Rwanda Education Board (REB) has warned head teachers of government-sponsored schools that conduct lessons during holidays (coaching), that anyone caught in the act will be reprimanded. The warning was issued on Tuesday during a one-day meeting of head teachers, school inspectors and vice-mayors in charge of social affairs from the districts of Rwamagana, Kayonza, Kirehe and Bugesera, and REB officials. Damian Ntaganzwa, REB deputy Director in charge of teachers’ management and development, said heads of schools that flout the ministry guidelines will be dismissed. Ntaganzwa reaffirmed REB’s commitment to improve the quality of education, noting that the trend was positive. “It is wrong to take advantage of parents’ ignorance, to extort money from them in the name of coaching their children,” Ntaganzwa said. He said some teachers deliberately skip topics so that they can teach them during holidays to earn extra money. “That is fraud and teachers as well as schools engaging in the act will be punished,” he said. Ntaganzwa said REB officials and other stakeholders had agreed to promote English as a language of instruction in schools. “We discussed the need to enhance the English language in schools. There are school-based mentors of English in all schools and we need to make the most of them. The English language is steadily being mastered in schools,” Ntaganzwa said. Meanwhile, a private company known as Stem Rwanda has started a programme to train teachers in time management. The company’s director, Stephen Matsiko, told The New Times that teachers engage in coaching because of poor time management. “They think coaching can earn them extra money which is wrong. They have almost one third of the year to engage in other projects,” he said.
