The Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) has concluded trainings in use of academic software destined to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teachers.
The software include Geogebra and Chemdraw.
Geogebra is a software package used in teaching. It creates and operates geometric objects whereby a teacher can show a student how to add lines, circles, ellipses and all other geometric functions to a document.
A student can also use Geogebra software to make one object a dependent of another object which means, changes in the original object propagate to its dependent objects.
Chemdraw is a software used to draw tools that allow students to draw chemical structures and reactions as well as biological objects and pathways.
Teachers and students can also use it to predict properties and spectra, and convert chemical structures to International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) names.
The training targets over 1000 teachers in Eight districts including Nyarugenge, Muhanga, Huye, Gakenke, Rulindo, Gatsibo, Nyagatare and Rutsiro.
“REB is training teachers on how to use ICT for teaching and learning as well as developing 21st century skills by utilizing ICT for educational purposes. This activity is being conducted countrywide,” Dr. Nelson Mbarushimana, Director General of REB said while visiting a training site in Kigali last week.
“At the end of the training, Mathematics and Science teachers will be exposed to e-learning resources and ICT tools for innovative approach of teaching and learning STEM subjects.”
The official further said, that beneficiaries will also be equipped with skills to use different software in teaching STEM subjects.”
The training run from 22nd to September 26.
Rwanda has significantly promoted STEM education across all levels of education.
For example, in 2019, Rwanda introduced a modern education curriculum dubbed “New Competence-Based Curriculum” from pre-primary to upper secondary.
According to REB, STEM subjects develop critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making skills to support better learning in other areas.
They also generate skills that are directly applicable to everyday life.
So far, the Ministry of education has partnered with technology-enabled (Tech-Enabled) companies including Microsoft, O’Genius Panada, Zora Robotics and Class VR, Keza company among others to use ICT and technology to promote and develop better ways of transferable skills to students, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity.
The available figures indicate that ICT coverage in schools stands at 64% and 55% in primary and secondary schools respectively. Schools are increasingly using digital content and textbooks.
For example, schools using ICT in the teaching and learning process now stand at 64.7%.
The ministry of education reports indicate that it has provided schools with 1289 projectors and 1,613 Content Access Points (CAPs).
