Rwanda Education Board says that the instructors of teacher training colleges(TTC) will sit for international English standard tests to measure their English language proficiency and quality of skills they pass to students aspiring to be professional teachers.
Primarily, International English standard tests prepared by British council, test teachers on grammar and English vocabulary. But Rwanda Education Board (REB) will intervene for smooth running of the exercise.
International English test to be done for the first time in the country by TTCs trainers will be prepared by British council, a British international examination body in partnership with REB.
These tests will be done by TCCs trainers and administrative staff in all the sixteen colleges across the country, before the end of this year.
“English language is a medium of instruction when teaching, it is important to know the level of proficiency owned by our teachers, this is an international measurement, and we will be able to know the standard of our teachers through this test,”Dr. Irenee Ndayambaje, Director General of REB said.
“The target is not sacking those who will be found with wanting language skills, but helping them to upgrade those trainers through trainings; we have prepared modules for those who will need more skills in English language.”
Testing TTCs trainers was announced during the event to handover 3,859 diploma certificates to teachers who graduated in the sixteen colleges across the country, last year.
The event held at REB headquarters in Kigali City aimed at officially awarding them their diploma certificates, which allows them to compete on the labour market as Primary school teachers.
The fresh teachers from training colleges graduated at a time the government targets to recruit about 7,214 new professional teachers in the 2020 academic year. This recruitment is in bid to improve the teacher to student ratio to at least 1: 46 from an average of 1:56 currently.
In the recruitment plan, the government is expected to hire 3,799 primary school teachers, 3,415 secondary school teachers and 386 for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
“In the nearby future, we shall layoff in-service, but who are not professional teachers. Like other fields, education sector looks towards hiring professionals.”
During the interview with Journalists after the event on Tuesday 14, Dr Ndayambaje confirmed that unqualified teachers to be laid off are recognized, but declined to reveal the total of those to lose jobs.
Going by the available figures from Ministry Of Education, there are 65,000 teachers in the country, among these; qualified primary teachers are 98.6% while 76% are in secondary schools.
Mathematically, considering these statistics, an estimation of 2% primary teachers could lose jobs than 24% in secondary school.
