The Lower House has instructed the Ministry of Education to devise a comprehensive plan to address the issue of schools without laboratories for science education, and schools that possess laboratories but lack the necessary equipment and practical training materials. It indicated that this must be done within six months. This was one of the resolutions made by the Lower House on July 19, as it adopted the report of its Committee on Education, Technology, Culture, and Youth. The report covered issues identified in general education during lawmakers’ visits to schools in different districts of the country, from November to December 2022. ALSO READ: Laboratory shortage ‘could trigger change in national examinations’ “There is a need to fast-track the provision of laboratories to schools that do not have them so that students who study there get the required education,” said the Chairperson of the Committee on Education, Technology, Culture, and Youth, Veneranda Uwamariya, while presenting the report. Lawmakers said there was still a lack of (consumables – training materials – and equipment), yet no reliable programme was available to address the issue. ALSO READ: Sciences: Why lack of labs remains a stumbling block Meanwhile, during a session with the members of the Committee on Education, Technology, Culture, and Youth in March, Education Minister Valentine Uwamariya said that laboratories were set up in 329 secondary schools, equivalent to 14.9 per cent of all the schools that needed them, as of academic year 2020-2021. ALSO READ: Coping with insufficient science laboratories Uwamariya indicated that in the financial year 2020-2021, some 1,126 science kits were provided, indicating that they covered 50.9 per cent of the schools in need. She acknowledged that the absence of laboratories and the required tools in some schools were hindering hands-on skills acquisition for students.
