The Minister for Education Dr Eugène Mutimura has citied slackness and failure to implement government policies as the reason behind the sacking of five senior officials at Rwanda Education Board (REB). The five were relieved of their duties by a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. They include Dr Joyce Musabe, who was Head of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Resources Department; Dr Michael Tusiime Rwibasira, Head of Examinations, Selection and Assessment Department; and Peter Mujiji, who was the Head of Corporate Division. Others are Francis Karegesa, the Director of Finance, and Rutaha Bagaya, the Head of Procurement unit. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Mutimura said the now former REB officials exhibited weaknesses in their official duties while they also failed to implement government policies, which he said was not tolerable. “They have been linked to anomalies in printing of Senior Six certificates that has unnecessarily taken long, wasteful spending through printing these certificates from outside from the country,” the minister said. The delays in issuance of Senior Six certificates have affected students wishing to pursue their studies in higher learning institutions, he added. “Secondly, there are so many textbooks around the country that have not been delivered to schools to facilitate implementation of the new school curriculum (competency-based curriculum),” he observed. “This hindered the implementation of the competency-based examination (CBC) this year, these officials and other personnel are responsible for this hitches, which led to the Government to relieve them of their duties,” said Mutimura. Some of these books were discovered in the home of an ordinary citizen in Rubengera Sector, Karongi District where they had been dropped instead of being delivering to schools. Early last month, up to 186 cartons of CBC textbooks – which were supposed to be distributed to schools in Karongi District – were found in a home after the household reported the matter to the police saying that those who left the textbooks behind had promised to collect them in a few days time but they had not come back seven months later. The books are said to have been left behind by a private contractor who had won the tender to distribute them. This has resulted in delays to implement the competency-based curriculum and subsequently delayed the rollout of national examinations that place emphasis on CBC. When contacted yesterday, Tusiime, who was dismissed from his role as head of Examination Selection and Assessment Department at REB, declined to comment on the minister’s observations, only saying the changes are normal. Fresh Senior Six leavers who seek to immediately join private tertiary institutions have particularly been affected by delays in acquiring their certificates, while it was also difficult for such youth to join the labour market because they lacked A-Level papers. Minister Mutimura said it is the responsibility of the justice sector to look into these cases and ascertain whether they constitute criminal offences. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
