It was in April 1995 when Peter Nkurunziza started the biggest Anglophone boarding school in Rwanda. "It became prestigious almost immediately. Every parent wanted to send their child to Rwanda International Academy (RIA),”

Nkurunziza recalls. By end of term, enrollment had gone up to 300 students and that number doubled by the end of the year. Nkurunziza handed over the administration of the school to new stakeholders in 2000 and eventually, it was turned into a public school. The school in now known as Kagarama Secondary School.

Investing in education amidst chaos

When Nkurunziza returned to Rwanda in early 1995, the country was still in chaos, owing to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Like many other institutions, schools were closed. "President Paul Kagame called a meeting and asked Rwandans who had the means to start schools to do so.” Immediately, Nkurunziza started making plans in that regard.

At the time, he was a headteacher at Kaggulwe, a secondary school in central Uganda. He waited until the first term ended and then got a bus and transported approximately forty students of Rwandan descent and three teachers to be part of the new school. Mary Mutaga, a former teacher at RIA attributes the ambitious move to Nkurunziza’s commitment to education. "He understands the value of education. Because of that, he was focused towards the success of the school when he started it,” she says.

Even though he was short of students, teachers and resources when he started, Nkurunziza says that the transition was not as bad for him as it was for other new schools that had just been set up. "I didn’t have it as hard as most people,” he says, "I know that some of them had to teach their students under trees, whereas I had structures.” At the time, the school was occupying the premises now belonging to IPRC Kicukiro.

In time, Nkurunziza sought help from the British government scholastic materials such as books and science laboratory equipment were given to him. This same help was extended to other newly established Anglophone schools, 14 at the time. By the time Nkurunziza handed over to a new administration, the school had attracted as many as 2000 students. Mutaga says that it was Nkurunziza’s level headedness, excellent interpersonal skills and creativity that led the school to success.

Paving way for Anglophone learning

Starting an Anglophone school was borne out of the realisation that students whose families had fled to Uganda and other East African countries would find it hard to fit into the Francophone system. "They were used to the Anglophone system. Therefore, we wanted to give them an easy but gradual transition,” Nkurunziza explains.

In that regard, students at then RIA were taught French as a subject and English was used as a language of instruction for other subjects in the school curriculum. Nkurunziza was also one of the initiators of REMES-Rwanda English Medium Education Services. The organisation was formed with the purpose of transitioning from the single school independent system of examination and evaluation in order to standardise education at the national level. "Each school had an independent examination jury at the time. So we set up a small board to mark examinations, to set a basis for promoting students from one level to the other,” Nkurunziza explains. Originally set up to serve Anglophone schools, the system paved way for what is now the Rwanda National Examinations Council.

Kamanzi Alikadi, a former teacher at RIA, says that REMES is only one of Nkurunziza’s many contributions towards Rwanda’s education. "He is innovative, always coming up with new ideas to improve education in Rwanda,” she says.

Early years and moving to Uganda

Before coming back to Rwanda and before influencing the standardization of national examinations, Nkurunziza had been part of the East African Examination Council, having grown up in Uganda as a refugee and acquired a Bachelor of Education degree from then Kyambogo Institute of Education.

"I was born in 1951 in Rukira village in Kayonza district. During my childhood, the schools were few and therefore very scattered.” Nkurunziza recollects attending primary one in a school approximately three kilometers away from home. Moreover, the school only had primary one. Therefore, he had to travel four more kilometers to study P.2 and P.3. P. 4 was even further, approximately nine kilometers away from home.

"My family moved to Uganda in 1959. We were refugees. I grew up there, studied and even taught in different parts of the country when I finished my studies,” says the 64-year-old. Nkurunziza says that in Uganda, he and other Rwandans who had fled the country had a continued feeling of statelessness and it is for this reason that he willingly contributed to the struggle that brought peace back to Rwanda in the early 90s. "Everyone had a role to play. As a civilian, I took part in lobbying for material support as well as encouraging people to join the armed struggle,” he says.

Nkurunziza continues to invest in education

During his time as a headteacher, Nkurunziza mentored many students, one of them being Antoinette Tumwiine, one of RIA’s pioneer students. "He encouraged me to keep in school and advised me on my career path,” she recalls. Leaving mainstream education has not stopped Nkurunziza from giving his time for educational purposes.  "Education is my calling,” says the father of five. Before retiring, he published a number of academic books and they’re being utilized for educational purposes within East Africa. Nkurunziza has now started a project whose aim is to increase the reading and writing culture among both children and adults in Rwanda.