From under a tree to modern schools
Dubai Cares helps education take root in Rwanda through its Dh8.9m programmes
Nestled amid the aromatic tea and coffee plantations in the remote rural district of Nyamasheke in Rwanda is a modern two-room pre-primary school that literally has its roots in classes conducted under a tree for children whose parents worked on farms.
Ngoboko Pre-Primary School in Nyamasheke is today among the 30 model Early Childhood Education (ECE) centres. Taken under its wings by the district administration after the local community pooled together funds to build a wooden room, the school has now been developed by Dubai Cares with modern amenities.
Part of Strengthening School Readiness in Rwanda (SSRR), a specifically designed ECE programme implemented by Dubai Cares in partnership with a global NGO Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), the school now prepares more than 100 students for primary education
Gulf News visited the school as part of a Dubai Cares media tour led by its CEO, Tarek Al Gurg. “Our programme is equipping pre-primary schoolchildren with school readiness skills to help achieve smooth transition to primary school,” Al Gurg said.
Ngoboko Pre-Primary is one of 30 model schools where 2,520 children in the 3-6 age group are being prepared for a formal school environment.
Activity-based
“All our classes are activitybased. Children learn by doing things such as playing doctors and patients, bankers and customers, or by building small houses. We use locally available material to create educational tools,” said Papa Diouf, country director of VSO Rwanda.
The project has so far provided 10 ECE centres with new classrooms in Nayamasheke.
Two model centres are located in each of Nyamasheke’s 15 districts. “Through this intervention, which includes teacher training and capacity building, we are tackling the challenges that prevent pre-primary schoolchildren from getting their basic education. The programme also aims ■ to integrate children with special education needs into mainstream education,” Al Gurg said.
The Dh5.27 million programme aims to create centres that can serve as models of best practice in ECE learning.
The programme’s design is also intended to enhance the school environment through rehabilitation of classrooms; improve access to water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities in schools; engage parents and community members in the ECE system; provide training for ECE teachers in the local teacher training college; as well as integrate ECE governance and leadership into the education system.
“With less than 15 per cent pre-primary school enrolment in Rwanda, VSO teamed up with Dubai Cares and invested in developing an inclusive ECE model in Nyamasheke district. At the inception of the project only 1,687 children were being enrolled from 30 model schools. However, last year the number tripled surpassing the original target,” Diouf said.
He added that as the enrolment has only improved slightly to 17.5 per cent in Rwanda, there is a huge opportunity to scale up this model.
In another programme, Dubai Cares in partnership with another NGO Educate is empowering youth through an entrepreneurship project for higher secondary students.
The Dh3.67 million programme aims to transform secondary education by introducing practical and skills-based training to empower students to start a business while still at school. The programme is set to benefit 16,000 young Rwandans in 175 schools across 11 districts in the country.