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Education in Rwanda

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Despite improvements to education and literacy as part of the country's rebuilding after the 1994 genocide, the education system still faces challenges including low school enrolment rates and limited resources. The education system is overseen by the Ministry of Education.

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) finds that Rwanda is fulfilling only 73.1 percent of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income. HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Rwanda's income level, the nation is achieving 94.7 percent of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education but only 51.6% for secondary education.

History of Rwandan education

Prior to 1900

In Rwanda, education was informal and delivered largely through the family. Training was also delivered through Amatorero training schools. These courses included the military and war skills, iron smith and foundry, poetry, basket making.

1900 to 1960

Belgium created a plan to provide elementary school to as many children as possible from World War I to World War II, under a League of Nations mandate. The majority of schools were run by religious organisations and received government support if they followed the Belgian curriculum and other rules. A Belgian census of 1933 led to the measurement and the classification of the population along racial and ethnic lines. Tutsis were given access to the best education at the prestigious Astrida Secondary School and groomed for colonial administrative jobs, ethnic tensions grew as a result. Hutus were often used as forced labor and many migrated to surrounding countries. The tensions grew up until 1959 when civil war broke out and many Tutsis were killed. Others went into exile.

1960 to 1994

After Rwanda's independence, the focus was on restructuring of the education system and the development of a national curriculum. The main goal was to reach more Rwandan children and in particular to improve access to schooling in rural areas. A national curriculum and double shifting were introduced in 1966. From 1977 on, primary school was eight years of education in Kinyarwanda, while three years of post-primary and secondary education were taught in French.

1994 to 2012

Post-genocide years focused on human capital rebuilding and increasing enrolment rates. 1996 saw the introduction of 6-year primary, 3-year lower secondary, and 3-year upper secondary education, where Kinyarwanda was the language of teaching up to 6-year primary, whereas lower and upper secondary, which changed to French and English.

In 2006, The 4th Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP 2006–2010) introduced fee-free schooling for 9YBE - 9 Year Basic Education - including primary and lower secondary. While enrolment rates have gone up, school related costs remain a barrier for many.

In 2008, in an effort to stimulate Rwanda's integration with the East African Community (EAC), English was adopted as the national teaching language.

Several new authorities were created:

  • The Workforce Development Authority (WDA) was created in 2008 to address the growing need for better, more, and more demand-driven policy for technical and vocational training.
  • The Rwanda Education Board (REB), established in 2011, became the implementing agency for general education: giving education policy input on sciences, coordinating implementation of education programs, overseeing curriculum development, education standards, national examinations for sciences, etc.

2012 to 2016

Since 2012, under the new Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP 2013–2015), focus has shifted from increasing 9YBE access and enrollment to improving quality and relevance of schooling as well as increasing access to secondary level schooling with the introduction of the 12 Year Basic Education (12YBE) policy, making schooling fee-free up to upper secondary.

In 2015, the Government of Rwanda introduced a new language-in-education policy that designated Kinyarwanda as the medium of instruction for the first three years of primary school (P1–P3), while English was to be used from Primary 4 onward and throughout secondary and tertiary education. This change aimed to strengthen early literacy in the mother tongue before transitioning to English for higher grades.

2019 to present

In December 2019, the Government of Rwanda revised its language-in-education policy, declaring that English would be used as the medium of instruction at all levels of education, including in lower primary (P1–P3). This marked a reversal of the 2015 policy that had reintroduced Kinyarwanda as the teaching language for the first three years of primary education. The directive was issued by the Ministry of Education through an official communiqué on 2 December 2019.

As a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, Rwanda officially adheres to Commonwealth English (British English) conventions in education. The national curriculum, developed by the Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB), mandates standard British spelling and grammar (e.g., colour rather than color, centre rather than center).

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