MPs meet head teachers over genocide ideology in schools

WESTERN PROVINCE RUBAVU — Members of Parliament on the commission charged with fighting Genocide ideology in schools, led by the vice speaker on Monday met heads of schools to lay strategies of fighting the vice. Yvonne Mukayisenga, the vice speaker of parliament, who led the delegation, said they would visit several schools in an effort to stem out genocide ideology. Addressing secondary school head teachers from Gisenyi Sector, Mukayisenga urged the group to step up efforts to eliminate ideologues in schools. “As head teachers, you have a big role in shaping children behavior since they spend more time with you, than their own parents. Students spend nine months of the academic year at school out of the twelve months. That means they spend only three months with their parents annually,” she said. She challenged head teachers to be tough and take serious punitive measures including indefinite suspension or prosecution of teachers who are still spreading the ideology in school. “Such teachers should not be tolerated at all, “she said. Turning to parents, she advised them to work closely with the teachers and local leaders to curb genocide ideology among children. She noted that some parents harbor genocide ideology which their children adopt. “Children learn lots of things from their parents. A child from a family with the ideology will certainly adopt it. As parents we should do everything possible to help our children grow into responsible adults with unity,” she said. They also held talks with security officials, local leaders, and students on each and everybody’s role in curbing genocide ideology. Gisenyi sector coordinator Emanuel Manzimpaka appealed to teachers to always work closely with the local authorities to fight the vice which he described as a cancer that is trying to spread into a new generation. In a joint resolution at the end of the meeting, the members tasked district authorities to make periodic visits to schools and hold discussions with students, form more unity clubs in schools, empowered financially to enable them accomplish their task. They also resolved to take students to various Genocide memorial sites across the country to enable them [students] get a true picture of the horrors of the 1994 genocide, and introduce five-minute lecture about the genocide ideology during students’ assemblies. Ecole D’art de Nyondo, a Catholic founded school under Nyondo Diocese whose head teacher was recently detained over crimes related to the genocide, is among the tainted schools in the district. One of the school’s dormitories was recently set on fire by unidentified people, whose intentions; sources allege, was to burn mattresses of FARG students. Ends