Minister of Education and US Ambassador toured USAID Early Grade Reading program at GS Karenge

Rwamagana, June 29th,2018: In a display of partnership and mutual commitment to educational success for Rwandan students, the Minister of Education Dr. Eugene Mutimura, the United States Ambassador to Rwanda H.E Peter Vrooman, visited three of USAID’s early grade reading programs at the GS Karenge School in Rwamagana District.

At the school, the Minister of Education together with the Ambassador of United States to Rwanda toured classrooms from pre-primary to primary three observing how pupils can learn to read Kinyarwanda at an early age. The Minister of Education commended the work done by Early Grade Reading Project through Itegure Gusoma; Soma Umenye and Mureke Dusome.

The Minister of Education hailed the initiative by parents to promote a reading culture in their communities. “Parents are very important in this exercise because they encourage children to pick up books and read. It very important that at home, school and in general life for children to know and love to read for this will help Rwanda to become a knowledge based country,” he added

The Minister of Education Dr. Eugene Mutimura, noted that the Early Grade Reading programmes complement each other and expressed his confidence that they will prepare the children to become future leaders.

“If children are trained to read, it helps them know more and keeps them busy and away from unnecessary distractions. We will keep working with our partners to ensure the programme becomes successful and sustainable,” he said.

The three Early Grade Reading programs are Itegure Gusoma, Soma Umenye and Mureke Dusome. Together the programs work to make sure children are reading in Kinyarwanda in and out of school.

ITEGURE GUSOMA: Pre-primary students in Rwanda are introduced to books and reading through Itegure Gusoma (“Get Ready to Read”) program. Itegure Gusoma works in 80 Nursery 3 classrooms to train teachers in emergent literacy skills, provide reading materials to classrooms, train school leadership to support reading, and to increase parents’ involvement in teaching their children to read. The program aims to give students the best possible start for lifelong reading and achievement.

SOMA UMENYE: Soma Umenye (“Read and Know”) is a program for P1-P3 students. Soma Umenye targets every public school in Rwanda with a goal of improving the reading abilities of at least one million students. Soma Umenye supports teachers, head teachers and district education teams with training and works alongside REB on systemic changes to education. These changes include creating new textbooks and structuring classroom time to build students’ skills. Through the program all P1 students in Rwanda will have their own reading textbook, which they can take home for additional practice.

MUREKE DUSOME: Mureke Dusome (“Let’s Read”) is a community project that aims to establish and support a culture of reading throughout Rwanda. The program builds school-community partnerships and family engagement in children’s education. Mureke Dusome also works to increase the quality and quantity of Kinyarwanda children’s books, and increase opportunities for students to read outside of school. The program supports communities to establish reading clubs and encourages children to explore storybooks for pleasure as well as for learning and it is is implemented nationwide.

As part of the visit, United States Ambassador to Rwanda H.E Peter Vrooman officially handed over to the Minister a first-edition copy of a new P1 level textbook created by REB, in partnership with USAID, which will be distributed to all public school students in Rwanda in the coming weeks.

GS Karenge is one of the many schools nationwide that benefits from the early grade literacy support for pre-primary and P1-P3 students. The Minister and the Ambassador toured the three programs in two classrooms to observe teaching techniques; they also toured an outdoor reading club where children, parents and community members promote reading for learning and enjoyment.

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