State of research encouraging Mineduc

The Director-General of Science, Technology and Research in the Ministry of Education, Dr Marie Christine Gasingirwa, has said the level of research to inform policymakers in the country is encouraging.She said this recently during the presentation of research findings by a group of graduates from the Centre for Gender, Culture and Development at Kigali Institute of Education.The research mainly tackled women’s life and development in the country.“Research is now priority, we used not to have Rwandan researchers years ago but this is not the case. We want every policy in this country to be informed by research and we appreciate the fact that this research is by Rwandans,” she said.Dr Gasingirwa said research carries more impact if it is carried out by people who understand the society, like nationals. She appreciated the research done by the KIE group and encouraged them to keep doing further research while encouraging their colleagues to pursue the same way.“We also want Rwandans to jointly conduct research with foreign-based experienced researchers but it can be dangerous to depend on research entirely done by foreigners, who don’t understand our culture nor context,” Dr Gasingirwa added. ----------------------------------------------------- About the KIE researchVarious authors carried out the research on various topics reflect on the gender and culture all leading to the development and women promotion.Jean Damascene Gasasira, in his thesis entitled “Rwandan Family Planning Policy and Practice,” conducted at Muhima sector in Kigali city, found out that Rwandans have understood family planning and know various contraceptive methods. He said some Rwandans still have the issue of religion which prevents them from embracing family planning while others have known that religion cannot help any one raise the children.Shamsi Kazimbaya, one of presenters, her thesis talks about “The practice of polygamy in Muslims communities and its effects on women’s lives.” The findings of the research show that 8 percent of Rwandans apply polygamy while over 150 countries also apply polygamy world wide.

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State of research encouraging Mineduc