KIGALI - The Ministry of Education plans to phase out boarding sections in public schools as a way of creating room for the increasing number of students joining secondary education.

According to the Minister of Education, Dr. Charles Murigande, the government’s is building more schools across the country. This, he said, will boost the phase-out since students will be able to enroll into schools close to their homes.

"The resources that have been used for boarding sections in our schools are going to be used in facilitating the education of more children,” said Muligande adding that there are currently over two million pupils in primary who are waiting to join secondary.

While addressing journalists, last week, the minister said that parents should stop thinking that children learn more while in boarding schools.

"That is not true. It rather leads to incurring a lot of unnecessary costs on the side of the parents and the government as well, since maintaining these sections is expensive,” the Minister said.

He, however, made it clear that there was no law abolishing boarding sections and said that if someone wishes to establish a private school with a boarding section, there would be no problem.

"If a parent feels that his or her child is well off in a boarding school, they can go ahead and take them there,” he explained.

In 2008, government introduced the Nine Year Basic Education (9-YBE), where every child would be assured of nine years of free education. A mass campaign of constructing classrooms and bringing schools near to the children began in 2009. The Government is set to increase the number of years for free education to 12.

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