A Rwandan founder’s plan to digitize school attendance

A digital education management tool used in more than 1,100 schools across Rwanda is expanding its role in tracking attendance and flagging potential dropouts, as its creator awaits final approval to scale nationwide. Berulo App, developed by Ian Berulo Cyusa, is currently implemented in 1,173 schools spanning nursery, primary, secondary and Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions. The platform serves day and boarding schools across public, private and government aided systems. According to figures shared with The New Times, it supports attendance monitoring for 1,014,147 learners, 32,185 teachers and 3,275 non teaching staff. ALSO READ: One digital solution tracks school dropouts in Southern Province The Ministry of Education has acknowledged the application as a digital solution contributing to school level administration, particularly in attendance tracking and reporting. In a formal communication, the ministry noted that tools such as Berulo App strengthen monitoring, follow up and data availability within schools. It added that education partners and stakeholders may consider its use to enhance accountability and administrative efficiency where appropriate. At the core of the system is biometric face recognition technology designed to improve the accuracy and consistency of records. Teachers capture daily attendance data in real time, reducing reliance on manual registers and delayed reporting. ALSO READ: 10 things to know about the new catch-up scheme for school dropouts Cyusa said recent updates have focused on strengthening real time tracking and introducing early warning indicators for learners at risk of dropping out. “Since we last spoke, we have improved daily data capture by teachers with biometric verification,” he said. “We have also integrated early warning indicators where the system automatically flags students with irregular attendance patterns so that school leaders and local authorities can intervene earlier.” The data gathered so far has begun to reveal patterns that school leaders can act on. According to Cyusa, consistent drops in attendance often precede higher dropout risk, particularly when irregular attendance stretches over time. “We are seeing clear links between absenteeism and potential dropout,” he said. “We have also observed differences across regions and school types, which helps leaders understand where intervention is most needed. When follow up is done early, the risk of dropout decreases significantly.” Implementation has already covered the entire Southern Province, including all eight districts and 101 sectors. The broader rollout has placed the system in schools nationwide, though not yet in every institution. Despite the progress, Cyusa said expansion is currently limited by the need for final approval from the Ministry of Education to scale further. “The main obstacle at the moment is awaiting final approval to expand to remaining schools,” he said. “Technically and operationally, we are ready. Once approval is granted, we can move quickly to accelerate nationwide implementation.” Schools already on the platform are working with immediate, structured data rather than retrospective summaries. Attendance flows into a central system that supports faster review and response and when irregular patterns are flagged early, the tool creates room for dialogue with families at a stage when corrective action is still possible.

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A Rwandan founder’s plan to digitize school attendance