............Intake increases as english gets a nod in Rwandan schools   By George Kalisa IN PURSUIT of a knowledge-based economy, Rwanda has spared no effort to transform her education system. Before the Rwanda Patriotic Front liberated the country in 1994, corruption and segregation posed a major block to the progress of education, thus lagging behind in the region. Though, a backlog remains, hope for building a competitive education system in the region is high, given the ongoing reforms and prevailing political will. The sector boasts of landmarks. Enrolment has increased at all stages of education. Following the Education For All policy, nearly all Rwandan children of school-going age are attending school. Records from the education ministry show that 2,190,270 pupils accessed primary education in 2008, compared to 1,636,563 in 2003 and 942,729 in 1994. Compared to 2007, the sector registered an increment of 16.4%. The ministry’s mission of transforming Rwandans into skilled human capital for social and economic development of the country by ensuring equitable access to quality education focusing on combating illiteracy is in line with the trend.   The country has, however, not escaped the challenges of a large student population. To counter this, the ministry came up with practical innovation. Class size has been reduced through the double shift system where children in lower primary attend classes in the morning and the rest in the afternoon. Primary teachers have also been encouraged to specialise in their areas of operation the reduction of the core subjects from P.1-P.6.   Pupils sing at a function in Amahoro Stadium. The education ministry has introduced the double shift system to counter the high number of students in schools.   Notably, the transition rate from P.6 to S.1 tremendously increased in 2009 from 52% to 97%. Equally impressive was the increase in the number of secondary school students over the years. A total of 288,036 students were in school in 2008 in contrast to 179,153 in 2003 and the 50,100 in 1994.   Access to high education has also taken an upward trend in the last three years as a result of liberalisation in the education sector and increased awareness of the importance of education. The government also created a students’ loan scheme, the Students’ Finance Agency of Rwanda that extends financial support to students joining higher learning intuitions.   Only 3,518 Rwandans accessed higher education by 1994. This is by far lower than the 55,213 registered this year. 2008 and 2003 had 45,128 and 20,393 student respectively. The role of the private sector in increasing accessibility to higher education too, cannot be downplayed. This year, 24,293 students, more than half of those in public institutions, enrolled in the private institutions.   President Paul Kagame’s government to boost high education, through the Rwanda Development Board encouraged investment in education. Board officials say it takes only one day to receive a certificate of incorporation for investors in education.   To this effect, the number of higher institutions of learning has from nine to 28 in the last six years. Eleven of these institutions are private, with UUCA, FTPB, INILAK, ISPG and UNLK fully accredited. The other six have provisional accreditation. In a drive to achieve the national development goals, codenamed Vision2020, among which building a knowledge-based economy by 2020 is a core objective, the country early this year launched a nine-year basic education programme which meant that Rwandan children had free access to education for nine years, a shift from the previous six.   Rwandan Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Bernard Makuza, while commissioning five classroom blocks in Musanze district in the northern Province said the nine-year basic education was one of President Kagame’s pledges he made in 2003.   Graduands at a colleege in Rwanda. The country, a former Belgian colony has adopted English as its medium to bridge the gap with it's East African member states who are English speaking   One of the major reforms in the education sector included changing the curriculum. After Rwanda officially joined the East African Community, the country’s Cabinet last year decided to adopt English as the only medium of instruction in schools. The move became popular, following Rwanda’s application to join the Commonwealth where communication in English is one of the pre-conditions. Since then, teaching in English has been fortified. To buttress the programme, Rwanda’s education ministry has taken tangible and effective steps on its journey to transform the education system. At the beginning of the academic year, the government hired over 50 highly experienced Ugandan teacher trainers to fast-track the transformation process.   And, every holiday, primary teachers with a Francophone background convene in training centres to be trained in English for communication and for teaching. The programme, for which USAID is one of the sponsors, has entered its third phase.