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Teachers during the training

Teachers from 90 schools have received additional training on research-based pedagogical practices after obtaining print and audio instructional materials and training in March.

The Rwanda Education Board (REB) and the USAID-funded Literacy, Language, and Learning (L3) Initiative organized five two-day trainings for approximately 600 P1 and P2 teachers from April 29 to May 5 in Gasabo, Huye, Karongi, Bugesera, and Rulindo districts.

Since April, these teachers have been using story collections, student readers, teachers� guides, and interactive audio instruction programs developed by REB and L3 to support learner-centered English, Kinyarwanda, and math instruction.

Audio programs have been supporting teachers particularly in English by providing both teachers and students with access to fluent speakers of the language. Kinyarwanda materials support teachers in delivering lessons that develop key literacy skills, such as the awareness of the individual sounds in words and the ability to match sounds to letters. Math materials ensure that students not only are learning facts and procedures, they are becoming logical thinkers and problem-solvers.

�This training allowed teachers to practice using the instructional materials and to get our support,� said Mary Sugrue, L3 Interim Technical Director. �It was also an opportunity to engage with teachers and listen to their experiences and feedback, which helps us plan our materials.�

Training facilitators modeled lessons, and teachers taught their own lessons and gave their colleagues feedback. In one lesson, math teachers held up their fingers, asking �students� to quickly call out the number of fingers, aiming to increase the speed at which students can recall basic math concepts.

The Kinyarwanda and English lessons particularly focused on reading skills. In Kinyarwanda, teachers practiced methods for supporting children in understanding a story. �First I show the pictures because the children are interested,� said Solange Uwineza, a Kinyarwanda teacher from Bweramura School. �I ask them what they think the story is about. This helps the children to think and reflect.�

Four additional training and feedback sessions are planned this academic year. The instructional materials are currently in an experimental stage and will be finalized following teacher feedback and student testing results. Next year, Kinyarwanda, English, and math materials for P1 to P4 will be distributed across the country.

Funded by USAID, the L3 Initiative is implemented by Education Development Center (EDC) in partnership with REB and with assistance from Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), Concern Worldwide, International Education Exchange, and the Peace Corps.

Source: The Rwanda Focus

Sanjeev Anand, the BCR managing director, lays a wreath at Ntarama church

Commercial Bank of Rwanda (BCR) on Thursday joined the rest of the country to pay tribute to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis in the context of the 19th commemoration.

The commemoration was marked at Ntarama memorial site in Bugesera in order to draw lessons from the tragic massacre of more than 5000 people who were exterminated there during the Genocide.

The bank�s delegation got an insight in the history of Bugesera region, and how Tutsis were persecuted before and during the genocide with forced population movements and frequent massacres.

Sanjeev Anand, the BCR managing director, conveyed a message of comfort and hope from the company�s shareholders, management and staff to all those who lost their beloved ones. �We draw lessons from that unspeakable crime and together we raise the voice to say �never again� to all those who deny Genocide and thus support impunity for planners and perpetrators,� he said.

�I hope the whole community will learn from this tragic history and the massacre,� Anand wrote in the visitors� book after touring the site.

The BCR delegation also donated Frw 1 million for the maintenance of the memorial site. �As BCR staff, we will do everything possible in joining this nation in its effort to rebuild the unity of Rwandans,� noted the managing director.

Later in the evening, the staff gathered at the bank�s headquarters to honor its employees killed during the Genocide. So far more than 30 victims have been registered, though research continues to identify all perished BCR employees.

Their relatives thanked the bank management for joining them to convey a message of comfort. �I really get a lot of comfort when I see a gathering like this one coming together to honor our loved ones,� said Rene Rurangirwa whose father worked at the bank.

Ildephonse Karengera, director of the commemoration unit at the national commission for the fight against Genocide (CNLG), requested the bank to respect the terms of contract of the killed employees by providing their relatives with all benefits stipulated in them.

Source: The Rwanda Focus