Hempel Foundation’s Anders Holm and Lindsey Julianna, UNICEF Rwanda Representative announced the partnership, Monday, November 11.
UNICEF Rwanda and the Hempel Foundation on Monday announced the launch of a transformative three-year partnership, initiated in September 2024, on the sidelines of the Africa Foundational Learning Exchange 2024 (FLEX 2024).
This initiative aims to model effective strategies for ensuring all children achieve expected foundational literacy and numeracy. More critically, the programme will generate and share evidence of good practices to inform the scale-up of effective remedial learning approaches to all schools across Rwanda and potentially in other similar contexts elsewhere.
Targeting 150 primary schools in five districts, the programme will equip 1,500 teachers with effective pedagogical skills and tools needed to effectively enable children to progressively achieve grade appropriate learning competencies, including through ongoing remedial learning support to children who are lagging behind. The programme will directly reach 75,000 children, with an equal representation of girls and boys, and indirectly impact additional 150,000 children.
The launch was attended by Etleva Kadilli, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, and representatives from both sides, as well heads of implementing organisations UNICEF Rwanda will work with over the next three years.
Etieva Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa
Anders Holm, Executive Director, Hempel Foundation, said at the launch that the partnership will complement what the Government of Rwanda is doing and the outcomes after three years will help inform policy and decision making.
“Our partnership with UNICEF reflects our commitment to addressing learning poverty and ensuring that all children, regardless of their background, can master foundational skills. This important project aims to support the Rwandan government’s ambition for effective delivery of remedial education in lower primary, utilizing the three weekly hours allocated in schools’ regular timetables, for catch-up learning,”
“The lessons learned will be documented in coordination with the Ministry of Education, and will ultimately inform scale up in Rwanda,” Holm said.
Anders Holm, CEO, Hempel Foundation said the initiative will contribute to what Rwanda is already doing.
On her part, Julianna Lindsey, UNICEF Rwanda Representative emphasized that the collaboration with Hempel Foundation will help to tackle some of the identified challenges that hamper foundational learning in Rwanda.
“Foundational skills are the backbone of future learning. Children not acquiring foundational skills are more likely to repeat grades and have an increased risk of dropping out of school. Remedial education, as recently seen in Rwanda, helps address these challenges,” Lindsey said on the occasion of the launch.
“Empowering teachers, engaging communities, and sharing knowledge are the cornerstones of this project to enhance foundational literacy and numeracy for young learners,” she added, pointing out that depending on the outcomes, the initiative can be extended to address some of the challenges that affect the quality of education in Rwanda.
“Rwanda has made significant strides in primary education, achieving over 94 per cent net enrolment for both girls and boys, as indicated in the 2022-20223 Education Statistical Yearbook. However, challenges remain in the quality of education and the transition to secondary education,” she pointed out.
Julianna Lindsey, UNICEF Rwanda Representative hailed the new partnership which is expected to create impact on foundational education in Rwanda.
The previous partnership between the Hempel Foundation and UNICEF Rwanda focused on girls from poor families mainly in Rwanda’s rural communities, who were offered new educational opportunities and motivating learning environments through remedial programmes. The partnership addressed and looked to solve potential barriers to girls’ education, such social norms that do not prioritize education for girls.
While learning poverty is not limited to the world’s least developed countries, it is most prevalent in these regions, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, the Hempel Foundation’s efforts are primarily focused on these countries, with a specific emphasis on Madagascar, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia as their current priority countries.
The Hempel Foundation, headquartered in Denmark, is dedicated to addressing global challenges through impactful philanthropy. With a focus on education, the Foundation supports initiatives that provide children from disadvantaged backgrounds with essential skills for future success. Partnerships like this with UNICEF demonstrate the Foundation’s commitment to creating sustainable change and empowering communities.
