Editor,

I was surprised to read in The New Times, on Saturday, that rural - based schools performed relatively better than schools based in urban areas in 2011 national examinations. Ordinarily, you expect students at city based schools that usually have good teachers, well equipped libraries, and access to internet to do better than their counterparts in the rural areas.

To me, it came as a surprise when Kigali City schools did not feature amongst the top countrywide. Teachers should offer explanations for this decline in performance, yet some of these schools are very expensive.

This should be a lesson to students studying in Kigali not to take education for granted. Instead of wasting their holidays in discos, they should work hard because the recent results have proven beyond doubt that one can perform well regardless of a school’s location or means.

Students studying in upcountry schools seem to be focused and work hard.

Parents should also be vigilant especially during holidays to ensure that their kids get time to study so as to improve their grades during exams.

Alan Rwagatare

Rulindo