EDPRS: Key Multi-sectoral progress report

As the economy moves towards completion of the medium term framework various levels of achievements have been registered in certain key areas. These are the sectors which form the cornerstone of the planned transformation. Thus with the economy not even having gone halfway through with this framework success has been registered in private sector development, Infrastructure, Education and social protection to mention but a few. Private sector In Rwanda’s Vision 2020 plan, policy makers set ambitious goals for its development. The country’s private sector is tasked as the engine of the planned transformation. The Private Sector Federation (PSF) is expected to play a crucial role in building a successful local private sector in the realization of EDPRS and Vision 2020 goals. In the EDPRS framework the private sector is responsible for the achievement of four targets which were all met. For instance currently Rwanda has been designated “one of the most active reformers of business regulation worldwide this decade”. This citation is from a World Bank’s ‘Doing Business Report’ on Rwanda. Consequently Rwanda is ranked 139th in the world according to this ranking. Consequently this report has placed Rwanda in the top tier rankings of sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. More so the score on investor perceptions in terms of investment climate showed an average rating of 79%. These rankings all reflect improvements through the government’s reforms centered around creation of a conducive environment for business. The other key area of achievement emanates from revenues collected from strategic areas such as exports and tourism. Rwanda obtained exports in excess of US$ 185 million surpassing the set target of US$163 Million. Revenue from tourism activities also increased to US$ 208 million against a set target of US$ 56 Million. Infrastructure The infrastructure sector which was tasked with actualizing six targets hit all their targets. Power production has increased and stabilized since the severe power shortages in 2004. Total installed capacity has increased from 45 MW in 2006 to 74.5MW in 2008 with a 56MW generation capacity, exceeding the 2008 target of 50MW. The target for the number of electricity connections in 2008 was set at 100,000 connections. The performance realized was of 110,000 connections from a baseline of 91,332 in 2006. The EDPRS target for the percentage of classified national road network in good condition was to move from 11% in 2006 to 16% in 2008.This was exceeded with an actual performance of 18%. On the percentage of classified district road network in good condition, the target was revised upwards from 15% (2006) to 22% (2008). However, following the decentralization of the budget for district road maintenance to local governments, no reports were submitted by districts on this and as such no quality information could be reported against this target. ICT composite coverage network is now at 90% and the number of mobile phone users has now reached 1,322,637. A total of 77 km of fibre optic enabling a wireless broadband network for Kigali city and its suburbs has been laid. Education SectorThe Government of Rwanda considers education as a fundamental human right. It strives to ensure that all citizens access quality, equitable and effective education. In 2008, a number of significant achievements were made in the education sector. Policies on Integrated Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Teacher Development and Management (TDM), Girls’ Education, Special Needs Education and Higher Education were completed. These are expected to strengthen the backbone of education management in different areas pertaining to the respective policies already crafted. A number of other policies are also in the drafting phase, these include; the literacy policy, school health policy, early childhood development (ECD) policy, and ICT in education policy. Statistics indicate that in primary education the gross enrollment rate was 151.9% in 2007 while in 2008 it was 127.9%. This indicates that the over age students have reduced and more children of appropriate school going age are now attending school. Also the net enrollment rate was 94.7% in 2007 for girls while in 2008 it stood at 93.3%. For boys, it was 96.8% in 2007 while in 2008 it was 95.1%. Improvement is reported also in completion rate overall which was 52% in 2007.In 2008 it was 53% .This did not meet the set target of 55%.Forced repetition of pupils to increase school performance is one of the reasons for this in some districts. Primary school pupil to qualified teacher ratio was one teacher to 74 pupils in 2007.In 2008 it dropped to one teacher to 66 pupils which is good progress exceeding the target for 2008 of one teacher to 72 pupils. There were significant achievements in the capacity building efforts . For instance 34,000 teachers trained in civic education. TSC to facilitate the training in all districts conducted and trained 88 English teachers who will train others. 77 pre-primary teachers trained in nursery teaching methodology. 4 770 primary teachers trained in English.1,650 computers was distributed among different primary schools. 4,484,428 text books in different disciplines were procured and distributed and 2,315 classrooms were constructed. Secondary Education198,792 text books in different disciplines were purchased and different teachers` guide as well. Biology syllabus for Math Physics option was revised and translated in English, draft Physics teacher’s guide for Math-Physics option was produced. in the same breath Kinyarwanda, French and psychology student’s textbooks and teacher’s guide were revised. The Teacher’s guide for psycho pedagogy for year 4, 5 and year 6,Food technology, accommodation and reception techniques were prepared and published. Education inspectors were trained in different fields. 779 secondary teachers trained in English and 11 In-Service Training Centres (INSET) were established. 1818 Science and Mathematics teachers were selected and trained in Strengthening Mathematics and Science in Secondary Education. 621 Heads of secondary schools and 559 bursars were trained on school-management and ICT. Within the same EDPRS period 59 classrooms, 4 dormitories, 2 conference rooms, latrines and playing grounds were constructed, 1700 computers were distributed among different secondary schools. The EDPRS period saw Education Management Information System (EMIS) team starting work in January 2008. Their system guidelines for an EMIS system have been approved by Education Ministry. EMIS is designed to ensure efficient access, sharing and integration of data. A Monitoring and Evaluation Framework has been developed to support understanding of the Monitoring and Evaluation process. The period also saw a Teacher Development and Management (TDM) policy being approved and presented at the 2008 Joint review of the Education Sector. 1,968 teachers were hired on contract through the capitation grants. Lastly, a post-basic education concept paper was presented at the 2008 Joint Review of the Education sector. Social protection SectorThe key theme within the Government’s social protection sector is built upon the need to provide an effective social safety net and an integrated social protection program. The sector is responsible for the achievement of five indicators. Four were not assessed due to unavailability of baselines. One was fully achieved. for instance, Social protection was delivered to 530,086 people. The percentage of households in the bottom two categories of extreme poverty according to UBUDEHE classification were 28.6%.Following a VUP survey in 2007, the progress however, could not be measured since the next survey is scheduled for 2009. Of the households eligible for support, the percentage granted public works was targeted at 35% which was fully realized. The percentage of eligible households granted direct support was also not assessed as the direct support package is set to begin in 2009. The VUP program, one of the three flagship programs in the EDPRS which aims to contribute to the accelerating poverty reduction through broader coverage of social protection, started implementation in 2008. In this 17,262 persons participated in public works and were able to save Rwf 203, 972,798 out of the Rwf 779,909,326 that they earned. A number of important policy interventions were realized including the commitment of government to budget allocations to the VUP program for 30 sectors which exceeded the target of 6 pilot sectors. A core management team for VUP has been established at the national level and a policy outlining criteria and transfer of funds for direct support has been established and is being implemented in VUP areas. Furthermore, a strategy for community based participatory works (HIMO) has been developed and implementation manuals for direct support (DS) and public works (PW) programmes incorporating international good practice have been developed. Ends

Advertorial

EDPRS: Key Multi-sectoral progress report