Education officers and head teachers from private and government aided primary schools have been urged to ensure proper management of school materials. The call was made by Chantal Uwiragiye, the provincial coordinator of EDC-L3 initiative, during a meeting with local education stakeholders from Gasabo District, last Friday. The meeting was organised by Education Development Centre (EDC) to strengthen the implementation of Literacy, Language and Learning (L3), in order to facilitate the implementation of the new competence-based curriculum. During the meeting, EDC distributed teaching materials including SD cards loaded with primary 1, 2, 3 and 4 audio content, loudspeakers, telephones and memory cards. The materials were produced in partnership with Rwanda Education Board, and were funded by the United States Agency for the International Development through L3. “The implementation and success of competence based curriculum needs strong partnership among education stakeholders and other oraganisations. Under education programme L3, we distribute technology related school materials to advance quality of education,” she said. She noted that the new curriculum bears new changes and new books have been published but educators should not throw the old ones away as they are still needed; we urge teachers to ensure good management of school materials, Uwiragiye said. She also asked head teachers to allow children to go home with school books. “EDC -L3 initiative in partnership with Rwanda Education Board provides books. Students’ education is not limited only at schools but even out of school. School leaders should allow children to go home with the books for revision purposes,” she added. Dismas Nzabamwita, the district education officer in Gasabo, said distributed school materials will improve teaching in schools. “We are starting the second part of EDC, a programme that aims at advancing the quality of education under which teachers and students are given materials to use in learning and teaching. Such materials contribute much. The distributed materials are an addition because we found that some schools still need more materials. They are used in pre-recording saved lectures and ease teaching and learning for teachers and learners,” Nzabamwita said. The lessons taught under this system are Kinyarwanda, English and Mathematics and, are already connected with the new curriculum. Silas Habintwari, the head teacher at Groupe Scolaire Rutunga in Gasabo, said serious measures would be taken to manage school materials. Since 2011 EDC- L3 has distributed school materials including more than 7million Kinyarwanda, Math and English books for the primary school especially P1 and P4. The Literacy, Language and learning (L3) Initiative aims at strengthening teaching and learning so that the students leave primary schools with solid literacy and numeracy competences. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
