By: Patrick Niyitugize
With Rwanda still recovering from the genocide that took place in 1994, it has had issues in the education system. Most of the schools were destroyed during the genocide and much of the infrastructure was down by the time the carnage stopped. Rwanda had to literally start from scratch to build the new education system.
When I was in elementary school in 2005, schools were still a big problem in the rural parts of the country. One day, there was a storm which almost took down our entire school. We had to study outdoors for the next six months regardless of the abundant sunshine and even the rain. Some of these problems are still happening in the countryside.
Most classrooms have 45 students or even more. Three or four students sit on a bench, which is not enough for three students. This makes it harder for the teachers to control the class and engage every student.
Most elementary schools in Rwanda are day schools. Each morning, all students walk a couple of miles to school. They do daily chores before the start of the class like cleaning the classrooms and restrooms. Also, students can either study in the morning session or the afternoon session because the school is too small to fit all the students so they split the students in half. Therefore, students end up having a little bit more time to do the homework and help their parents. However, on the other side, the extra time can give kids more opportunities to get caught up in bad habits and end up in the streets.
Besides the challenges, education is still the most critical key, if not the only one, to make it in life and be successful in the country. Fortunately, ethical leadership in the country drives the development, and a remarkable improvement has occurred in the past 25 years.