Reviving hope for a school drop out

Claudine Uwimana, 30, lost both her parents at an early age. As a result, she was unable to get a good education. Never at any one time, did she hope to make up for what she lost at a young age. She says that it was a challenge to go back to school, even when she had become able to finance her own education. “At thirty I found it difficult to study with teenagers in secondary school,” say Umimana. “I dropped out of school in senior two and whenever I imagined getting back for studies, my main task was how to deal with my classmates in terms of learning since I believed they were minors,” Uwimana adds. Although Uwimana believed fellow students were minors, she realized that there was no way she could avoid them especially for her benefit and success. “Well, for the sake of studies I would be forced to mix up with them in times of making consultations, discussions and a lot more. But at first, I never imagined how all this could happen between us,” she says. After dropping out of school, Uwimana looked on as her former classmates moved on to higher classes. It was a difficult part of her life. She says that as a result of her enduring ambition to get a good education, she never lost hope that at one time she would go back to school. But how to start and get into class with teenagers kept on troubling her. It was unimaginable that she would ever gather the courage to make the move back to school. “It was such a tough experience that could not easily get out of my mind until when I joined the Association for Promotion of Education and Community Development (APECD) in Remera,” Uwimana says as she smiles. According to her, like any other private education centre for old people, the place gives them a conducive learning environment not only based on the timetable that allows them learn after work, but also a chance where people with same challenges meet to concentrate with a common aim. “I am happy and sure that my aspiration in education still stands as before,” says Uwimana. APECD is operated by one Augustin Ntaganda, commonly known as Karangazi. The center has existed since 1991. Just like Uwimana, Karangazi says many students who had dropped out of school regain their academic dreams from the centre. He says that such people are hard working and ready to learn not only based on their life experience but also on the rate at which they grasp issues. “The performance of our students has for years been good and based on that, they have been wining government sponsorship,” he adds. However, the teacher said that although there is such a success story, there are challenges that affect both the students and the centre. “Our centers are recognized by the Education Ministry, but the Rwanda National Examination Council (RNEC) does not. This becomes a problem when it comes to registering our students to sit for the national examinations,” he explains.According to him, the RNEC does not recognize reports from these centers when students present them. Therefore, upon completion students have to find their own ways of registering as private students. The Executive Secretary RNEC, John Rutayisire, says the system recognizes private students and they are supposed to register as individuals, the very reason as to why they are referred to as private candidates. Rutayisire says “On behalf of the council, we consider these students and the right procedure is that they have to come and register as individuals.” This Ntaganda says affects the operations of the centers since students leave without paying fees. However, Rutayisire is aware and appreciates the existence of these private centers but does not confirm if they are recognized by the Education Ministry. Pascalina Wamahoro, a single parent residing in Kimisagara a Kigali suburb says that in a way of helping to keep these centers in operation, both the Ministry of education and the NEC should cooperate and recognize their efforts in educating Rwandans. “I am not well versed with how both the Ministry of Education and NEC works, but I believe that the NEC is under the education Ministry,” Wamahoro notes. Ends