The Rwanda government plans to
spend Rwf12 billion on construction of new primary and secondary school
classrooms, latrines and washrooms among other school facilities.
Rose Baguma, the Director General
of Education and Planning in the Ministry of Education, said that the move
comes after the Ministry of Finance increased the budget for the education
sector.
The funding is expected to
decongest schools and significantly reduce the distance that the students,
especially in rural Rwanda, travel to school.
Under the plan, the Government
will construct 1,100 classrooms and over 1,000 toilets, increasing the ability
of students and teachers to access school facilities.
“This is part of the
Government’s campaign to uplift academic standards all over the country. This
will ensure that no student travels more than 2km looking for a school,”
she said.
As the budget for education
continues to increase, the Government has also been able to build new school
facilities.
In the 2016/2017 fiscal year,
some 416 classrooms and 470 latrines were constructed. The number rose to 1,043
classrooms and 1,344 latrines in the following year before further rising to
1776 classrooms and 1452 latrines in 2018/2019.
Baguma also disclosed that that
the World Bank has committed $200 million to the education sector this year.
Uzziel Ndagijimana, the Minister
for Finance and Economic Planning, earlier told The New Times that the funding
will help enhance quality of education
“About 70% of the project
will go towards school infrastructure such as increasing the number of
classrooms, equipping them and reducing the number of students so as to
decongest classrooms,” he said.
Ndagijimana says that this has a far-reaching impact on the quality of education because teachers will be able to easily follow up on students on a daily basis.https://allafrica.com/stories/201907240044.html
