When a letter from the Ministry of Education landed on Evariste Karangwa's desk on February 11, 1997, it presented what seemed like an impossible request. As headteacher of Groupe Scolaire Gahini in present-day Kayonza District, he was asked to admit eight students with visual impairment—children many schools had already turned away.

Karangwa had no training in special needs education. His school had neither Braille materials nor teachers trained to support learners with disabilities. Resources were scarce, and Rwanda itself was still rebuilding after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

His first instinct was to politely decline. Instead, a conversation with his wife changed not only his decision but also the course of inclusive education in Rwanda.

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Nearly three decades later, Karangwa is widely regarded as one of the country&039;s leading pioneers of inclusive and special needs education.

What began with opening the doors of one secondary school to eight blind students evolved into a lifelong mission that saw him influence teacher training, shape national policy, champion university admissions for students with disabilities and establish the University of Rwanda's School of Inclusive and Special Needs Education.

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Looking back, Karangwa describes that letter as the beginning of a journey he never planned.

"I received a letter from the Ministry of Education on February 11, 1997, to enrol eight students with visual impairment. I did not know much about inclusive education. That's when I started the journey, trying to understand what I was expected to do," he said in an interview with The New Times.

The wife’s interventions

Before making his decision, Karangwa met representatives advocating for the education of students with disabilities. As they spoke, he searched for a diplomatic way of avoiding what seemed an overwhelming responsibility.

Then his wife, a teacher herself, intervened. Having previously taught children with visual impairment at St. Helen's School in Uganda, she knew inclusive education was not only possible but transformative.

"As we talked, I was trying to find a diplomatic way of evading them and sending them away. That's when my wife reminded me that blind students can study. She reminded me of St. Helen's School where she had taught children with visual impairment."

Her words changed his perspective. "When your wife tells you something, you listen differently than when a stranger does. I started learning from her," he said.

Karangwa wrote back to the ministry agreeing to admit the students, while openly acknowledging that the school lacked both the expertise and resources to support them.

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Learning while doing

When the students arrived, they came with no specialised learning materials.

"They landed there with no equipment," he recalls, adding that even the Ministry had not yet developed a clear support system for them.

Rather than waiting for government intervention, Karangwa mobilised teachers, sought support from development partners and raised funds to build systems that had never existed at the school.

He secured sponsorship for the students, organised Braille training for teachers, sent three teachers to Uganda for specialised courses, established a resource room and mobilised about Rwf30 million through fundraising to equip it.

The experience fundamentally changed how he viewed education.

"For the first time, I realised I was not truly an educator. If I cannot educate every child, then I am not an educator. And if I don&039;t educate these children, nobody else will," he said.

Leaving the school, not the idea

By the time he left GS Gahini in 1999 to pursue postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom, the programme had become firmly established. "I resolved to leave the school with everything in place."

For many, the success at GS Gahini would have marked the end of the story. For Karangwa, it became the foundation of a much bigger mission.

After completing his postgraduate studies in Policy and Practice in Inclusive Education, he joined the former Kigali Institute of Education (KIE), determined to train teachers capable of supporting learners with disabilities.

His first attempt to establish a department dedicated to special needs education proved short-lived after changes at KIE saw the department close in 2003.

Instead of abandoning the idea, he continued teaching inclusive education as a compulsory course while pursuing further studies abroad.

"When I came back, I still had the same dream of establishing a department. But this time, I did not want to begin something that would collapse."

His persistence eventually paid off. In 2014, the University of Rwanda established the School of Inclusive and Special Needs Education, with Karangwa becoming its founding dean after a competitive recruitment process.

His influence extended beyond teacher training.

In 2007, after years of advocacy, he helped convene a meeting bringing together university rectors and officials from the Ministry of Education to discuss admissions for students with disabilities into higher learning institutions.

His proposal focused not only on admitting students but also ensuring they received the support needed to complete their studies.

Karangwa credits then Minister of Education Charles Murigande for providing the political backing that made the initiative successful.

"The minister simply told the rectors, 'You are going to admit students with disabilities who have passed Advanced Level National Examinations and ask me anything you need,'" Karangwa recalled.

The following year, Rwanda admitted its first coordinated cohort of 39 students with disabilities across five universities.

The initiative later evolved into a national support system coordinating admissions, assistive technologies and accommodation.

Yet, Karangwa said, changing attitudes proved far more difficult than improving infrastructure.

He recalls lecturers who questioned whether blind students belonged at university.

"One lecturer saw a student with visual impairment and ran to the rector's office saying, 'I have a blind student in my class. How can I teach such a person?'"

"Many people thought I was chasing an impossible dream."

Those doubts gradually faded as students excelled. One of his proudest memories remains watching a former GS Gahini student deliver a university graduation speech while reading from Braille paper.

Challenges remain

Despite the progress, Karangwa believes Rwanda still has much work to do. Students with hearing impairment, cognitive and severe physical disabilities continue to face barriers in accessing education and employment.

He argues that inclusion should not mean creating parallel education systems. "Every child who goes to school requires a package of services and learning materials, whether they have a disability or not. Develop that package and place it in an ordinary school," he said.

"I've seen far too many exceptionally bright students drop out of school. I can't tell you the exact number, but it happens simply because our education system is still too rigid." he said.

He also challenged employers to open doors for graduates with disabilities, noting that some institutions still reject them just because they are disabled.

Leaving a legacy, impact

Today, Karangwa who has a PhD in Inclusive Education says he measures success less by the positions he held than by the lives transformed.

More than 213 persons with disabilities in different categories have graduated through programmes he helped champion and are now contributing to society.

Meanwhile, more than 800 teachers have graduated from courses on special needs education at undergraduate level, while over 200 have completed master's degrees.

"I am proud that I have directly contributed to the inclusion of people with disabilities. Hundreds have graduated and are now working. They have families and are proud of who they are."

Among those whose lives changed is Jacques Mugisha, now Executive Director of the Rwanda Union of the Blind, who was among the students admitted to GS Gahini after the school opened its doors to learners with visual impairment.

Mugisha says the opportunity gave him hope at a time when he believed his education had come to an end.

" The school opened three years after I lost my sight,” Mugisha said.

"I had completed primary school, and I thought my education had ended because there was nowhere for me to continue with secondary education. Professor Karangwa opened that door. He believed in our potential when many others did not."

He credits Karangwa's commitment with helping many people with visual impairment pursue higher education and build successful careers.

Now a Professor Emeritus of Inclusive Education at the University of Rwanda after retiring in 2024, Karangwa looks back at the uncertain headteacher who reluctantly admitted eight blind students nearly three decades ago and sees a decision that shaped the rest of his life.

"Those young people gave me another resolve, another drive to do what the country needed but few people were ready to do. From there, I resolved to train teachers, help shape policies on inclusive education and continue raising the flag for my country," Karangwa said.