Graduates are scapegoated

Editor, Refer to David Dusabirane’s article, “New curriculum will not solely fix the education challenges” (The New Times, February 10). There is a misconception in the way people explain the so-called “poor quality education”.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Graduates at a past graduation ceremony in Kigali. (T.Kisambira)

Editor,

Refer to David Dusabirane’s article, "New curriculum will not solely fix the education challenges” (The New Times, February 10).

There is a misconception in the way people explain the so-called "poor quality education”.

Secondly, people must differentiate between speaking English correctly and interpretation of facts. You cannot judge a graduate based on how fluent they are in a foreign language. How many of us even know Kinyarwanda perfectly? Even among teachers…

Mr. Dusabirane said that 103 graduates failed an entry exam for a project manager without internalising various factors, like was he on the panel? What are the guidelines for the job, remuneration, duration…other than generalising that all were weak hence the quality of education in Rwanda is poor!

I, personally, five years ego, did an exam in a certain company (for the position of a marketing officer); we were 15 but none of us was picked and all of us were graduates. Did that mean we were weak?

John

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The writer of the piece doesn’t explicitly say that the problem is "poor quality of education”. In fact, he presents a general scapegoat of education failing and attempts to explain how studying what you are not passionate about affects the quality of education you receive.

Personally, I talked to some students who face the same problem and they are really to be pitied.

Vainqueur