Government through Rwanda Education Board(REB)has started the process to disburse Rwf463.9 million allocated towards subsidizing school fees for best students who opted for Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs)after performing well in ordinary level exams. Irénée Ndayambaje (inset), the Director General of REB told The New Times on Tuesday that the money will soon be deposited to the bank accounts of all 16 TTCs across the country. “Government has decided to subsidize the school fees by 50 per cent for students who chose to join teacher training colleges after completing ordinary level with good grades.It is a motivation to attract best teachers in education system and thus boost the quality of education,” he said. The students must have all passed in Division One, Division Two and if necessary some from Division Three so as to get the needed number of students joining TTCs,the official explained. The subsidy scheme has started with students currently in the first year of TTCs, he noted. “We started with year one students in TTCs and they will continue to get the support up to completion.When they join university and pursue education,government will still cover their tuition,” he explained. The heads of TTCs have been requested to send lists of students to benefit from the scheme and request form for the funds by April 21. The list must indicate the names of students,their index number they used during national ordinary level exams,the option they are pursuing in TTCs as well as the grades and division they got in national ordinary level exam. “We are implementing a cabinet resolution taken in January 2019 to boost quality of education by motivating students to join TTCs. TTCs are the foundation of producing best and professional teachers and they have to be supported to raise education quality,’ he said and added curriculum in TTCs has also been reformed. “The money should be spent for its purpose.TTC administrators must preserve well documents that will facilitate auditors while assessing the use of the funds.Those who will fail to present will be considered as embezzlement and then investigated,” he said. In January 2019, government also announced that it would waive repayment of student loans for a primary school teacher who teaches for three years after graduation. The same will be extended to a secondary school teacher who joins the profession and teaches for five years. The ministry of education says that the incentives will boost teacher retention and encourage more people to join the profession and help improve the quality of education. The incentives were approved by an extraordinary cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame in January 2019. Government,last year,spent Rwf11 billion to cater for the 10 per cent salary increment for both primary and secondary school teachers.
