Why Top Education Board Officials Were Fired

Rwandan educationists say the dismissal of senior officials at the Rwanda Education Board (REB) becomes lengthy late, given recurrent shortfalls in this key group. On April 11th, the Cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame removed five officials in REB from their obligations. The dismissed officials consist of Dr. Joyce Musabe, the Head of the Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Resources Department, and Dr. Michael Rwibasira Tusiime, who became the Head of Examinations, Selection, and Assessment.

Department. Other REB officers affected are Peter Mujiji, who served as Corporate Division, and Francis Karegesa, Director of Finance. And Ruta Bagaya, who turned into Head of Procurement Unity. This comes months after the dismissal of the REB boss, Janvier Gasana. Amidst numerous training shortfalls, Gasana was dismissed in February after serving in this function for approximately three years.

Before the dismissal of the REB Director, the President had dropped the Education Minister, Dr. Papias Malimba, replacing him with Eugene Mutimura in December’s ultimate 12 months. Civil servants and private operators in the schooling quarter informed KT Press that ‘cleansing the residence’ in this key institution was long overdue. A Sector Education Officer (search engine optimization) in Northern Province said on condition of anonymity that many inconsistencies in REB administration are affecting the training machine in widespread.“Take, for example, the issue of capitation grants and operation charges the government offers to every public college; we’re alleged to get this fund every quarterly, but we have no longer received it for the entire remaining year,” he stated. Normally, this cash is used to buy stationery materials, furniture, and infrastructure upkeep.“This influences business,” he said.

A director of a primary faculty in the Nyamagabe district advised KT Press that, as a result, “our aid team of workers and suppliers of stationery are very indignant because we’ve no longer paid them for the final two years.”The director said his college has a debt of Rwf1. Five million owed to the guards, cleaners, kitchen workforce, and suppliers.“They have reached a point where they arrive to knock at our homes. It’s too awful,” he stated.

Meanwhile, trouble that started in early 2015 also saved the officials. In June 2015, REB officers didn’t explain before the parliament how a rip-off whereby $516,397 (about Rwf346.Five million) turned into meant for lessons for 14 college students in Nigeria changed into swindled. It involved a few officers in this listing of the five on the pinnacle of former director General Janvier Gasana. Dr. Isaac Munyakazi, Minister of State in Charge of Primary and Secondary Education, had a knowledgeable cabinet that the 2018 National examinations in secondary faculties for Ordinary Level and Advanced Level will no longer keep in mind the Competence-Based Curriculum that becomes introduced three years in the past.“The 2018 National examinations in secondary schools for Ordinary Level and Advanced Level will be performed within the same topics because it turned into inside the final faculty yr,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Isaac Munyakazi, State Minister in fee of Primary and Secondary Education, informed the cupboard that topics that have been introduced with the Competence-Based Curriculum along with ICT and literature in English, French, and Kiswahili at the Ordinary Level should no longer be taken into consideration for national examinations as previously introduced. A ‘Level, topics together with Sub-arithmetic and French shall now not additionally be a part of countrywide examinations “because of diverse challenges confronted within the implementation of the Competence-Based Curriculum,” Munyakazi instructed cabinet on Tuesday introduced in 2016, the competence-based Curriculum ensures that there are consistency and coherence in the delivery of training throughout all degrees of general education in Rwandan faculties. Educationists have an idea of what is happening at REB; they say the group did not deliver the required training substances, mainly – books.

“It would be unfair for the applicants to do sub-mathematics in countrywide examinations and yet no books and laboratory centers have been availed for this course,” André Twagirayezu, Mathematics Teacher at New Vision Secondary School, told KT Press.“Since we commenced implementing the Competence-Based Curriculum in 2016, college students have handiest been studying theory,” Twagirayezu stated, including that for the reason that the new Curriculum turned launched, they were given the most effective batch of books, which is simply one a part of the Curriculum. “We are looking ahead to S3 and S6 textual content books while they’re getting ready for countrywide examinations. It may be unfair for our students to sit down for the examination.”

John Turatsinze, Headmaster at GS Matimba, is likewise puzzled by using the implementation of the Competence-Based Curriculum, saying that it faces many irregularities.“The curriculum gives that P5 and P6 students should have a PC from the One Laptop in keeping with Child Program, but they don’t,” he said including that “We are nonetheless using the vintage curriculum due to lack of educational substances.”Meanwhile, a record through the Auditor General has always raised the problem of thousands of laptops from this software, which can be idle because they may be stored in their boxes. Additionally, there have been inconsistencies in training teachers on enforcing the Curriculum.

“They need to have given sufficient training to the lecturers on how to use the Curriculum. However, they trained the simplest 32 teachers in the district and tasked them to teach the others,” he said, including that they have been tasked to teach teachers at a quarter level in the most effective one week. Meanwhile, another instructor found the difficulty of delays in issuing certificates to secondary faculty graduates through REB. This always strikes those who want to use for scholarship abroad,” he stated.