Education Partners at the LTLT program closing session
Education partners believe that training in school leadership will transform Rwanda’s quality of education to the better.
This confidence was expressed during a closing ceremony of four year program ‘Leading, Teaching Learning Together (LTLT) Program held on Wednesday, July 13 in Kigali.
The LTLT was implemented in secondary schools from 14 districts through a partnership of several partners.
At the helm is the Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance (VVOB-education for development) in Partnership with Mastercard Foundation’s Leaders in Teaching Initiative, the Belgian Government (the Directorate General for Development Cooperation-DGD), together with Rwanda Education Board (REB) and University of Rwanda, College of Education (UR-CE).
The program aimed at strengthening professional development for school leaders and to enhance teachers’ skills and competences in secondary education particularly in the field science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
While reflecting on the achievements of the program, Marrianne Kiggundu, the Country Program Manager, VVOB in Rwanda said that the aim of the program was to strengthen the competences of key actors in education through improved Continuous Professional Development (CPD) support systems.
“In order to achieve our goal, we reached different key education actors like Head teachers, Deputy head teachers, School-based mentors, School subject leaders in STEM, Sector education inspectors, and District directors and education officers.”
“At system level, evidence-based professional standards for effective school leadership were established, which describe key roles, responsibilities, and competences to be an effective school leader,” Marianne said.
She added that those standards serve as a framework for recruitment, assessment, and professional development for school leaders, and participation in the CPD program has shown positive effects on school leadership practices, which has in turn laid a strong foundation for creating an enabling environment for quality teaching and learning in schools.
“High quality and relevant education cannot be achieved without skilled and passionate school leaders and teachers. We are grateful for this partnership with VVOB and REB, and are confident that improving systemic standards for effective school leadership through this intervention, will build a more professional workforce and hence improve the learners’ experience,” says Rica Rwigamba, Rwanda Country Head of the Mastercard Foundation.
The Permanent Secretary in Ministry of Education Samuel Mulindwa commended education actors for having contributed in improving education sector.
“I would like to thank VVOB, REB and other partners for the successful implementation of the program which has contributed to improved teaching and learning process through improved school leadership,” he said.
For Françoise Mukagatete, deputy head teacher at Groupe Scolaire Kabere, Kamonyi District, “Participating in the training helped me contribute to the improvement of the learning outcomes in my school by putting in place the morning evaluation.”
She said that initially, despite the efforts made by teachers, students were continuing to exhibit low performance levels.
“This time, teachers and students got fully involved in the learning process and this has greatly improved their overall performance, because students make efforts to pass,” she further said.
“We now see schools change into supportive and encouraging places where sector education inspectors, teachers, school leaders and parents work together towards common goals,” said Father Bukenya Wetaase Joseph, the Head Teacher at Don Bosco de Rushaki, Gicumbi District.
