Kamonyi, Saturday October 05, 2019: Rwanda joined the rest of the world to celebrate International Teachers’ Day 2019 under the theme: “Young teacher; The Future of the Profession”. Celebrations were held in all districts and sector level, at national level celebrations were held in Kamonyi district, Southern Province.

The Minister of Education Dr. Eugene Mutimura graced the event at national level to celebrate International Teachers’ Day. In his remarks, the Minister noted that Teachers Day is an opportunity to award outstanding teachers and appreciate their efforts in advancing quality education.

“The Government of Rwanda is committed to award outstanding teachers from Sector to National level every year, parents are encouraged to participate in this vital programme to acknowledge outstanding teachers at school level. Minister emphasized.

The Minister of Education added that “Teachers accompany day to day our children in the journey to discover their talent and that will contribute to our future aspirations. It is in that outstanding job that teachers do not only support their students but also contribute to the future of our country. We all know that the future of Rwandans starts at school”.

 The Minister of Education explained that, one of the priorities of the Government of Rwanda is education and it is in that context that young people are called to consider the teaching career and join teacher training colleges which totals to 16 across the country. In TTCs they learn how to teach in nursery and primary schools.

 In the Cabinet chaired by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame of 28th January 2019, approved many provisions to empower and develop teachers and others in the teaching career.  For example: Supporting TTC s and Demonstration schools whereby the cost of education will reduce by 50% and the provision of all teaching and learning materials and also the provision of competent teachers; The policy that aims at promoting teaching where teachers will be classified as Junior Teachers, Senior Teachers and Master Teachers based on their experience their performance. This is referred to as teacher career pathway; Graduates of TTCs will be supported to upgrade their education to bachelors and Masters levels, provided they return to the teaching career; A 10% increment in teacher’s salary; Partnership between MINEDUC, MIFOTRA and MINALOC in recruitment and deployment of teachers; Instruction regarding how to cover for teachers that are on maternity leave.

 All the above programmes come to complement existing initiatives such as: teachers’ continuous professional development; and the strategy to improve teacher’s welfare through UMWALIMU SACCO; the provision of teaching aids among others.

 Dr. Eugene Mutimura, the Minister of Education said that the Ministry of Education has a plan to increase the numbers of teachers to reduce overcrowding in schools mainly in primary schools and lower secondary whereby teachers will have a manageable class size to teach. Adding that the Ministry will continue to increase the numbers of classrooms whereby students from P4 to P6 will be in single shift.

 At the International Teachers Day 2019, several awards were given to outstanding teachers country wide and they included: 21 motorcycles, 2 flat screens, 12 tablets, 968 laptops, 60 smart phones, 9 cows and 2 printers. For the first time, teachers at primary level were awarded.