Kigali- 04th November 2019– We promise to be agents of change to support solving of challenges faced in the education sector in Rwanda today– said Akingeneye Cyuzuzo Belise, a Teaching Assistant.
During 2019, Inspire, Educate and Empower Rwanda (IEE) has piloted the Teaching Assistantships Project, which is funded by Mastercard Foundation in contribution to the “Recruit” pillar of the Leaders in Teaching (LIT) initiative, Mastercard Foundation’s comprehensive programme supporting education in Rwanda. The project provides opportunities for one hundred and fifty bright young women who have completed secondary education, with an interest in teaching and education, to gain experience in the teaching profession as Teaching Assistants in seventy-three secondary schools in fifteen districts. For six months, the Teaching Assistants are provided with opportunities to support teaching and learning of mathematics and science subjects alongside qualified teachers, with technical support of Teaching Assistantship Mentors. It is hoped that the Teaching Assistants develop a passion for education as a career pathway or area of further academic study, having also provided additional support to teachers during their tenures.
The month of October marked the sixth and last month of teaching assistantships. To mark this occasion, IEE invited Mastercard Foundation, Rwanda Education Board, Partners in the LIT initiative including; University of Rwanda, Carnegie Mellon University, African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS Rwanda), Laterite, UNICEF, VVOB, FAWE, Head Teachers, Directors of Studies and Teachers from some of the schools in which the Teaching Assistantships Project has been piloted. Accompanied by their Teaching Assistantship Mentors, Teaching Assistants were all arrayed to testify their achievements from engagement in the project.
From presentation of results in the pilot phase of the project, the commissioning event was a “Go Ye Therefore” moment like the great Biblical commission to “go and teach nations”.
As you go on to higher education, by the unwavering conviction I have in the power of education to change lives, I would like to commission you: In all your endeavours, avail yourselves each day to learn something from your environments and experiences. Most importantly, commit to learn continuously, so that you share with confidence, what you have learnt– said Emmanuel Murenzi, IEE Country Director in his closing remarks. In response to the commission, Belise pledges to be an agent of change and to support problem-solving in the Rwandan Education sector.
During their teaching assistantships, Teaching Assistants have been involved in a range of activities in support of teaching and learning at their schools of deployment. They have also supported class management, group wok facilitation, working with host teachers on lesson planning and delivering, sharing classroom experiences, increasing the level of English language use at schools, supporting students’ remedial learning and participation in debating and environmental clubs at their host schools, inspiring their peers to do science subjects, marking and supervising examinations, and acting as career advisors to students at host schools among others.
Through this exposure, Teaching Assistants have been positioned to gain skills and interest to purse teaching careers. With thirty-six of the one hundred and fifty Teaching Assistants, committed to purse Education courses at tertiary level, the Teaching Assistantships Project is on track to complement ambitions of the Ministry of Education in Rwanda, to nurture a teaching force, particularly for Science, Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM), during the current Education Sector Strategic Plan period of 2018/19- 2014/25.
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