A group of 47 officials from Kenya have hailed the Rwandan government for the tremendous progress it has registered, especially in the education sector. The 45 secondary school principals and two District Education Officers (DEOs) from Kisumu Province are in the country to attend a five-day Head Teachers’ Conference that started on Monday.Speaking on behalf of the group, Karilus B.N Umijah, the Chairman of Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association Nyanza Chapter said: “In the spirit of the EAC integration, we felt it important to have our conference in Rwanda because this will enable us as educationists in our province to learn some best practices from our counterparts in this country.”He called for a need for other EAC states to emulate Rwanda’s policies and strategies in various areas since the government has managed to rebuild the country just 17 years after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis.While addressing the visiting teachers at Mount Kigali Hotel in Nyarugenge District, the State Minister in charge of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Mathias Harebamungu, thanked them for choosing Rwanda for their meeting.He said that the country has a strong partnership with the Kenyan government especially in the education segment.Harebamungu briefed them on the One Laptop per Child programme, saying this is one of the strategies the government had adopted in the quest of making the country a regional hub for ICT.He also took the Kenyans through the evolution of the education sector since 1994 and requested them to maintain ties with their Rwandan counterparts to promote the sector. The minister also informed them that the current general education enrolment in the country stood at 96.6 percent, adding that the education of girls was now at 97.5 percent. Speaking to The New Times, Jane Mtange, the District Education Officer (DEO) for Kisumu East said: “We are very pleased to have come to Rwanda because we have noticed that it’s a totally clean and corrupt free nation and I think it’s high time all EAC member states followed in the foot steps of this beautiful country”.She said that they were barred from entering the country with polythene bags which was a sign that there is a full political will in the country in as far as protecting the environment is concerned. Karilus said that apart from attending their annual conference, they will also meet the education fraternity to get more details about how the Rwandan education has managed to improve in general.He added that they will also visit various schools across the country to share experience and skills with other headmasters.
