The Director-General of Rwanda Education Board (REB), Dr. Irénée Ndayambaje, has commended resilience shown by teachers in both public and private schools as the country joins the rest of the world in marking the International Teacher’s Day.

The teachers, according to Ndayambaje, have greatly been affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.

"We thank them (teachers) for their resilience especially those from private schools during the Covid-19 tragedy that affected their social-economic wellbeing,” Ndayambaje said during an interview with The New Times.

Since 1994, World Teacher’s Day has been observed annually on October 5, to celebrate and honor educators.

To the teachers, the ceremony serves to remind them about their rights and responsibilities as well as standards for their initial preparation, further education, recruitment and learning conditions.

According to Ndayambaje, Rwanda recognizes the role of teachers to nurture talents and educate the current and future generations. 

"We will continue to support teachers so that they can effectively fulfill their role in class and in the society,” he said.

Ndayambaje also called upon teachers to support their schools as they prepare to reopen for in-person class sessions, almost seven months after they were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Schools stopped operating in March after the first case of Covid-19 was recorded in Rwanda.

"We call all teachers to join their school leadership for timely and effective school reopening. Happy international teacher’s day”.

Outstanding teachers to be awarded.

Like it has been previously, Ndayambaje pointed out that outstanding teachers will also be announced on the same day.

"This time around we are rewarding best teachers at district, province, and national level,” He said.

Additionally, Ndayambaje highlighted that "We have also for the first time included rewards for best teachers (provincial level) from private schools”.