Known as the “Land of a Thousand Hills”, Rwanda is home to 13.3 million people, half of whom are under the age of 20 with many dreams and aspirations. Although the country has made impressive economic progress in recent decades, its education system still faces major challenges, especially in the transition students must make between school, higher education and employment, raising questions about what the outlook will be in the coming years.
The country has made significant efforts to transform the situation, investing in educational infrastructure and boosting digitalisation in academia. A new challenge now focuses on combating the shortage of qualified teachers capable of meeting the demand for quality education for all children. This is where ProFuturo comes in.
ProFuturo in Rwanda
Since 2019, ProFuturo has been committed to education in Rwanda, working closely with institutions, the Ministry of Education and strategic partners such as World Vision and the Don Bosco Salesians. Our aim is to offer quality education in the most vulnerable contexts of the country. By 2020, we had expanded the project to 180 schools in 17 districts. In 2021, we initiated a partnership with UNHCR to bring our programme to 15 schools in refugee camps.
Today, in 2024, after implementing the SAT tool, we are present in 17 districts and 151 schools: 109 under the supervision of World Vision Rwanda and 42 under the guidance of the Salesians of Don Bosco, following our Integral Model.
Our commitment to Rwanda encompasses several key aspects: improving educational infrastructure, ensuring equitable access to technology, online resources and fostering the development of these digital skills and 21st century competencies in students. To this end, we work closely with the Rwanda Education Board (REB) under the Ministry of Education and other partners to select the schools to be linked to the programme, secure the necessary equipment and provide internet access in all educational institutions where we operate.
The most recent visit
A few weeks ago, Magdalena Brier, our Director General, and Juan Ramon, Deputy Director, visited EP Giko, EP Apade, EP Gasagara, GS Butangampundu, Paysannat L- A, Paysannat L- E schools in Rwanda to see first-hand the progress of our programme. This trip was carried out in collaboration with our partners, the Salesians of Don Bosco, who have a strong track record in youth education providing vocational training, technical education and various social development services.
During our visit, we saw how the programme is being implemented in the EP Apade school, which has reached the level of “transformation school” in our ownership scheme. In this model, schools are classified into five levels: initial, basic, intermediate, advanced and transformation. EP Apade, stands out in the category of transformation thanks to the commitment that the director is making to educational transformation, fully integrating continuous teacher training and the active support of the parents’ community in the school calendar, thus ensuring that quality education reaches the children of the area.
In this young and aspirational country, we are reaching out to the most deprived areas. While rural schools face daily challenges in accessing educational resources, digital tools such as the tablets provided by ProFuturo are facilitating access to information in both online and offline formats, opening up new opportunities for both students and teachers to continue learning and growing, even in the most remote environments.
The smiles of the students, the advancement of educational goals and the tangible impact on previously neglected communities reinforce our conviction that we are on the right track. At ProFuturo, we remain committed to bringing quality education to those who need it most, because every child has the right to education, and deserves the opportunity to build the future he or she dreams of.
Looking ahead
The future of our programme in Rwanda is focused on better measuring impact and continuing to work closely with our partners. With the support of World Vision, we are improving evidence gathering processes for the improvement of educational strategies and methodologies.
Our commitment is to ensure that every step we take brings more children closer to a quality education, transforming their lives and Rwanda’s future.
#EducatingTransforms
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