300 English teachers to arrive this month

A group of 300 English teachers recruited from Kenya and Uganda are expected to arrive in the country before the end of this month, an official has disclosed.In an interview with The New Times yesterday, Janvier Gasana, the Acting Director General of Rwanda Education Board (REB), said the teachers were recruited through Rwanda’s High Commissions in the two countries.“The first batch of teachers who will be working as mentors for English in our schools will arrive before May 20. We have already hired a transport company to transport them from Kampala to Kigali,” Gasana observed.He said his institution had also booked hotels where the teachers would spend some time before deployment to various schools across the country.The official stated that before the recruitment process began, REB struck a deal with the Teachers Service Commission of Kenya as well as the respective ministries of education in the two countries to ensure that those hired are offered attractive terms for their services. The objective of the exercise is to improve the proficiency of local teachers in English, which is now the language of instruction in Rwandan schools.Among the requirements for selection included being a professional teacher with at least one year experience, having a good disciplinary record and being an East African Community (EAC) citizen.About 140 local instructors have also been hired under the same programme.The teachers are also required to guide their local counterparts in a “training of trainers” arrangement. REB initially projected to employ about 4,000 teachers but this was later whittled down to 2,600. According to the ministry, over 43,000 teachers have so far been trained in the English language. The first batch undertook training between November 2009 and January 2010.

National

300 English teachers to arrive this month