Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) has announced plans to spend Rwf12 billion to distribute laptops to 25,000 primary school teachers. The move is part of One Laptop per Teacher Programme. ALSO READ: All public school teachers in Rwanda to get laptops The issue of delay in laptop distribution to teachers was highlighted in the Auditor General’s annual audit report for the 2021/2022 fiscal year and was discussed by members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last week. Emmanuel Shyaka, the SPIU coordinator at REB said a Rwf12 billion tender is underway to procure 25,000 laptops. The laptops will be distributed after training the teachers. The computers will be used for research to boost the quality of education. All primary school teachers will obtain laptops, “he said. The 25,000 laptops are expected to be used in the 2024/2025 academic year. According to REB, the number of teachers with laptops increased from 4,823 in 2017 to 16,517 in 2023 yet there are 67,000 primary school teachers. There are around 100,000 teachers both in primary and secondary school across the country. The budget increases, more teachers will get laptops in 2025. All teachers will have laptops through the 'One Laptop Per Teacher' initiative, he said. The Director General of REB, Nelson Mbarushimana, said ICT promotion in all schools is expected to improve quality of education as One Laptop Per Teacher programme reaches all schools. So far, there are schools with internet, a number that has increased from 723 in 2017 to 2,223. Through 'Rwanda EQUIP initiative' some teachers were also given tablets to facilitate teaching and learning. Laptop distribution will also help access online books. According to the Auditor General’s report, the number of printed textbooks is still few. It shows that one book was being shared between five pupils and 48 pupils in all provinces. The audit also noted delays of between 286 and 971 days in delivering 1,857,376 textbooks to different schools.
