SOUTHERN PROVINCE GISAGARA — Imbuto Foundation on Sunday rewarded best-performing female students who excelled in last year’s national examinations at primary and secondary levels. The girls drawn from the districts of Huye, Nyanza and Gisagara received an assortment of scholastic materials, cash prizes and certificates, at a ceremony held at College St Bernard in Gisagara District. Mary Gahonzire, the Acting Commissioner General of Police, who represented the First Lady Jeannette Kagame (the Foundation’s chairperson) at the function challenged girls to embrace science subjects. She said: “You should not shy away from pursuing science subjects at high school level. The country prioritises science and technology so you should be part of this vision.” Gahonzire, acknowledged the challenge that poverty poses but stressed that education is the key to breaking its vicious cycle. She called upon students to develop a reading culture while embracing and inculcating innovation and proper time management if they are to succeed in their studies. The rewarding initiative that has entered its sixth year aims at supporting and encouraging girls to continue and excel at school. According to Assumpta Ingabire, an official from Imbuto Foundation, every year, 416 students who obtain at least 60 percent mark at the end of Primary school examinations country-wide are rewarded. At Ordinary level, 30 students are rewarded while 15 are rewarded at Advanced level. At the function, two top performers at A-levels; Yvette Niyomugabwa and Aimee Gisele Mugwaneza were rewarded with Laptop computers on top of Rwf.20,000 cash prizes. Narrating her personal life experience, MP Esperance Uwimana, urged girls to remain focussed, pointing out that gone are the days when girls only looked forward to the time they would be married off. “You can excel in your education and at the same time build a family. Marriage should not cost you your education, education should only make it better,” she counselled. Mayor, Leandre Karekezi, decried the high drop out rates at the higher levels of education among girls. He said that despite the successes registered at primary and lower secondary level, there is need for more effort to ensure that more girls attain high school and university education. Ends
