My resolution for 2012

Let me start by wishing my ardent readers a prosperous 2012! I am thinking about what this year has in store for us seeing that 2011 was excessively eventful. If years were people then I bet my feet that 2012 is envious of 2011 considering how much news we covered in the past year. Over the years, we have been reduced to setting rituals as we plan the course of our life. We now look forward to days and celebrate them because that is the thing to do. Christmas is one of those days and is followed by New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, besides the countless birthdays every single day of the year. The main ritual attached to the coming of the New Year is setting New Year resolutions. People sit down and make declarations of the things they wish to achieve. For some it is marriage, buying a new car or home, while for others it is quitting addictions like alcohol or smoking. Interestingly, some people have had the same resolution for more than four years. Honestly, I have never jumped onto the New Year resolution band wagon and I actually don’t remember ever coming up with one. However for the sake of doing something I am passionate about, I think I will make a resolution this year. I hope by December 31st 2012 or better still much earlier—will have achieved it. This year, Rwanda is likely to begin rolling out the 12-Year-Basic-Education programme that will see the state catering for the education of children from Primary schools all the way to Secondary schools. This is a commendable step set by President Kagame’s 2010-election manifesto. This will obviously boost enrolment and retention statistics in Rwanda’s schools. Before the 12YBE programme, the 9-Year-Basic-Education programme was implemented by adding three classroom blocks to public primary schools to provide free education up to the end of O’Level. Currently, such schools are spread across the country and have helped reduce the distance between schools and homes for many willing learners. However, I am not comfortable because when the 9YBE was rolled out, my area Nyacyonga, in Jabana, Gasabo Disctrict was left behind. Now I am worried that we may be left further back when the 12YBE takes off. This area has got two schools, Alliance High School, a private school and Nyacyonga Primary School which is a public school. I was told by some locals that the 9YBE programme skipped Nyacyonga Primary School apparently because the population in the area was too low and poor to fund the completion of the classroom blocks. Therefore children who complete Primary six at Nyacyonga have to walk longer distances to attend school in Jabana or pay a lot of money to attend Alliance High School. Each time I see these willing learners walking by my small house, I am moved. I have been to this primary school and noticed that not much is left for these classroom blocks to be completed. I am therefore not so sure how I will do this but my resolution for 2012 is to do all I can in my humble capacity as a teacher, writer and residence of Nyacyonga. I want to see to it that those classroom blocks at Nyacyonga Primary School are completed. I hope my readers also have their own education related resolutions for the year 2012 and are very dedicated to them as I am to mine. ssenyonga@gmail.com