President Paul Kagame yesterday urged female students to focus on their education in order to become successful in life and significantly contribute to the development of Rwanda.The President was speaking to students at Gashora Girls Academy in Bugesera District.Located in Bugesera District, Eastern Province, the school is dedicated to the education of girls, particularly in the fields of science and technology.Kagame was accompanied by the First Lady, Jeanette Kagame, and Minister James Musoni of Local Government."As young people, you must seize this opportunity of education, hold it firmly and do not let it go. Although there will be very many distractions, keep your eyes on the prize. Identify something that you believe is important for you and focus on it until you become who you want to be,” Kagame said."Have self-confidence and let it guide you. Look up to all the people who inspire you, the people you admire in society, if you are focused, hard working and confident, you have the potential to be like them and even better.” The President expressed gratitude to the founders of Gashora Girls Academy and acknowledged their role in fostering science and technology in Rwanda. "The founders of Gashora Girls Academy continue to be exemplary and I am sure that they uphold good discipline and hard work amongst the students. I will work with the school founders, staff and you the students to take the school as far as it can go,” President Kagame pledged. "I have heard that some of you aspire to become engineers, chemists, doctors, as well as the first Rwandan astronauts–there is nothing impossible. The beauty of education is that it brings the whole world at the same level. Once you get the opportunity for education you are at par with people from China, America, or Russia.”During a Question and Answer session, students asked the President about a variety of issues, especially, their leadership aspirations."What advice would you give to a girl who wants to become the President of the country?” asked Martine Uwera, a senior Five student of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (PCB) class."First and foremost, you must believe that you can become the President; then work hard and try to be good at what you are doing now. At your age, becoming president can become complicated, but that is why you are at school. If you are elected to become a class monitor or a prefect, do your job to the satisfaction of the people who elected you and to your satisfaction. If you fail in that, probably it will not be easy to become President of Rwanda. With good education, each one of you has the same chances as I had to become President of Rwanda,” Kagame advised.Faustine Karasira, also a Senior Five student of PCB, asked: "What triggered you to guide Rwanda towards having more women in parliament and government than in any other country?”"The population of our society is made up of both men and women, so it is only a matter of fairness that everyone is treated equally. As a matter of fact, I do not know where the idea of leaving one part of the population behind came from, as we see in some societies where women cannot vote, cannot drive or even speak in public,” the President responded."By empowering women in Rwanda, it is just common sense; it is not too intelligent to think about it. In a society where women are slightly more than men, empowering them is fairness and justice, and I think every society should do so for true development.”The school’s administration thanked Kagame for championing the fight for "every single second for the lives of Rwandans” and also hailed Mrs. Kagame as a "role model for the youth and as a moral excellence looked at by African mothers.”