Close to 100 per cent of all enumerators deployed by National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) for the ongoing national population and housing census are primary and nursery school teachers, Venant Habarugira, the Director of the Census Department at NISR has told The New Times.

He revealed that a few who are not teachers are youth who are working across the City of Kigali where the institution experienced shortage of teachers who applied to become enumerators.

According to Habarugira, each enumerator will be paid Rwf 150,000 once they complete their job at the end of the census.

He disclosed that the institution decided to use teachers because they are available in all corners of the country, are currently in academic holidays, and that most of them are experienced given that it’s not their first time to enumerate during a census.

The fact that NISR also wanted enumerators to work in areas that are close to their homes also gave teachers an advantage.

According to Habarugira, that reduced the cost the institution would spend on numerous expenses in case enumerators had to move to far destinations and so, they worked with both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Local Government to make the arrangement.

"Teachers are also valued in society,” added Habarugira. "We believe they are more confident than other people who are not educators.”

During the pilot phase of the census, he continued, NISR worked with youth and experienced a high number of leavers which also led them to working with teachers who have attachment to their workplaces, just waiting for schools’ reopening.

Tackling the updates on the census, he said he believes the enumerators will finish their job on time (August 30), adding that their only challenge is in cities where some people are not found home during daytime.

"We request support from enumerators who completed their parts so that they can help those who haven’t. We are also planning to work during the evening time to enumerate those who avail themselves by then,” he said.

Aline Benihirwe, one of the enumerators, said the job has become a channel to know the living conditions of people around her and that it has empowered her with communication skills she uses to approach people asking them for information.

She believes that using teachers as enumerators during the census is progressive, because teachers are humble and patient, which relates to their daily job with children, and hence easily adapt when approaching people for enumeration.

She is happy that the job has come at the same time teachers’ salaries were increased which she said makes her feel more valuable hence aiming to thrive.