Three thousand teachers are reported to have completed the first English teaching course and have acquired teaching skills in the language that was recently adopted as the medium of instruction in all schools in the country.

The 3000 are drawn from primary and secondary school teachers and will thereafter be required to pass on the skills to fellow educationists.

Such is a major development in the right direction. The training which is ideally going to be continuous and cover many other teachers will henceforth be a strong basis for the success of the transformation to the new medium of instruction.

As we transit to this new era in our education system, it ought to be held in mind by the stakeholders in the education sector that this should also be a starting point for reforming the education sector to suit the needs of the time.

Whereas by introducing English we have made a great achievement as in aligning our education system, to the rest of the East African Community, and hence guaranteeing a good future for the children of Rwanda, we also need to radically transform what is taught in school in terms of substance.

It is paramount to emphasise the fact that school products must be relevant to the needs of the economy. Hence, this will have to inform the education system of the times.

More so, the training of teachers in itself will inevitably require an overhaul in order to meet the new realities that are a result of the introduction of a new medium of instruction.

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