upcountry communities, we do not easily access the internet. Internet was taking too long to help our children study effectively, but we are really glad about this initiative as it will help our youngsters keep track of their studies without online resources,” says Nyirarukundo.

However, Uwase, who monitors those students, adds that they also face a challenge of limited laptops. She says that not all the students have a laptop or a smartphone that they can use to access the platforms easily. 

Most upcountry communities do not easily access the internet, calling for alternatives like radio and TV. Net photo.

"I am required to share a laptop with my two siblings. I cannot get enough time to use it if I have to share with my brothers. Additionally, there are some families where you find neither a smartphone nor a laptop, and they also need to study. This shows you how broadcasted learning will help a lot of people,” the computer scientist says.

"If you want to reach children, TV or radio is a safe bet. Furthermore, in this COVID era where they are not allowed to leave their homes, they are mostly listening to music on radio and watching movies on TV. Hence, this is a development, and it has found the right mark as that is where students spend most of their time,” says Jean Baptiste Habyarimana, the headmaster of Groupe Scholaire Kagugu.

He adds that the time spent listening to music will be used to advance their class modules.

Stephen Mugisha, an educationist with 12 years’ experience, believes that this move aims at facilitating the students with enough time to make their own research.

"When a student is supervised, the knowledge keeps advancing, and the eagerness to learn increases. This gives them motivation to make research. Research then helps them dig deep and modern education is more of doing research instead of waiting for the teacher to feed the students,” he tells this publication.

Parents see this as an opportunity for students to keep track of their studies. They say that there is no need to wait for the pandemic’s uncertain extinction, hence no other time to work but now.

"This pandemic has affected a lot of people, including our children. However, the government’s efforts are promising, basically, this way of broadcasting class content will help them keep track of their studies. A student who has followed it will be different from the one who didn’t after the re-opening,” says Landourd Tubiturimana, a parent residing in Kigali.

Parents’ role

Rwanda Education Board cautions that this might take place if and only it is done under parents’ strict supervision.

"Additionally, we want all the parents to follow up on their children and make sure they are following the classes well. They should make sure they are ready and on time and well equipped just as they do in class,” says Irénée Ndayambaje, Director General of Rwanda Education Board. 

He adds that they should make sure they are following the classes properly, and finish assignments just like it is in class.

Since the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Rwanda on March 14, the government instituted measures it deemed suitable to mitigate the risks of further spreading of the virus.

Among these measures, a decision was made that all schools and higher education institutions (both public and private) would close for an initial two-week period starting Monday, March 16, 2020, a period that was later extended by a month-long countrywide lockdown expected to end on April 19.

The cabinet meeting on April 1 ordered a continued learning for students of all levels using different techniques, and broadcasted learning was one of the practices.