The government is set to hand over Lycée de Kigali, one of the most prominent traditional secondary schools in the country, to Catholic brothers of the Marist order, according to the Ministry of Education.

The announcement comes one year after the death of the school’s long-time head teacher, Martin Masabo, who died in September last year. He had led the school for over 20 years.

Speaking to The New Times, Gaspard Twagirayezu, the minister of state in charge of primary and secondary education, he said that this was a good move, given that these brothers are already managing some of the most famous schools in the country.

"We were asked by Nyarugenge District authorities to hand over Lycée de Kigali to the Marist Brothers and we are happy to do so. They are already managing schools like ES Byimana, TTC Save and Mururu, and TVET Rwabuye. They are excellent performing schools,” Twagirayezu said.

Already, the three top leaders at the Rugunga-based school have been announced and are all members of the Marist Brothers. Jean Mfurayase will be the head teacher, Théogène Kabalisa the director of studies, and two deans of discipline, one of them Jean-Népomuscène Duhirwe.

Twagirayezu also noted that despite the change in management, the government will continue supporting and working closely with the school, especially in the area of sports development to ensure maximum output.

"Lycée de Kigali has very strong teams of basketball and football, even at national level and that is why we are going to build more and better fields for them, and fund other activities of the school,” he said.

He however assured that there won’t be much changes because the culture and administrative structure of the school will remain the same.

Speaking to The New Times, students expressed mixed reactions, with some hoping for a smooth transition where their academic endeavors will not be affected much.

"We were not expecting it and it will probably be a challenge for us to get used to the new system, new staff and new rules but adaptability expands your capacity to handle change, no matter how serious and new it might be,” Euphemie Mwizerwa, a senior-six student at Lycée de Kigali said.

Mwizerwa, a Catholic, said that the new leadership will hopefully inculcate a religious culture among students, which she said correlated with higher grades and discipline.

"A new system will surely come in with increased religious activities and students who attend these activities are found to have a higher Grade Point Average,” she added.

Angelique Mugwiza, a parent at the school believes that the changes are for the better.

"Marist Brothers will bring a positive impact to our children, especially academically, because they have shown us good results from the other schools that they run,” Mugwiza said.

She added that parents are ready to cooperate with the new leadership to bring the best out of their children.