Teachers and parents have welcomed changes to the school calendar, saying it will bring various benefits to learners. The 2021/22 calendar for primary, secondary and TVET schools was released on September 3. Under the new calendar, the academic year will start on October 11, 2021, and end on July 15, 2022. Among the benefits, students will be in holidays during the hot season. Father Jean Bosco Ntirenganya, Headmaster of Institut de Formation Apostolique de Kimihurura (IFAK), said studying during the hot season was affecting the performance of learners. “We, teachers, and parents had asked that the calendar be changed,” Ntirenganya said. Teachers say that students lose concentration during hot weather, while boarding schools face water shortages. Ntirenganya added that they are optimistic about the next academic year, due to the fact the previous one was disrupted by Covid-19. With more vaccines being administered they hope the school year will go well. Jolie Ladegonde Mukase, a primary teacher at Groupe Scolaire Kacyiru said that the calendar will allow pupils from lower primary and pre-primary school to have a little break before going back to school, since they are still studying. Their studies were interrupted by the previous lockdown. Astéria Munganyinka, a parent, said that the calendar came at the right time, because she will have plenty of time to look for school fees, and better provide for her children. “In addition to that I am glad the academic year will not start in January, because this caused financial constraints due to the fact that after festive seasons, it was hard to immediately get money and spend on the beginning of a new academic year which is usually expensive,” she said. However, she added there is still a problem of schools raising school fees, and we think there should be an intervention on this issue because as parents it becomes difficult for us. Josias Ndamira, a senior five students at Collège Saint André, said that as students they will no longer encounter problems of too much fatigue or dust that could cause them diseases in the hot season. “With this new calendar we are aligned with our peers from international schools, and we will be able to have the same holidays, and interact with each other more, but also be able to celebrate the national holidays like liberation and umuganura while at home,” he said. Gregoire Niragire, Head Teacher of ADEGI GITUZA in Ngoma District, said that the new calendar will allow the government to properly plan, recruit and assign teachers to different schools where they are. “With a month away before schools open we are assured that we will get the teachers we need in time,” he said.
