Automatic promotion: Misunderstood education policy?

Rwanda’s Education structure has been a subject of many reforms but one thing has remained for sure; its mission! Yes, the mission is to transform Rwandans into skilled human capital for socio-economic development of the country. Since 1994, there has been commendable improvement in Rwanda’s education; the number of students at primary school level has more than doubled. There are almost nine times more students in secondary schools and those in higher education are a massive 17 times more than before. In a bid to curb the drop out rate in schools, the education ministry in 2001, issued guidelines on class promotion, repetition and dropout. The guidelines aimed at making sure that no student repeated a class or, at worst, not more than 10 percent. According to Emmanuel Mudidi, the minister then, the policy was implemented after teachers had emerged as fate-deciders on students’ education. It is understood that in most public schools, if not all, students will automatically move from one class to another whether they have passed or faled. This trend is practical from primary to upper secondary. Stakeholders speak out A month ago, members of the Civil Society Platform meeting in Kigali expressed their concerns calling for the government to reconsider the policy. They asserted that automatic promotion of students compromises the quality of education in the country. During the same dialogue, Edouard Munyemaliza, the coordinator of Rwanda Civil Society Platform, said this policy encourages laxity among students and bears a negative impact on the quality of the country’s graduates. Damian Ntaganzwa, the Deputy Director General in charge of Teacher Education Management and Proffessionalisation, said: “I have come to understand that the policy and its full description and intentions was misunderstood by mainly teachers and the public.” Janvier Gasana, the Deputy Director General in charge of Education Quality and Standard Department, added that what is being referred to as ‘automatic promotion’ was an initiative by the government that calls on schools to give special attention and extra coaching to students who perform poorly in the course of the year so as to minimise cases of repeating classes or expulsion of students as a result of failing exams. Historically, for some unclear reasons, whenever a student failed exams, it was somewhat a source of pride for some teachers. As if that was not bad enough, the student was made to repeat class or be sent back home. Impact on education quality As a result of the guidelines, the cases of repeating have since dropped remarkably as teachers fear to ‘lose’ their jobs. With no or little extra attention given to slow learners in class, teachers have gone ahead and allowed pupils and students to move to the next class. This misinterpretation of the guideline has negatively impacted on the efficiency of the education sector. On the other hand, the guideline (call it policy) has promoted complacence among students. They have lacked competence and they do not concentrate on their studies like before. According a survey conducted by education activists, since 2004, the repetition rate for students in lower secondary dropped from 19 per cent to six per cent while dropout rate in primary schools went down from 14 per cent to five per cent. A few weeks ago, Olive Mukandekezi, a teacher, told The New Times that the policy makes it difficult for a student to be made to repeat a class since it involves convening a meeting to take such a decision even when results show that a particular student has failed. Ministry’s stand Speaking before a standing committee on Social Affairs, Human Rights and Petitions in the Senate yesterday, Mathias Harebamungu, the Minister of State in charge of Primary and Secondary Education, clarified on the policy, saying students should be promoted based on their performance. “There is no automatic promotion in schools. If a student fails all subjects, they are made to repeat a class,”he said. However, with the competence-based curricular that the Rwanda Education Board is about to roll out, Harebamungu added that students shall be promoted depending on subjects they can fairly perform. “Initially education was a privilege but now education is a right to everyone. We therefore encourage teachers to conduct continuous assessment tests and reports that will check on students’ general performance rather than just making them repeat classes,” reiterated Harebamungu. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) indicates that education as a right; shall be directed to the full development of human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms while promoting understanding and tolerance. *** TEACHERS, STUDENTS DISCUSS POLICY Helen Nyirarugwiro, a teacher at Miracle Infant School A student performing poorly in class should be given an opportunity to repeat. I don’t believe in students being promoted when they have failed. I have a son in primary school but I cannot hesitate to make him repeat if his grades are very poor. -- Jeannette Musabyimana, a parent My niece used to perform poorly since primary and no one interfered with her progress. But as she grew up, she identified her weaknesses and began working on them. She is now in Senior Two and her performance has greatly improved. -- Diana Nawatti, the headteacher of CS Les Petits Poussins International School Our education is learner-centred and we deal with every student individually. We believe every child is endowed with special abilities. A student can be weak in one area but with potential in another crucial field. In situations where a student is weak, we recommend parents to provide extra classes. -- John Habumuremyi, a Senior Six vacist Automatic promotion is not bad. How would you feel if your friends are promoted and you are told to repeat? It can even demoralise someone. Everyone should be given a chance to study. -- Blaise Shimwa Bruno, a student At the end of the year, we are only thinking about going to the next class. Repeating a class should be the last option because it is very painful. But I also think a student who is not performing well should sit with their parents and find a solution.