Dear editor,When Rwanda joined the East African Community (EAC), the worry was that the education system would not rhyme with that of the former three states; Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. However, today Rwanda has proved that she can fall in flow with the education tide of these states, if not perform better than some of them. Rwanda if I may say is East Africa’s role model in many areas other than education, and other leaders should borrow a hint or two from our country. Rwanda is one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa that has well organised UPE - Universal Primary Education. It is a criminal offence in Rwanda not to send your child to school at zero cost. Meals and books are provided to pupils free of charge except for a few children whose parents can afford. Rwanda is the only country in Sub-Saharan Africa that launched and implemented the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) programme last month. Laptops were distributed to pupils including those under UPE starting from primary schools upcountry. Also, the scholarship schemes offered to university students through SFAR to pursue studies abroad and locally are brilliant. This shows that the government of Rwanda is determined to go against all odds to establish a very stable reliable government that caters for its citizens. This is not only in the education of its children but also in other sectors of governance. This kind of determination will make the other EAC states to pull up their socks. KABEZA
