After the 1994 Rwanda Genocide, a large number of asylum seekers and refugees who had fled the violence, returned home with their families.

Many of them spoke fluent English and French. It was common, for example, to find the younger generation of returnees speaking either fluent English or French but not a word of Kinyarwanda.

It created a sort of paradox for education planners who later settled on both languages as a medium of instruction. The decision was agonising for some students who found themselves being taught in a language they had either learned at a lower class but were not comfortable with.

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Some, for example, even left the public universities and opted to study abroad. First year students at the seven public universities had to undergo what was commonly known as Ecole Pratique des Langue Moderne or School of Modern Languages during which those with Francophone backgrounds received an intensive one year English language course and vice versa.

However, in 2008, Rwanda government decided to make English the official medium of instruction in schools. The public thought it was an overzealous former junior Education Minister, Theoneste Mutsindashyaka, seeking to hit headlines. But as events proved it was a long-term plan by the government to turn Rwanda into an English speaking nation.

A year later Rwanda joined the Commonwealth, a club of former British colonies and Anglophone countries. The move was seen as an effort by Rwanda to distance itself from France which the ruling party accused of aiding the 1994 genocide.

READ: Is France losing its influence in Africa?

Government officials argued that the move to make English language mandatory at the nine year basic education level, will enable citizens to integrate easily into the East African Community of which Rwanda is a member.

Besides, English is the dominant medium of business transactions in the world.

However, the decision to change to English came with its own challenges. The government did not only need to make available sufficient instructional materials but also teachers well versed with the language. It forced the government to look to Kenya and Uganda for English teachers.

READ: Jobs galore for Kenyan teachers as Rwanda seeks tutors

Mid last year, education officials reported that 43,000 teachers had received training in the English language between November 2009 and January 2010.

Analysts doubt the three month training was enough to impart the requisite English proficiency for the educators to ably train their students.

Government also recruited English language mentors from Kenya and Uganda whose delivery terms extended beyond teaching students in classrooms to mentoring their local counterparts in a “trainer of trainers” arrangement that was to see Rwandan teachers speak English fluently as a means of improving their competence.

At Teachers Training Colleges (TTCs), English language lessons have been extended from three to five hours a day to include more grammar and literature and ensure sustainability.

The national statistics body is yet to release results of the national census for 2012 but those of 2002 indicated that 99.7 per cent of Rwandans spoke Kinyarwanda, 3.9 per cent spoke French, 1.9 per cent spoke English and 3 per cent Kiswahili (Swahili is the lingua franca in East Africa).

Rwanda’s old elite were traditionally trained in French while the young generation speaks both French and English languages but educationists and employers say they are still wanting in English language proficiency.

Does this mean that four years down the road Rwandan graduates are yet to fare well in English language proficiency?

“In general, students at public universities fare well [in English language skills] compared with their counterparts at private universities. Lecturing the latter in English language is a strain; you need to be creative to deliver a point,” said Johnson Rukundo, a lecturer of economics at the National University of Rwanda.

A study released late last year revealed that most Rwandans working in the hospitality industry are unable to effectively communicate in foreign languages.

It says the majority of employees in the industry face difficulties in communicating in English, French and Kiswahili, which are commonly used in the region.

The study, commissioned by Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and conducted by OWN & Associates Limited, interviewed staff from 33,305 establishments in tourism industry.

It indicates that 85,730 of the workers in the sector are not fluent in foreign languages, particularly English for effective customer service.