The covid-19 pandemic brought a lot of setbacks. Many lost their jobs, others were subjected to salary reductions and so on. The Russia-Ukraine conflict made things even worse. Food prices soared, inflation skyrocketed and life became difficult for many. However, amidst all those challenges, Rwandan teachers were blessed with tremendous salary increments which came as manna. Despite global shocks, Rwanda stood firmly to advance quality of education. Below is a summary of how the education sector fared this year in the post-covid-19 season. Changes to the official schooling hours Effective January next year, as schools start the second term academic year, schooling hours will change countrywide where classes will be begining at 8:30a.m (they currently open at 7a.m) and will stretch through 5 p.m. The development was designed to “promote quality education as well as improve both workplace productivity and family wellbeing.” The changes were applauded by many across the board. For instance, Mike Ntagishyika Rwagatera, the Head-teacher at College De Butamwa said that they welcomed the changes and they are ready to implement them arguing that it is a good idea. In addition, Rwagatera pointed out that even parents hailed the development and also suggested to start practicing it even early. Generally, he said that they used to start at 8 am. The 30 min increase will be a good time for preparations for both students and teachers among others. Tuition fees for public primary schools harmonized The Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) has made changes in school fees in public schools where since the just concluded the term, parents no longer paid school fees for students in pre-primary and primary, however, they contribute Rwf975 for the school feeding programme. Whereas parents pay Rwf19,500 for day-scholar students in public and government-aided secondary schools, and Rwf85,000 for students in boarding schools. The development was welcomed by the parents and some schools. Diogene Kalisa, a father of three said this was highly needed arguing that schools used to hike fees almost every term without any valid reasons. However, some head teachers complained that they are struggling to maintain the quality of particular services, for example feeding. Responding to the raised issue, MINEDUC revealed that it is currently assessing the implementation of the new school fees policy in particular schools. Teachers’ salaries increased Effective August, the primary teachers started to get up to 88 per cent in salary and secondary school teachers got 40 per cent. According to the Minister for Education, Valentine Uwamariya, only primary school teachers with A2 certificates get the 88 per cent pay rise. That means a primary teacher will receive a net pay of Rwf108,488 up from Rwf57,639. In the same light, she pointed out that the government also increased salaries for teachers with an A1 certificate from Rwf136,895 to Rwf191,811, representing a 40 percent increase. For degree (A0) holders (most of them are secondary school teachers), Minister Uwamariya said they now receive Rwf246,384 up from Rwf176,189. She highlighted that the government also revised the salaries of head teachers, deans, as well as supporting staff. The move was in line to minimise the turnover of teachers in public schools and improve the quality of education. Grading system changed Over the past years, the grading was not the same at all levels of education in National examinations, where it used to be 73, 60, and 100 for general education, TVET, or TTC respectively. However, with the new system, the highest aggregate is now 60, while at the ordinary level the best candidate scored an aggregate of 54 instead of 8. The National Examination and Schools Inspections Authority (NESA) designed the new grading system to easily be understood by any person as well as seeks to harmonise it for all candidates. Meanwhile, the institution also set the instructions in the framework for administering and managing national examinations in schools of general and professional education and technical and vocational training. Zimbabwean teachers arrive Last year President Paul Kagame disclosed that the country needs quality teachers from Zimbabwe and later on MINEDUC signed an agreement with the Zimbabwe Ministry of Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare, to collaborate on education personnel and expertise. Initially, Rwanda was targeting 500 teachers as part of the efforts to bridge longstanding skills gaps and language barriers. However, the first group arrived in October Consists of 154 Zimbabwean teachers who made the final cut in their interviews. Though there were improvements and new developments there were also challenges. Students and teachers fail to report back to school According to the ministry, At least 105,000 students are yet to report to their respective schools and about 6,000 teachers didn’t report as well where they are supposed to teach. Delays in the TVET project The $81 million (about Rwf82 billion) project that would be financed by the loan from the Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has not yet started five years after the loan agreement was signed between Rwanda and the financier. The project is part of the ongoing government efforts to improve the quality of technical education through scaling up technical skills—which are considered to be crucial to reducing unemployment, and poverty and enhancing social development. It was expected that the project would be completed by the end of next year.
