At 54, father of six sails through Advanced level

He was the oldest in class but that did not deter him from sitting national exams. Last year, fifty four year old Xanvier Ntawicahari, sat his Advanced level national examinations in English, Kiswahili and Kinyarwanda at Groupe Scholaire Rwikiniro, a school near his home in Rukomo Village, Rwinkiro sector in Gatsibo district. When the ministry of Education released advanced level results recently, Ntawicahari celebrated along with others. The father of six had passed with 25 points in all the languages. Although he scored 18 in Kiswahili and Kinyarwanda, his regret is that the grades were not balanced and for that matter misses out on government sponsorship. “If I had got nine for each of the two principle subjects, I would be eligible for government sponsorship. Unfortunately I got twelve in Kiswahili and then six in Kinyarwanda”, Ntawicahari said. Ordinarily, with 18 points from two principle subjects of Arts and Humanities, one qualifies for government sponsorship and clearly Ntawicahari missed out by an inch. But all hope is not lost for the old man because he believes it is possible to convince ministry officials to provide an exception. “I always want to believe that the Ministry of Education will consider my age and my financial status for a sponsorship although I slightly missed it with the marks. Just like I’ve been an exception with age at my school, perhaps the ministry would make an exception for me too”, he said. Ntawicahari may have managed to perform well during senior six come but his education journey was never an easy one. Who is Ntawicahari? Ntawicahari is the second born in a family of seven. During his childhood, his love for languages was unmistakable. At the age of seventeen he accomplished Ordinary Level in English, Kinyarwanda and French at Ecole Inferior de Gatovu in Musanze District, Northern Province. But because of limited finances, his parents could do so much to keep him in school. Ntawicahari married in 1982 but 12 years later his love life experienced ups and downs as a result of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. It was during this time that he fled to Tanzania with his family. On returning after the Liberation war, they settled in Gatsibo. Unfortunately, after resuming school in 2012 at the age of 50, his wife got ill and eventually died a year later. Her death disrupted his studies but the old man did not give up on school until completing advanced level last year. Deus Ahimbisibwe the headteacher of Groupe Scholaire Rwikiniro where he studied since 2012 commended his discipline during his entire stay at school. “He has been more than a student at our school. He was like a teacher. Apart from his good performance in class, we cannot mention how many times he helped us to advise students on good behavior and cannot tell how many changed their behavior because of his advice,” said Ahimbishibwe. Ntawicahari wants to pursue a course in education to teach Kiswahili and Kinyarwanda.