President Paul Kagame has reiterated Rwanda’s enduring commitment to education, describing it as a foundation for both national development and personal growth. He said this on Friday, June 6 during a meeting at Village Urugwiro with a delegation from Hope Haven Christian School led by its founder and president, Susan Hollern. The President commended Hollern's decision to invest in the education of Rwandan children. ALSO READ: Kagame tasks new Minister Nsengimana to advance country’s education “Thank you - for doing what our country and our people needed. When we began this journey, there was an urgent need for people to have access to education. That need has not gone away. Education never stops being important.” A student from Hope Haven Christian School won a gold medal in a continental mathematics competition in August 2024. The President hosted students who participated in the Pan African Mathematics Olympiad, which took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, and urged to aim even higher. “I remember my own beginnings as a young boy in a refugee camp, said Kagame at the meeting the delegation from the school on Friday. We studied under trees. We used our thighs as notebooks and dry pieces of grass as pens. That gave us a good start. It was difficult – but we knew it was the right thing to do. Even in those harsh conditions, we understood the value of learning.” He noted that this commitment to learning continued throughout Rwanda’s liberation struggle. ALSO READ: How Rwanda’s education sector will be transformed in next five years “Later, during the struggle to liberate our country, we found ourselves once again in a different kind of school – this time, in the forests. We were still learning. Every step of that journey was a lesson. “The mission to liberate our country was, in many ways, a mission to discover the truth – about ourselves, our people, and our responsibilities.” President Kagame emphasised that education is not just about knowledge, but about empowering future generations to shape the country’s direction. “When you provide education, you are not just teaching – you are helping young people reach their dreams and shape the future of our country,” he said.
