“Tuseme” promoting education for the girl child

It is on record that there was once that time, when the girl child was considered suitable only for house related activities, while boys were given more chances to get an education.It is no longer the case any more, although there are certain issues still affecting girl students that need to be addressed. “When any young boy or even a man approaches me with the intention of involving me in acts that may ruin my future, I am now a very open minded person who can stand to challenge such people,” says Norah Bashaga, a primary six student at Groupe Scholar Rwempasha in Nyagatare District, Eastern Province.Bashaga attributes her confidence to regular counseling and education she acquires from her student`s club members, teachers, elders and her parents as well. The 14 year old is one of the members of the “Tuseme” club in her school, an initiative of the Forum for African Women Educationists (FAWE-Rwanda)—a local non governmental organization. The club enables girl students to air out their views concerning issues affecting them especially their education. It also helps girls to find solutions to their challenges.This is made possible through engaging students in various theatre activities in which they express their problems based on current situations in their respective schools.Last Sunday, the event which is annual took place at Rwanda Red Cross (RRC) headquarters in Kacyiru, attracting 700 students from 54 schools across the country in which the initiative is operational. The topic was how to fight unwanted pregnancies among students or seek a lasting solution to the problem.“In our “Tuseme” group, we discuss about everything that poses a threat to us with the help and guidance of our teachers especially on issues that might be beyond our capacity to handle,” Bashaga says. The Chairperson of FAWE Girls, Rhona Nyakurama, said that although the initiative mostly benefits girls, it also brings boys on board.“We realized that for instance, with this year`s topic of discussion, some girls may as well be impregnated by fellow students,” says Nyakurama. She observes that it is necessary to involve boys so as to create behavior change for them not to engage in such dubious actions.Nyakurama notes that drug abuse may lead students into misbehaving; something she said finally affects the girls in case of pregnancy.Lack of self esteem amongst girls is one thing the initiative looks forward to address, as it was also noted that some students end up being involved in regrettable actions after failing to have the confidence to say no.“I am now able to say “NO” to any man even my teachers and if they dare do anything wrong to me, it is my right to report to the headmaster; but still, if it is the headmaster himself, I can also report him to my parents,” says another student. During the three day festival, students demonstrated what they go through and what is expected of them in preventing or avoiding being victims of abuse. This was through plays, poems, games among others.In this exercise, FAWE collaborates with the Ministry of Education with support from United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).Speaking during the event, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Sharon Haba, commended Fawe Girls for the initiative saying it greatly contributes to government programmes of promoting girl education.She called upon parents to guide children but also reminded students to take personal responsibility against situations that may lead them into loosing control over their lives.“When you can not value yourselves, it simply means you will not be able to utilize the chance of having an education that your parents and the government wish you to have,” said Haba.She spoke of the measures government has put in place to enable girls have an education. Among others, Haba noted that senior mothers trained to take care and guide girls are doing a great job in attending to issues affecting them.Haba stressed the need for students to use the festival as a forum and a network amongst themselves in providing and getting information that will help them excel in their studies. School drop outs have also been encouraged to re-join schools, something Haba noted is one of the major factors for the introduction of the 12-Year Basic Education.The “Tuseme” Project was first introduced in Tanzania at the University of Dar Es salaam in 1996. It was a step towards enabling the involvement of girls in discussing problems affecting them.This was after research proved that not giving girl students a chance to express themselves is one of the factors leading to their poor academic performance.