Teachers in all communities play a leading role in the transformation of societies.

This was said Thursday by the Minister of Education Dr Daphrose Gahakwa while addressing new graduands at Kigali Institute of Education (KIE).

The function saw 595 students at the institution graduate in different disciplines, 215 of them being women.

"Teachers can build or destroy a nation, you have a big role to play so that society is transformed right from the grassroots,"Gahakwa said.

She explained that the only way to improve society was through providing quality education right from the beginning.

"You have a responsibility as trained teachers to improve the quality of education in the country," she added.

A total of 256 students graduated with the Bachelor of Science in education degree while75 were awarded with the Bachelor of Arts.

172 students graduated with degrees in social sciences and business studies and 92 were awarded diplomas in various disciplines.

The minister explained that a poorly trained teacher can not provide quality education and urged them to always work hard to ensure proper dissemination of the knowledge to the community.

She added that developed countries invest much in the education sector to ensure that their population is always equipped with the appropriate skills and knowledge of addressing the challenges they may encounter.

The Rector of KIE, Emmanuel Mudidi, said higher education goes hand in hand with innovation, research and application of the acquired knowledge and skills into daily life.

"There journey is still long as you embark on educating the population so that the social economic challenges facing the country are addressed adequately," he said.

During its nine years of existence, KIE has so far held three graduations.

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