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Full roll-out of new curriculum faces challenges, a year on

Saturday May 20 2017

While schools prepare to sit exams under the new curriculum next year, its implementation still faces challenges such as delays in distribution of teaching and learning materials.

The competence-based curriculum replaced the old theory-based curriculum that was phased out last year in a bid to meet the requirements of the labour market.

However, schools are still struggling to fully implement the curriculum a year later.

A physical verification conducted by the Auditor-General last year and in March this year showed that textbooks and other relevant materials were yet to be delivered to schools. This casts doubt on whether students are prepared to sit the tests in the next academic year.

“The delay affects the learning of the pupils and ultimately the goals of the programme. Therefore, in the 2018 academic year, pupils will be tested on curricular that has not been fully covered,” said Auditor-General Obadia Biraro in his 2016 report released recently.

Earlier, the government had planned to have study books and other teaching materials delivered to all nursery, primary and secondary schools in three phases ending in April this year. However, publishers who were contracted to supply the materials told Rwanda Today the exercise delayed due to lengthy book approval processes by the government, coupled with issues of editing, printing, shipment and distribution.

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More than 15 publishers were contracted to supply books. A section of them said they are still in the printing process for phase two materials, while a few started distributing this month.

READ: Rwandan schools fail to teach using new curriculum

No training yet

Materials under phase II should have been delivered before the start of the 2017 academic year in February. But, publishers say the delay could even be longer as printing is done abroad and takes 30 days while shipment and distribution could take another two to three months.

The 2016 academic year also faced difficulties because most schools reported getting textbooks late. The Auditor-General said the distribution of textbooks for the 2016 academic year was delayed by about six to 13 months.

Textbooks for phase two had not been delivered by March, yet the academic year started in February.

Also, only 500 out of more than 2,541 primary schools in the country had received science kits, according to the report.

On their side, school managers said teachers were not trained on how to use the materials.

The Rwanda Education Board (REB) officials did not respond to our request for a comment on the findings and their likely implications.

But, Minister of State in Charge of Primary and Secondary Education, Isaac Munyakazi told Rwanda Today that the the ministry was doing its best to solve the issues of delay in school materials.

Mr Munyakazi said the delays hampered learning but insisted the impact would have to be measured before deciding whether to text the students as planned.

According to the latest Auditor-General’s report, learning in most schools was equally affected by weakness in implementing the one-laptop per child programme.

READ: Rwandan students to use phones for learning in schools

Some of the devices worth Rwf101.6 million for the one-laptop per child programme were lying idle and unused in different primary schools around the country.