KIGALI - The minister of state in charge of primary education, Hon Theoneste Mutsindashyaka, disclosed over the weekend that the ministry of finance will spend over Rwf 9 billion in the construction of new classrooms for the nine-year basic Education programme.

In order to ensure that school going children get proper education, he said his ministry had embarked on the development of the educational sector through the provision of structures and scholastic materials.

He said that school head teachers should also solicit  for support from other sectors of the economy to supplement on government’s support.     

Mutsindashyaka revealed this while meeting head teachers over the weekend. 

The programme that kicked off this academic year obliges different primary schools across the country to have a secondary section of up to Senior Three.

The meeting was aimed at establishing the actual number of classrooms needed for the success of the programme.

"The Ministry of Education had requested for Rwf47 billion for this programme, but we were informed that only Rwf9.3 billion was budgeted for this cause,” Mutsindashyaka told the head teachers.

Mutsindashyaka called upon the teachers to critically analyse and give the right number of classrooms.

He lashed at people who always wait for good Samaritans to come and do their work and urged them to help the Ministry put up the structures and toilets.

The Minister lauded some head teachers who have shown a high level of nationalism and embarked on the drive to build the classrooms with help from the local people in Kamonyi district.

According to the mayor of Kamonyi district Jean-Paul Munyandamutsa, area residents  have already been sensitised on the programme of building the classrooms and have started levelling plots where the rooms will be erected.

"We hope that through the partnership of the local people, the Army and TIG, the classrooms will be ready on time,” said Munyandamutsa.

He also said that they had embarked on a campaign to call upon people who passed through the primary schools in Kamonyi to come back and help develop their former schools.

Construction of the classrooms is expected to have been finalised by the end of December so they can be used in the 2010 academic year.

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