Kigali, Monday – July 8th, 2019: The Minister of State in charge of Primary and Secondary Education Dr. Isaac Munyakazi officiated opening of a five days regional training session taking place in Kigali. Nine participants representing respective Eight countries have participated in this important training and the countries are: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

The Regional Training Session for Anglophone Africa happening in Kigali, Rwanda was organized under the theme: Cracking the Code: Quality, Gender-Responsive STEM Education

Addressing participants, the Minister of State thanked UNESCO for having chosen Rwanda to host this important training and further appreciated the role of organizers and technical teams.

“The aim of the regional training is to develop a cohort of professional trainers to effectively deliver curriculum for Gender-Responsive Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education and will provide an opportunity participants to consider the current situation in participating countries, good practices and actions to be taken to ensure gender- responsive quality STEM Education’ The State Minister explained;

He further noted that the Government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Education is focusing on the promotion of Science Technology and Research (STR) in line with National Strategy for Transformation whose main orientations and aspirations in education for the country are Knowledge-based Economy, Promotion of the STEM and ICT in Education system and enhancing quality education, inclusive and lifelong education for all schools. 

Currently, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in Rwanda has made improvements in various aspects of life, such as health, ICT infrastructure, sustainable and renewable energy production, modern agriculture and others.

During the five days of the training participants will focus on the six thematic units of the programme, which are STEM Education in Africa ; Gender and STEM Education; Leadership for Gender-Responsive STEM Education; Gender-Responsive Pedagogy; Gender-Responsive Teaching and Learning Resources; Digital Skills and ICT Integration in STEM Education.

The training session adopts a theory to practice approach to explore relevant issues and employs a mixture of interactive pedagogy to build on participants’ skills. Planned activities include: case studies, guided group activities, field visits, presentations by resource persons, and practical and critical analysis exercises.