The art by Glory Ngabo Cyuzuzo, 9 was found as most outstanding
Thirty outstanding pupils from across the country have been rewarded for being able to interpret through art, the concept of the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2022 Kigali-Rwanda.
The 30 students and their drawings on “Painting the values of Commonwealth” were selected one per district after going through tight competitive selection stages from the school, sector, and district levels.
This activity was conducted by the Ministry of Education, Rwanda Basic Education Board(REB), National Examination and School Inspection Authority, Provinces, City of Kigali, Districts and schools, and education development partners.
The competition, focusing on five themes was aimed at strengthening awareness of Rwandan citizens and youth in particular in the protection of the environment for sustainable development and raising awareness about commonwealth’s works and impact around the world, especially in Rwanda.
“This was to provide a platform for students to express themselves and their knowledge about the Commonwealth. We plan on expanding this idea so as to engage more students on various subjects,” said the Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education Gaspard Twagirayezu.
The best performers were rewarded with school and drawing utensils by the ministry of education through National Examination and School Inspection Authority (NESA) and its partners.
The winning pupil’s drawings on five themes namely Governance and rule of law, sustainability, health, Youth, and Technology and innovation were put on public display at Grande Legacy hotel in Remera-Gasabo district.
The idea of Kigali Convention Center was outstanding and came out strongly in the children’s imagination as a representation of the country’s icon and a symbol of development in most drawings.
The image was drawn by Glory Ngabo Cyuzuzo, 9, the only girl of the winners and a primary three pupil of G.S Gakenke in Gatsibo district.
The author explored using the Queen’s Crown, how CHOGM in Rwanda brings together commonwealth countries.
She also used Kigali convention center marked in Rwanda Flag colors with 54 pointers, as the meeting place for all the 54 country members.
On the side of the compact image, Cyuzuzo uses two youth carrying the CW flags as a symbol of the power of youth in carrying on the community’s legacy and at the bottom of the drawing, she expresses (with an open arm) how Commonwealth governance and environmental protection are key drivers of the community.
“I focused on the Queen’s crown and the convention center as central to this one-piece drawing because these are symbols that represent us in everything we aspire to be,” Cyuzuzo said.
Other drawings brought out Rwanda as a gorilla tourism destination and showed growth in health, agriculture, finance, and infrastructure among development activities in Rwanda.
Diogène Nsabimana from G.S Kabatwa in Nyabihu district brought out a very clean and well-spaced image that welcomes CHOGM to Kigali showing the city infrastructure and air services and demos the green environment in Kigali.
The same is with Arséne Kayitare Nshuti G.S Nyanza in the Nyanza district exploring the road and housing and transport infrastructure but also depicting the artist’s impression of the heart of Kigali.
Ambassador Guillaume Kavaruganda, the Director-General in charge of Europe, Americas, and International Organizations the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation used the opportunity to further educate the winners on the value of CHOGM meeting in Rwanda.
Kavaruganda also congratulated the winners.
“My wish is to see the artistic talents and industry developed as a profession among young ones just like being a doctor, engineer or lawyer so that it can benefit Rwandans instead of the visitors,” Kavaruganda said.
State Minister Twagirayezu said that they plan to expand this idea so as to engage more students in various subjects and build capacity in arts at the primary levels.
The drawing of 30 awarded pupils, plus the 108 drawings of secondary school students (awarded in May 2022) will be exhibited at Commonwealth (CW) summit in Kigali this June 20-26.
