A total of 3,000 Rwandan secondary school students and 400 teachers are visiting multiple industries across the country, in a tour organized by the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Rwanda through its Teacher Training Programme (TTP), supported by the Mastercard Foundation.
AIMS is partnering with the Mastercard Foundation, the Ministry of Education through Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB), for the tour, which is taking place for the third time and participants started the visits on April 24, where up to 60 factories and industries will be visited across the country.
The secondary school students and teachers come from 14 districts in which the TTP Rwanda is implemented.
"The primary objective of the industry visits is to expose secondary school students and teachers to the practical application of various science and mathematics concepts covered in classrooms,” AIMS Rwanda said in a statement.
"Observing industry operations is a priceless way of linking the theoretical knowledge acquired in class to the real-life experience, thereby promoting learning. By visiting the industries, we expect that the students will access practical career guidance through a first-hand sight integration of science and mathematical concepts at work.”
The Teacher Training Programme aims to increase the quality of education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The students and schools taking part in the industry tour were selected based on their performance in the science subjects and mathematics to benefit the most from the programme in terms of gaining a better understanding of mathematics and science concepts.
The students are expected to develop a sense of skills and competencies needed in the job market, grow the motivation to study, perform better, and aspire to science and mathematics combinations and careers.
The 2023 industry visit will build on lessons learned from the previous visits to capture more learning areas for both students and teachers. The industries will also benefit from the visits
since they will have a chance to interact with a pool of students and teachers who will be ambassadors for the products.
"To create a ripple effect, teachers will organize forums in their schools to allow cross learning through group discussion during the science hour,” the statement read.
In the group discussions, students that visited industries shall share their experience and observations with their peers through open discussions.