Genocide studies to be integrated in e-learning education platform

Peace and Values Education programme “Ubumuntu Digital Platform” that incorporates courses on fighting against genocides will soon be integrated into Rwanda’s education e-learning platform that is used to distribute digital content in schools, Rwanda Education Board has said. The platform was launched Thursday at Kigali Genocide Memorial by the Rwanda Education Board and Aegis Trust, a global organisation with a mission to prevent future genocides and promote humanity. Dr Irénée Ndayambaje, the Director General of REB, said that this will make it easy for schools, students and teachers to immediately connect to the platform through e-learning system that is already being used for other courses. “We believe that the digitisation of the teaching and learning materials through Ubumuntu Digital Platform will hugely contribute to the integration of Peace and Values Education in our schools. We are going integrate Ubumuntu Digital platform into our e-learning platform that we use to spread digital content in schools and that is why it will reach thousands users,” he said stressing that peace and value education is cross-cutting course in all subjects. He said that while there is a version of printed 40,000 books on peace and values education, the digital platform will go a long way to reach many students through existing ICT-led initiatives in schools like One Laptop per Child and Smart Classrooms. “In printed books, you cannot access videos and voices but this is possible with digital platforms. It must be integrated into our e-learning system. It will help both teachers and students,” he said. Benoît Ryelandt, the Ambassador of Belgium to Rwanda said that since most of young adults were not born at the time of the Genocide against the Tutsi, “helping them learn from the past and understand how hatred and prejudice can lead to mass violence, is a significant step forward to build a stable and peaceful future generation.” How the platform works According to Claver Irakoze, the Digital Resources Manager at Aegis Trust, the digital platform has two main parts. The first part shows a team of operators who can be directly asked questions by users and then interact with them. It also has “tool kit” that includes learning materials such as videos, documents and others which users access as they access other websites as usual without being required to put in a password. The second part consists of courses. “It has courses we have managed to develop based on the REB’s curriculum. For instance, there is an interactive teacher’s guide where a teacher can ask questions to the system and get answers. This part requires that they register and then after give personal identification that allows them access those materials,” he said. This is the same to the students and parents, he said. He explained that for parents ,they designed different video content on peace and values education showing their role in such undertaking. “The videos in Kinyarwanda and English also has a segment about history of Rwanda, the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, how they can talk about it with children, how they can respond when children ask challenging questions and others,” he explained. He said that they will conduct different trainings to ensure people know how to use the system. “The system must reach all schools. In schools without internet, we will seek alternative technology so that they can use without using internet,” he added. Anita Kayirangwa Aegis Director of Programmes said that Digital Platform also target researchers and decision makers adding that the platform could not talk about peace and ignore the Genocide against the Tutsi. editor@newtimesrwanda.com

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Genocide studies to be integrated in e-learning education platform