Over 1,000 fail primary teachers’ examinations

At least 1,000 students who sat the 2012 primary teachers examinations are not good enough to teach pupils after failing examinations.In the results, released on Wednesday, at Kigali Institute of Education, 1,119 of the 6,119 candidates, failed. This represents 18.1 per cent failure rate.Records show majority of the candidates (4,728) were private candidates, while the rest were regular students from Teachers Training Colleges.More than 300 candidates passed with distinction, according to the results, which were announced by the rector of KIE, Prof George K. Njoroge.Best and worstThe top performing school was TTC Save (Southern Province) with 100 per cent of its candidates passing, followed by TTC Kirambo (Western Province) with 99.5 per cent.TTC Matimba (Eastern Province) trailed the performance grid with 91.4 per cent.According to Prof. Njoroge, more than 5,000 trained teachers are now ready to join the job market to serve in primary schools, while 300 who got distinction will later be sent to KIE to continue their university studies. After graduating from university, they will be absorbed in teachers training colleges as tutors.Improving standardsKIE recently assumed the duties of supervising all activities of Teachers’ Training Colleges, including setting and marking national examinations. The task was formerly handled by the Rwanda Education Board.According to Prof. Wenceslas Nzabarirwa, the vice rector in-charge of academic affairs, KIE was given the task of improving the quality of education in the country through having qualified teachers at all levels of education.“KIE as the only public institution offering education studies, we were given TTCs to make sure the students are well equipped to serve well Rwandan children,” Prof. Nzabarirwa said.KIE also has a programme to increase the number of university students through distance learning. This is to ensure that in the future, teachers in primary schools will have at least diploma (A1) in education.

National

Over 1,000 fail primary teachers’ examinations