Ahead of the curve, a major education training wraps up in Rwanda

14 September 2015

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Giacomo Pirozzi

UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) has wrapped up a large-scale training initiative in Rwanda, which was designed to strengthen capacity in educational planning for improved access and quality across the country’s schooling system.

Launched last January, the multi-faceted programme “Stregthening Capacity in Educational Planning of Rwanda’s Education Authorities” brought together 60 participants from the Ministry of Education and delegated agencies, including the Rwanda Education Board, the Workforce Development Authorities, and the Higher Education Council, and District Education Officers.

“The series of IIEP trainings have been of great importance in strengthening capacity in educational planning in Rwanda,” said one senior technical staff. “An effective planning and budgeting process will help us plan for educational achievements, challenges and the way forward.”

With one of the highest primary school enrolment rates in Africa, Rwanda is on track to achieving universal access to primary education. However, this sustained progress has not been paired by an equal expansion of secondary education, and quality remains an obstacle across the school system.

Addressing this issue, Rwanda’s current Education Sector Strategic Plan – active from 2013 until 2018 – has put forward a roadmap to expand recent improvements in access, enhance equity and improve the quality of education. The Ministry of Education has also recognized the critical importance of capacity development through training opportunities such as the recently completed IIEP one for its staff and autonomous agencies and districts.

“Many people have been exposed to this capacity building and it’s hoped that there will be an improvement in educational planning, starting from the Ministry down to the districts, through education officers and others who have been attending,” said another participant.

Through face-to-face workshops as well as distance education via IIEP’s Virtual Campus, the blended training course covered basic principles of strategic planning, education sector diagnosis, and specialized skills on simulation models, programme design and monitoring, as well as cost and financing of the education system.

The project also provided support in establishing a Documentation Centre in the Kigali Institute of Education and a Virtual Library, which collects relevant educational resources and facilitates access to future trainers and education specialists to autonomously develop further training schemes.

IIEP’s training programme in Rwanda was made possible through the Department for International Development’s (DFID) Innovation and Capacity Development Funds