Rwanda joined the rest of the world to mark Teachers’ Day on Monday, October 5. This year’s theme is “Standing with teachers: 60 years of protecting the profession, advancing its status and shaping our futures.” In this article, The New Times looks at the state of the teaching profession in Rwanda including the increasing number of teachers, their qualifications, training, working conditions and access to financial services. According to Education Statistical Yearbook 2024/2025, the number of teachers across pre-primary, primary, general and professional secondary, and TVET education increased by 8.2 per cent to 122,828 compared with the previous year. ALSO READ: World Teachers' Day: Rwandan teachers speak about passion, challenges Women representation Overall, women account for 51.8 per cent of the teaching workforce, although their representation differs considerably across education levels. Pre-primary education has 12,884 teachers, with women accounting for 83 per cent of them. Primary education has the largest number of teachers, at 71,879, of whom 55.6 per cent are women. At general and professional secondary education level, there are 29,544 teachers, with women accounting for 35.3 per cent. TVET education has 8,521 teachers, 30.5 per cent of whom are women. At higher education level, there are 5,463 staff. Women account for 21.6 per cent of academic staff. ALSO READ: World Teachers' Day: Five pressing issues Rwandan educators need urgently resolved Qualification levels improving The majority of teachers meet the required qualifications for the levels at which they teach. In pre-primary education, 99.4 per cent of teachers are qualified, compared with 99.8 per cent in primary education. At general and professional secondary level, 87.1 per cent are qualified, while 83.6 per cent of TVET teachers meet the required qualifications. The number of teachers holding an A0 qualification, equivalent to a bachelor's degree, also increased. In secondary schools, the number rose by 10.4 per cent, from 16,819 in 2023/24 to 18,569 in 2024/25. In pre-primary education, 12,085 teachers hold A2 qualifications, 233 have A1 diplomas, 486 have A0 degrees and three have master’s degrees. Primary education has 67,213 teachers with A2 qualifications, 1,343 with A1 diplomas, 3,146 with A0 degrees and 33 with master’s degrees. At secondary level, 18,569 teachers hold A0 degrees, while 7,017 have A1 diplomas, 3,778 have A2 certificates, and 146 have master’s degrees and nine have PhDs. In TVET, 3,586 teachers have A1 diplomas, 3,506 have A0 degrees, 1,296 have A2 qualifications, 33 have master’s degrees and one has a PhD. Academic staff in higher education with PhDs increased from 1,091 in 2023/24 to 1,360 in 2024/25, representing a 24.6 per cent increase. Master’s degree holders remain the majority, accounting for 53.7 per cent of academic staff in 2024/25, while PhD holders account for 25 per cent. Women remain underrepresented among PhD holders, accounting for only about 16 per cent, highlighting the need for more support for female academics to pursue doctoral studies. Additional training Only 55.8 per cent of pre-primary teachers are trained to teach at that level, while the proportion stands at 69.8 per cent for primary teachers and 79.1 per cent for secondary teachers. TVET has the lowest proportion, with only 35.4 per cent of teachers trained for the level at which they teach. The number of teachers trained in special-needs education increased by 6.5 per cent, from 15,177 in 2023/24 to 16,170 in 2024/25. English proficiency As of 2025, only about 4 per cent of primary school teachers had reached the B2, or upper-intermediate, level of English proficiency, while about 38 per cent of secondary school teachers met the required standard, according to the Education Sector Strategic Plan for 2024/25 to 2028/29. To address the gap, the government is implementing an in-service teacher training programme under the Rwanda Quality Basic Education for Human Capital Development Project, supported by the World Bank. The programme, implemented through the Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB), began in 2025 with a budget of Rwf32 billion. It aims to increase the proportion of primary teachers meeting the required English proficiency level 90 per cent by 2028. For secondary school teachers, the target is to increase proficiency from 38 per cent to 75 per cent during the same period, eventually reaching 95 per cent by 2029. Reforming primary teacher training Rwanda has reformed primary teacher training by extending the three-year Teacher Training College (TTC) curriculum by two years. The new programme, officials said, will give trainees more time for practical classroom training, teaching methods, classroom management and child development. The reform aims to produce better-prepared and more qualified primary school teachers. Pupil-teacher ratio Pre-primary has the highest pupil-teacher ratio, at 53 pupils per teacher, followed by primary education at 41 pupils per teacher. The ratio falls to 27 pupils per teacher in general and professional secondary schools and 16 learners per teacher in TVET. Adult literacy programmes have a ratio of 17 learners per teacher. Salary increases for teachers Improving teachers’ remuneration has also been part of efforts to improve working conditions. In 2020, the monthly pay for public primary school teachers, which stood at Rwf44,000, had first been increased by 10 per cent to Rwf50,849. Before the 2022 increase, a newly recruited teacher holding an A2 qualification, most commonly found in primary education, earned a net starting salary of Rwf50,849, which later increased to Rwf95,596. In 2022, primary school teachers received an 88 per cent salary increase, while secondary school teachers received a 40 per cent increase. Umwalimu SACCO expands access to credit Teachers have also benefited from access to financial services through Umwalimu SACCO, which provides several types of loans. These include salary advances, emergency loans, school-fees loans, business loans, agriculture loans, mortgages, vehicle and asset loans, as well as the Sarura-Mwarimu agriculture loan. Umwalimu SACCO's reported loan portfolio increased from Rwf209 billion in 2024 to Rwf221 billion in 2025. Technology and science facilities According to the latest statistics, 40.8 per cent of schools use ICT in teaching and learning, while 26.6 per cent have smart classrooms and 25.9 per cent have computer laboratories. Internet connectivity is available in 83.7 per cent of schools. However, science infrastructure remains limited. Only 11.1 per cent of schools have science laboratories, although 69.6 per cent have science kits. Marthe Uwimana, a teacher at GS Gatsata, said access to loans through Umwalimu SACCO has helped teachers deal with financial needs. She particularly highlighted emergency loans, which teachers can access in cases of emergency and repay through deductions from their salaries. Uwimana also welcomed the salary increases introduced by the government. However, she called for a review of the retirement age for teachers, proposing that it be reduced from 65 to 55 years. She said having younger teachers in the profession could help ensure that schools have a workforce that is energetic and able to meet the demands of teaching. Amini Ngabonziza, a language lecturer at the University of Rwanda, said reducing the number of students assigned to a teacher would help improve the quality of teaching. “Teachers also need adequate teaching materials, including teachers’ books and laptops, particularly as education increasingly embraces digital technology”. Ngabonziza also proposed linking salary progression more closely to teachers’ experience and professional development. “As it happens in some other professions, teachers could receive salary increases after completing certain periods in the profession, with progression taking into account their experience and efforts to improve their knowledge and skills,” he said.
