Students are very adaptive — Leandre Maniragaba

Leandre Maniragaba is a teacher at Group Scolaire Remera Catholic 1. He teaches Primary Six pupils in a school system with six streams—Streams A to F! Fortunately he teaches only three of these; his main streams are P.6 A, B and C. He was born in 1983 at Muhanga District (former Gitarama,) Nyamabuye in the Southern Province of Rwanda.The 28-year-old, attended Primary School at Groupe Scolaire Nyarusange formerly known as Ecole Primaire Nyarusange and his O’ Level education was at ESPE Nyange -Kibuye. “I attended the Teachers Training College Rubengera in Kibuye under the Francophone programme. I graduated in 2003-2004 then started practicing teaching at Groupe Scolaire Remera Catholic 1 in 2005 when the curriculum was still conducted in French. I was teaching both Primary Four and five,” Maniragaba said. The government’s move to use English as the main instructive language in schools and in all government institutions in 2008 has had a remarkable impact in the education system. The introduction of the language policy, welcomed a trail of complaints about the sudden change in the education system. The biggest worry was that students and pupils who were previously instructed in French, would find it hard to adapt. Maniragaba says the trend has changed. Adding that, all subjects are conducted in English besides Kinyarwanda which is taught as a language. “When we had just started the programme it seemed a little hard to adapt but as teachers we had the advantage since in our colleges trainings, we greatly practiced the English language even though all other sections were conducted in French,” he said. “Since the students are young, they are flexible when it comes to learning a new language at a faster rate. They have easily adapted to the system. For instance I taught a class that was going to sit for their Primary Leaving Examinations the same year the system was changed yet they were used to the francophone system but they surprisingly passed well,” Maniragaba said. On the other hand, the decision made by the Ministry of Education to entirely train the teachers into easily adapting the English language has had an effect. “Due to the extensive trainings we attain, our level of understanding in English has improved. Even the pupils have adapted to the system although they are not yet confident enough to freely communicate in the language,” Maniragaba explained. On a lighter note, Leandre Maniragaba said he is still single and is looking for a life time companion. “The woman of my dreams is God willingly and she should be loving and caring,” Maniragaba said. Quote: - ‘No gain without pain’ and ‘Good things don’t come easily’ His favorites Dish: - Chips, Rice and Beans Sports: - Soccer, Basketball and Volley Ball Soccer Team: - Manchester United (International team) and Rayon Sport (Local team) Soccer Star: - Nani Music: - RnB (Rhymes and Blues) Dorau20@yahoo.co.uk