Ministry to train more teachers – Murigande

RWAMAGANA – The Minister of Education Charles Murigande said that there is need to train more teachers, so as to cater for the increased number of students, after the introduction of the 9 Year Basic Education programme. Meeting local leaders in Rwamagana district on Tuesday, the leaders said that there is a shortage of teachers in primary and lower secondary schools. Geoffrey Mushaija, the District Executive Secretary, while presenting the district’s achievements and challenges during the review of performance contracts, said “Part of our challenge within the education sector is the lack of qualified teachers.” The Minister said that the government will soon activate the dormant Lower Teacher’s Training Colleges (TTC), to start full training of teachers. He explained that there are TTCs that are supposed to produce primary teachers, but unfortunately were enrolling students of different courses. “The Ministry has ordered all such colleges to exclusively register students of teacher training forthwith,” he said. “It is true that by introduction the 9 year Basic Education we increased the over all students enrolment, and yet, we never increased the number of teachers. We thus have to close the gap by training more teachers.” He added that another solution would be to offer in-service training to teachers who are practicing without the necessary skills. In a related development, the Minister of Education called upon local leaders to initiate adult education in their respective districts. He noted that over 20% of adults in Rwanda remain illiterate, and yet, the country has registered tremendous progress in providing education generally. Ends