Initiative to promote quality of education

Through teachers’ cooperatives, Rwanda and Kenya have launched an initiative that is expected to promote the quality of education.This was during a recent two day training that took place in Kigali attracting 180 teachers from both countries under their cooperatives. Rwandan teachers will benefit from the initiative through Umwalimu Sacco; a teachers savings and credit cooperative while teachers from Kenya will be under the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit co-operative (KUSCCO).“With this arrangement, we shall have training sessions in which we are to focus on building teachers’ competence and skills or teaching techniques; and by this, we are sure we shall be contributing to how best our teachers carryout their duties or teach,” said James Ole Nkiti, the manager, Education and Training Services, at KUSCCO.He said this particular programme will not only support or help in promote education or quality, but that it will also help in enabling to identify challenges to seek lasting solutions to negative effects on the education sectors.Umwalimu Sacco board chairperson, Jean Marie Vianney Nzagahimana said that the two cooperatives will cooperate in various measures, pointing out empowering teachers to have side incomes to supplement their salaries.“We have come up with various mechanisms through which we can enable teachers to access loans; and it’s from this point that we want to intensify the system into making it possible to our members to start an economic activity,” he said.Participants who spoke to Education Times were optimistic that the programme will benefit them.“When we meet fellow teachers especially from other countries, it gives us the chance to share and discuss for the better of our profession and duties in line with what our counterparts are doing to identify the difference so that we can close gaps where necessary,” said Frank Hakizimana, one of the teachers who came from Kayonza District for the training.