Rwandans happy with capitation grants - report

A new report by Transparency International-Rwanda on the effectiveness of capitation grants extended to schools under the Nine-Year Basic Education has shown Rwandans are largely happy with the initiative.Capitation grants are funds allocated by the Ministry of Education to schools under the basic education programme to ensure that all Rwandan children are given an opportunity to attend school. The report shows that among the respondents, 83 per cent expressed belief that the grants generally and successfully promoted education.Following the introduction of the Nine-Year Basic Education, government spends at least 3,500 per student under the programme and the money is, among others, used for buying school materials, school infrastructure development and facilitating teachers in issues such as training.The report says the grants championed the reduction of teachers’ absenteeism and improved the quality of education offered to the students.“The grants’ contribution to improving teachers’ working conditions remains high as it is unanimously perceived by both teachers and parents that were sampled,” reads part of the report.“The majority of teachers (86.8 per cent) received their motivation allowance as a benefit from the capitation grant in the current academic year.”However, concerning training, there were irregularities found in the distribution of training opportunities where, whereas some were found to have received training three times in a year, others had only received English training in five years. Way to goAccording to Mathias Harebamungu, Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education, the report gives hope for a way forward and that, in collaboration with district education directors and head teachers, they would fix the problems identified.On the other side, he said, it is surprising to find a gap in school equipment such as books where one is shared by three learners, while teachers are responsible to order for the books.According to Marie Immaculee Ingabire, chairperson of Transparency International Rwanda, this was their commitment to support the education sector and particularly to improve the Nine-Year Basic Education programme, recently scaled up to 12-Years Basic Education.“I am proud of this report. This is one of the most ambitious initiatives ever taken in our country to support the education sector. We wish to contribute to the success of such a programme by ensuring that resources are efficiently spent to promote high quality of education for all,” she said.

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Rwandans happy with capitation grants - report