Kigali 7 July 2023: The National Foundational Learning Symposium convened over 100 participants from Government institutions, teachers, students, Development Partners, NGOs, and private sector to discuss progress to strengthen foundational learning.

The two-day Symposium was organized by the Ministry of Education in partnership with the world Bank had the theme “Accelerating Forward to Develop Foundational Literacy and Numeracy” took place from 6 to 7 July 2023 to discuss the progress to strengthen foundational learning in Rwanda and participants also benefited from panels comprising development partners, head teachers, teachers, parents, and students who shared their teaching and learning experiences and provided recommendations.

In her remarks, Hon. Dr Valentine Uwamariya said that the event has truly become a cornerstone for us to come together and discuss progress on the work that we are doing each day on the very important agenda of foundational learning.

“It’s good to see all partners working with us in strengthening foundational learning in Rwanda, be it teacher capacity, textbooks provision, learning assessment, remedial education, parents, and community engagement in supporting children’s learning in one room and added that Rwanda prioritizes building stronger foundations to learning and productivity and this is reflected in our policies and plans”.

Hon. Uwamariya also added that the Ministry of Education continues to make unprecedented progress in improving learning conditions in the classrooms and in reducing distances to schools and it has hired over 40,000 new teachers and are working towards supporting those teachers to develop strong pedagogical skills, English language proficiency, digital skills and ensuring that all our teachers have the required training and certification.

"The historic raise in teacher salaries was a clear acknowledgment of the important work that teachers do in classrooms each day and displays our high-level commitment towards supporting our teachers to do their best." She added.

On the other hand, the Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education, Gaspard Twagirayezu, presented the Foundation Learning Policy strategy, highlighting its various priority areas and emphasising its ongoing implementation in collaboration with education partners. He emphasised that the strategy is being developed and refined as it is implemented.

Tihtina Gebre, Senior Economist and Task Team Leader for Rwanda Quality Basic Education Project at the World Bank, said the bank has already made a significant commitment of $340 million to the education sector through the project to be utilised for various purposes such as improving the quality of education, constructing classrooms, and providing training for teachers, among others.

Gebre emphasised the intention to not just sustain, but further enhance this partnership. They expressed willingness to strengthen both their engagement in financing and technical assistance, with the aim of accelerating progress and achieving this crucial objective.

In her remarks Rolande Pryce, the World Bank Country Manager highlighted World Bank supported initiatives in the education sector often participating in technical discussions around learning assessments, textbook procurement, and teacher training.

“Through these engagements and opportunities, I have seen the deep commitment leaders of this country have towards education and the remarkable progress that is being made as a result‒from developing an innovative home-grown approach to construct more than 22 thousand classrooms in just over a year (now a model that other countries seek to learn from), to increasing teacher salaries, and a rollout of a national school feeding program, ensuring that poor nutrition does not impede learning”.

Initiated under the Rwanda Accelerator Program, the Symposium has become a well-established knowledge exchange and accountability forum for commitments and interventions in foundational learning and aims to foster meaningful dialogue around policy context and ground realities of the foundational learning ecosystem in the country, engage key stakeholders, and identify actionable next steps to accelerate progress in foundational learning in Rwanda.

The World Bank has been playing a key role in the education sector through diverse projects. Some of the ongoing projects include Rwanda Quality Basic Education for Human Capital Project which intend to improve teacher competency and students’ retention in basic education.  Priority Skills for Growth Project which aims to expand opportunities for acquisition of quality market-relevant skills in selected economic sectors and Africa Centers of Excellence for Higher Education project which the aim of delivering quality post-graduate education and build collaborative research capacity in the regional priority areas. Other ongoing projects are improving Human Capital Development and improving the Inclusive Education Initiative project.