MUHANGA - The First Lady, Mrs. Jeannette Kagame, yesterday took part in a ceremony to award the best performing Muslim students who sat last year’s national secondary school examinations.

The ceremony took place at Hamdan Bun Rashid Secondary School in Gitarama town, and was organised by the Rwanda Muslims Association (AMUR) in conjunction with the Libyan-based World Islamic Call Society (WICS) with the aim of supporting education of the girl-child.

The First Lady thanked the Muslim community for supporting the education of the girl-child by rewarding the best students.

"It is good that Muslims now understand that a Muslim girl is now not only just good for marriage. By supporting their education, you are opening so many doors that will expose their potential,” the First Lady noted.

Mrs Kagame stressed the fact that successful people are not born the way they are, but were educated to become who they are today.

Ten outstanding students, seven of them female, were awarded scholarships.

Bibiche Kakuze, a former student of St. Vincent Secondary School, Muhoza, emerged the best Muslim female student, with 9.9 points out of 11.

As the top student, Kakuze will be travelling to Malaysia to pursue a degree in Information Technology, while the other nine students will study at the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU).

"I am so happy for receiving both a scholarship and a reward from the First Lady. After graduating in IT, I will come back and contribute to the development of my country,” Kakuze said, as she smiled from ear to ear.

The Hamdan Bun Rashid Girls’ Secondary School is among the 40 secondary schools around the world that belong to the Maktoum family.

These were all founded by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid, the governor of Dubai and a Minister of Finance in the United Arab Emirates.

The foundation is based on the need to meet educational needs of different people around the world.

According to the Mufti of Rwanda, Sheikh Saleh Habimana, of the 800 students that are in the two Hamdan schools of Rwanda, 250 are orphans receiving free education.

Citing FAWE Girls’ School, the Mufti requested Mrs Kagame to consider adding the Hamdan Schools to her long list of those aided by Imbuto Foundation, an organisation set up by the First Lady.

She promised to find solutions to the school’s needs, and thanked the Muslim community for working closely with her office.

Mrs Kagame also thanked the Secretary General of WICS, Dr Mohammed Sharrif for the scholarships, and advised students of Hamdan Bin Rashid to use the opportunities they have in the school.

"Opportunity comes once and the world is moving at a fast pace so you should study hard and catch up,” she advised.

The First Lady also urged adults who did not get a chance to go to school, to do so as it was the only means of  lifting oneself from poverty thus development of the entire nation.

Mohammed Ali Al Hajj Hemmed, the Hamdan School headmaster, used the occasion as a platform to express the schools’ need for more computers and internet access as a way of boosting the students’ computer knowledge.

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