This year’s national civic education training programme, Itorero, will be held virtually owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Itorero training is slated to take place from July 26 to August 8.

Officials said that in addition to lessons on values of patriotism, the training will feature lessons on self-reliance meant to accelerate poverty reduction and economic development— both contained the country National Strategy for Transformation (NST 1).

Lt. Col. Désiré Migambi Mungamba, the Vice Chairman of the National Itorero Commission (NIC), told The New Times there are two main reasons this year’s training will be virtual.

"The first reason was that the NIC was aimed at training more Rwandans and using fewer resources, especially many Rwandan youths living abroad who wanted to know about the Itorero programme but found that they did not have enough time to come to Rwanda to participate physically. Sometimes they are constrained by a limited resources or time,’’ he says.

Another reason he said was the Covid-19 pandemic, which has permeated the country.

"Indahangarwa is going to be the second group we’ll be training virtually. We previously in March this year virtually trained Indemyamihigo,’’ Mungamba said.

Based on the analysis from the first Itorero Indemyamihigo, he added, the virtual training delivered good results.

"We were able to train many with a smaller budget than what we needed when the programme was held physically,” he added.

The programme is open to people aged between 18 and 35, who completed secondary school.

Participants react

Nadia Umutoni, a 19-year-old, who lives in the United States of America, told The New Times that she always wanted to learn the history of her country.

"I’ve lived in the he United States since I was 6-years-old, I often seek the opportunity to be told about my country. This is a great opportunity for us as Rwandan youth,’’ she says.

Arnold Mugisha, a university student in Musanze District also shared his view about the Itorero programme.

"Since I am in holidays, I was very excited to attend the program. I’ve always been so interested in Rwanda’s heritage and patriotism. It is great that diaspora youths will attend too I hope this will be a great time to share different views on our development as youth and the country,’’ he stated.