Rwanda needs participatory education for all

We Rwandan parents want to participate actively in the education of our children and to shape the future of our sons and daughters in a way that will avoid the emergence of a generation like the one that planned and participated in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The history of our country shows us that everything went wrong during the 20th century because the Rwandan parents were excluded in educating their children. During that century, Rwanda like any other African country suffered the horror of the inhuman colonial system. This inhuman colonial system excluded the real parents of the Rwandan youth in its education. The education in Rwanda, was exclusively given to the organization that does not allow its leaders to have children-the Catholic Church. This organization was charged with educating the young Africans to accept the colonial system and assist colonialists to administrate the newly fledged independent Africa countries. This organization established schools, especially boarding schools, in which new cadres were recruited and indoctrinated to serve the so-called civilizing mission they preached. The Africans were taught to hate themselves, reject their civilization and adopt the new language, a new way of life and new God. Everything African was taken to be satanic and gotten rid of. That is how we came to be confused and rejected everything that was ours. This was a basic infrastructure of the genocide in our country. Rwanda, as a nation, was not shaped by the European colonial powers just like many African states. This country was bigger than it is now. Before the colonial European imperialist powers came, Rwanda was a powerful independent nation. It had its own system of educating its children that led to unity of its citizens without discrimination whatsoever. This unity was cemented through its education system “Itorero” where educating the next generation of patriots was the goal. This was possible because the children’s parents participated in that system. It was unfortunate that this system was destroyed by the Belgians. Given that horrible experience we went through, it is high time Rwandan parents stood together and liberated education through the participative education for all. That is why the proposal of forming a parents and teachers national forum to exchange ideas pertaining to education was launched which will be called the “NATIONAL PARTICIPATORY PARENTS AND TEACHERS ASSOCIATION -NAPPATA”. This forum will consist of citizens from the village to national level. It will be where parents, teachers, leaders, students and pupils will participate directly on how to shape a participatory patriotic education in which everybody will have a role to play to prevent any other catastrophic event like that happened in 1994. This is the only way to fight and win the genocide ideology battle. kaikipata@yahoo.com