Imbuto Foundation in drive to keep students in school

Imbuto Foundation has launched an education initiative aimed at curbing school dropout in the country.Dubbed “Mubyeyi, Tera Intambwe’, the initiative was launched yesterday under the Innovation for Education Project.The two-year pilot project will be implemented in the urban, semi-urban and rural settings of Gasabo, Musanze and Ngororero districts before being scaled up to other districts.Radegonde Ndejuru, the Director General of Imbuto Foundation said they decided to start with the three districts because they have the highest school dropouts.School dropout rates currently stand at 11.4 per cent for primary schools and 7.5 per cent for secondary schools in Rwanda, according to information from the Ministry of Education. Ndejuru stated that the initiative will address issues that could be leading to school dropouts and ensure that students complete their studies.“We have introduced the concept of Community Education Workers with whom we will be working with to find out issues that lead to school dropouts, while advocating for integration of those students who have dropped out back into school. Together with parents, we will ensure that we collectively address the issue of school dropouts. One of the challenges has been parents’ mindsets who don’t deem it necessary for their children to study, we have to change attitudes, among other challenges,” she said.Ndejuru also stated that so far they have 73 Community Education Workers for Gasabo District who will be helping in the implementation and success of the initiative.She called upon the public to cooperate to ensure no child drops out of school as government and different stakeholders are stepping up efforts to ensure that every child in Rwanda has access to education.Marc van der Stouwe, the Fund Manager of Innovation for Education, said that the initiative will be a great approach to improve education standards while curbing dropouts.“It’s very important to focus on completion rates while involving parents and other community members. The success of the job will be in implementation and therefore we shouldn’t underestimate the potential to make the change,” he said.Stouwe said Innovation for Education will be funding the project to the tune of over £600,000 (Rwf605 million)The initiative has come in handy since there has been no specific approach aimed at increasing accountability and responsibility of parents, teachers and communities with regard to the problem of school dropouts in Rwanda, observers say.

National

Imbuto Foundation in drive to keep students in school