SIXTY teachers selected by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) are currently undergoing a week-long training in preparation for the national English Teaching Skills Development exercise slated to kick off late this month.

Aimed at equipping the team with training skills, the group will next week train teachers from the district level who will later be assigned to various training centres countrywide.
According to Stephen G. Mugisha, a senior trainer, about 50,000 primary and secondary school teachers from both private and public schools will be trained.

"The training is to refresh the teachers up to the required standards to conduct and pass on the skills to other trainers so as to make the exercise a success,” Mugisha said.

The training is being conducted at Kigali Institute of Education (KIE)

According to Emmanuel Murenzi, a national teacher trainer, since the programme was initiated in 2008, this year’s training is different compared to the previous ones.

"This time, we are trained to train teachers how to handle each session in English, unlike previously wheen we only concentrated on how best teachers can improve on the English language as a medium of instruction,” Murenzi said.

The government has in the last couple of years embarked on an intensive training of teachers, since the establishment of English as the language of instruction at all levels of education in the country.

Murenzi noted that the teacher training programme has played a significant role in promoting the use of English in schools, pointing out that government has since put in place the necessary requirements.

"The most challenging task was lack of English text books to enable teachers read and as well be directed in conducting lessons, but the government has distributed these books in all schools,” he said.

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