The twenty six projects that qualified for funding under the innovation for education project are paying off, according to the project coordinator, Marc Van der Stouwe. In an exclusive interview with The Education Times, Stouwe said that although it is too early to determine which projects will be successful at the end of the day, implementation is in progress. “All the twenty six projects that qualified for funding are being implemented despite some challenges here and there,” he said. Last year, the UK aid fund project in collaboration with the Rwanda government launched a three-year project aiming at assessing the effectiveness of new innovations in improving the quality of education. This saw twenty six projects from the private sector and other organizations qualifying for funding out of the 150 which had expressed interest. The project will cost 12 million British pounds with the funded projects getting between 50,000 and 800,000 pounds. According to Stouwe, the overall objective is to ensure that successful initiatives are later taken up by the government to contribute to education sector development. “Like any other new innovations in any sector, there are always challenges such as resistance. But given the current stand, we are optimistic these projects will serve a purpose,” he said. Stouwe added that monitoring and evaluation exercises are playing a big role in the success of the projects. The projects being supported are mainly those expected to address challenges in the education system and those meant to promote ICT in education.
