Andrew Mitchell(L) and studnets with Minister Claudette Irere
The United Kingdom’s Minister of State for Development and Africa, MP Andrew Mitchell has commended Rwanda’s education system and defended the reasons behind the recent commitment to support it.
Mitchell made the remarks during the signing of a seven year £12.3 million agreement between the UK government and UNICEF Rwanda to support girl’s education in Rwanda and specifically keeping girls in school under the new Girls in Rwanda Learn (GIRL) programme.
The agreement was signed between Mitchell and Julianna Lindsey, UNICEF Rwanda’s Country Representative during the Second National Symposium on Girls’ Education on Thursday, August 31.
The funding is part of the £60 million Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) funded programmes that will run from 2023 to 2030 to support marginalized girls to return or stay in school and learn.
Minister Andrew Mitchell
“When people in Britain say, why are we spending money educating girls and boys in Africa, I say, one of the people we are educating may be the person who finds the cure for cancer or terrible heart attack,” Mitchell stated.He used the opportunity to encourage young Rwandan girls to study hard because education is the stairway that can make a difference in their lives.
He said that through the new International Women and Girls Strategy, the UK is putting women and girls at the heart of everything to advance gender equality across the world and ensure everywhere they have Rights, Freedom and Potential.
“In this strategy we re-commit to educating girls and standing up for the right of every girl to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to reach her full potential,” he said.
Julianna Lindsey, UNICEF Rwanda’s Country Representative (L) and Andrew Mitchell
Mitchell also commended Rwanda’s progress in advancing the acquisition of foundational skills for all children, especially the significant improvements in the English and Mathematics education programs implemented by the UK funded Building Learning Foundation (BLF) programme in Rwanda.Through this partnership, UNICEF will work to support girls in school that are at risk of dropping out, with activities planned around remedial education and scaling up the Girls Club approach that was piloted by the BLF programme.
The UK official has met and officiated activities of cooperation between the two countries, which are members of the commonwealth family.
Mitchell also this Thursday launched the British Council’s globally renowned Digital Library at the Kigali Public library, the first of its kind in Rwanda.
This is part of the UK’s efforts to make educational resources available to all with free 12 months’ access and provides resources for over 80,000.
