As World Teachers' Day 2024 is marked, on Saturday, October 5, teachers in Rwanda are affected by five pressing issues that, they say, should be addressed urgently for improvement in their welfare and education provision.

According to information The New Times has gathered, here are the issues in question, and proposed remedies:

1. Unfavourable teacher placements [transfers] – to distant schools

Teacher placement (transfer) to remote schools is one of the issues facing educators, according to those who spoke to The New Times. This is the case since teachers’ salaries are relatively small – such as for primary school teachers who earn just over Rwf100,000 a month – while they have to separately provide for their families in districts located far from the schools they were sent to and must also take care of their own living expenses.

"You find that a person from Ruhango [District] was assigned to teach in Rusizi [District] yet they have a family. You realise that this is a challenge,” said Obed Ruzibiza, a teacher at Murama Secondary School in Ruhango District, Southern Province. He suggested that teacher placements should consider schools with proximity to the location of their families.

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MP Christine Mukabunani, the Deputy Chairperson of the parliamentary Committee on Social Affairs, told The New Times that sending teachers to work at schools that are far from their homes is not a good practice, especially given that they have relatively small salaries.

"Teacher placements should be handed over from the hands of the Ministry of Education to the management of districts,” she said, pointing out that such a move is intended to decentralise the practice and allow teachers to serve at schools that are close to their residence, which can help them to take care of their households or families.

For her, sending a teacher to a distant school – for instance from Kirehe in Eastern Province to Nyamasheke District in Western Province – hinders their socio-economic progress as it leads to inefficient use of resources to meet both their needs and those of the families they left behind.

2. Lack of accommodation for teachers in most schools

Stephanié Mukangango, the Secretary-General of Rwanda teachers’ trade union and education workers in the public sector (SNER), told The New Times that lack of accommodation in schools is a major concern for teachers, especially those who come from remote areas.

Citing the case of a teacher from Kigali who, for example, goes to Nyaruguru District yet his or her accommodation at the new school, far away from home, was not catered for, she noted that this poses a big challenge to the teacher.

She said that there is only one house for teachers per sector [at one school in a sector] and there are 416 sectors across the country.

"We want accommodation to be set up at every [boarding] school so that teachers no longer face such a challenge,” she said, adding that such an undertaking can be achieved through public private partnerships.

Ruzibiza said that his school, like many others, lacks teachers' accommodation.

"If accommodation is available at many schools, it can contribute positively to their welfare and quality of education,” he said, indicating that a teacher who makes a long journey from home to work and back, spends a lot of time on the journey, while a teacher who resides at school can spend more time focused on preparing lessons or having a rest and is therefore more productive.

3. Lack of skills in ICT in education, laptops

Another issue, Mukangango said, is lack of skills in the use of ICT in education.

"We wish that the issue gets addressed through scaling up the one-laptop-per-teacher programme,” she said, pointing out that the initiative started but was progressing slowly.

While there are more than 110,000 teachers countrywide – in public pre-primary, primary and secondary schools – only about 6,000 laptops have so far been distributed among teachers in schools, Mukangango said.

ALSO READ: What will it take to equip over 88,000 teachers with laptops?

"We want that the provision of laptops expedited so that every teacher has a laptop so that they are able to teach by means of ICT,” Mukangango said, observing that technology is an important factor in the digital era.

The provision of laptops, she said, should go hand in hand with training teachers in ICT for them to be able to utilise them.

4. The rising cost of living – which requires adjusting teachers’ salary accordingly

Prices on the market [for basic needs] are increasing, which negatively affects a teacher’s ability to achieve socio-economic development, Ruzibiza said.

It was noted that teachers are also parents and have children who need quality education, yet its cost has continued to increase.

"The improvement of teachers’ welfare should continue being considered through salary increment so that a teacher is able to deal with the ever-rising prices on the market,” he said.

Mukabunani echoed the same argument, pointing out that there is a need to increase teachers’ salaries in a timely manner in response to the increasing prices on the market.

5. Limited loans under Umwalimu SACCO

Mukabunani said the operations of Umwalimu Savings and Credit Cooperative (Uwmalimu SACCO) should be reviewed to enable teachers to get higher loan amounts than is the case currently.

At present, she said, a loan to teachers is based on their salary, which is generally small, and since some of them lack collateral to secure higher loan amounts, the credit they are entitled to is limited.

"The government should put in place collateral funds in Umwalimu SACCO such that a teacher can get relatively more loan,” she said, pointing out that it can help them to run projects for socio-economic development.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in 2024, World Teachers' Day focuses on the theme "Valuing teacher voices: Towards a new social contract for education."

This year's celebrations emphasise the pivotal role that teachers play in shaping the future of education and the urgent need to incorporate their perspectives into educational policy and decision-making processes, UNESCO indicated.