Needed: Proposals to raise education quality

There is one important topic on which every Rwandan has an opinion, especially about what is wrong with it. Everyone talks about education, and that is not surprising because they all have a big stake in it. Most people have a child or relative in school and what they learn matters to them. It can mean a secure future or a life of poverty. Government cares because it makes the education policy and wants to see it work and shape the future of the country. That is why it invests heavily in it. The private sector is interested because it is the employer of the products of the education system. The current topic of intense discussion is the quality of education. The list of complaints is long. Students cannot read or write well. They cannot speak foreign languages. They have no employable skills. Some even go as far as saying that they cannot even think on their own. And many more. From the comments one might think that our education system is worthless, our graduates completely incompetent and their diplomas not worth the paper they are printed on. However, none of the critics, and they are a diverse lot, ever makes concrete proposals about what should be done. They do the easy bit – finding fault and pointing fingers. But the more useful part – proposing solutions – is immensely more difficult and no one touches it.All they do is fall back on the secure past: ‘in our days things were done like this…’ There are some positives to be gathered from these criticisms, however, especially from what is not said. One, there is no complaint about access or shortage of school places, which can only mean that this is no longer a big issue. That is why people can worry about quality. Two, the discussion faults the delivery of the system. It does not question the intellectual capability of our students. Indeed they have proved themselves when they go to study abroad. Even in the workplace, they actually perform very well. Nearly all the top managers in the public service and private sector, most of whom are in their mid-thirties, are products of this system and generally do a good job. Most of them went to university after 1994. Of course, a good number of them did further studies outside Rwanda, but that was only to hone their intellectual abilities and equip them with additional skills. The foundation was laid right here. What does all this mean therefore? Yes, there are issues in the education system. There are shortcomings and it is good to point them out. But the situation is not dire or irredeemable. More importantly, something – actually, several things – are being done about it. First, at the basic level, a new competence-based curriculum was introduced this year. It is meant to impart, not only knowledge but to give students critical skills to make them fit much more readily in the work environment. No system in the world produces graduates tailor made for industry or public service. What the best of them do is to equip students with the ability to apply their knowledge and skills to actual situations. They give them the tools to make them quickly adapt to different circumstances. And even when they get into work, they must continually be trained and retooled to cope with evolving situations. That is why employers must have such training programmes. Second, today there are more qualified teachers in Rwanda than at any time in the past at both the primary and secondary levels. Of course, there will always be a shortage of teachers, not least because many leave the profession, attracted by better prospects elsewhere. It happens everywhere in the world. At higher levels, the quality of teaching is bound to improve. We have never had the number of Rwandans pursuing higher degrees in the country and abroad as we have now. Again, not all will return to teach, but a good number will. Third, teaching and learning materials are now more available. Gone are the days when only teachers had textbooks and were literally the sole source of knowledge. Students have them in increasing numbers. Digital learning is the thing and computers and software programmes are available for this. Science laboratories and equipment are no longer a curiosity. They are being built in even the remotest parts of the country. Even with all this, the debate on quality will continue. It never ceases because continuous improvement must be sought. But it is important to reframe the terms of the discussion. They should shift from a pessimistic outlook and condemnation of the system as worthless to a more engaged search for ways of making it better. As it is, the ongoing efforts give one a sense of optimism. jorwagatare@yahoo.co.uk

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Needed: Proposals to raise education quality