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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 8, No. 5
Publication Date: May 25, 2021
DOI:10.14738/assrj.85.9995.
Nadege, M., & Annonciata, A. (2021). Challenges to Education Policy in Rwanda : A Review into Preschool Education. Advances in
Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(5). 34-44.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Challenges to Education Policy in Rwanda : A Review into
Preschool Education
Muhimpundu Nadege
School of Public Affairs, University of Science and Technology of China
96 Jinzhai Road, 230026, Hefei City, Anhui, China
Akimanizanye Annonciata
College of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University 688,
Yingbin Road, Jinhua, Zhejiang, 321004,China
ABSTRACT
Although ,Rwanda has approved its Early Childhood Development (ECD) Policy and
Strategic Plan in September 2011, the policy was established and implemented in
different ways in early childhood education, yet preschool has a long way to go.
Equally, having a focus on preschool education is the best investment that Rwanda
can make to achieve other national goals such as, reducing maternal mortality,
eliminating malnutrition and improving access to quality education. Empirical
evidence gathered from secondary sources indicates that government has put more
effort in improving quality of education. Yet on preschool level, indicators available
illustrates that the results are far from expectation. The study further discusses the
challenges faced by government in the design and implementation of ECD policy
that have led to the ensuing situation.
Keywords: Policy, Preschool Education, Challenges, Education policies, Rwanda
INTRODUCTION
Around 45% of Rwanda's population is under 18, presenting unique challenge to take into
consideration. The globalization of education in the 21st-century society has brought
tremendous changes in educational systems across the globe (Stewart, 2012), following one of
the key resolutions of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization EFA
Global Monitoring Report (UNESCO, 2006). Early childhood care and education are considered
as strong foundations for significant learning and development. In her understanding, Maria
Montessori the most important period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first
one, the period from birth to the age of six (Ali,2012). Since then man's intelligence itself, his
greatest implement is being formed, but not only his intelligence; but also on the full totality of
his psychological power. According to Mineduc 2016 Preschool education was defined as an
educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children
aged 3 to 6 years old, before they begin compulsory education at primary school. It is one of the
educational sectors that the Rwandan government is trying to enforce, based on ECD policy
making and strategies. Even if the government together with stakeholders are doing their best
but preschool education still has a long journey to go. Apart from lack of infrastructures,
qualified teachers, insufficient materials needed, parents are the main focus of their children
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Nadege, M., & Annonciata, A. (2021). Challenges to Education Policy in Rwanda : A Review into Preschool Education. Advances in Social Sciences
Research Journal, 8(5). 34-44.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.85.9995
education. Up to now, some children between the ages of 3-6 don’t have access to preschool
due to different challenges. Over the last decade, Rwanda has almost achieve universal primary
enrolment . for instance, primary net enrolment rates have increased up to 95.4% in 2010 (96%
for girls), and primary completion rates have increased from 52.5% in 2008 up to 75.6% in
2010, putting Rwanda on track to achieve the education-related Millennium Development
Goals. Transition to lower secondary education has equally significantly increased over the past
years (from 87.9% in 2008 to 95% in 2009), resulting in increased enrolment rates for
secondary education (from 13.9% NER in 2008 to 22.6% in 2010). Yet, a little has been done
for preschool
The primary dropout rate in 2010 was 12.2% and repetition 14% indicating that the school
system is failing a significant number of children each year. International research has
demonstrated that access to quality ECD services improve children’s performance in school and
contribute substantially to improving internal efficiencies throughout the school cycle. The
current study aims to better understand the existing Rwanda government education policy and
the importance of preschool education.
EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION SERVICES
Over the past decade, Rwanda has been successfully improving access to its primary education,
and it has almost achieved universal primary enrolment. Primary net enrolment rates have
increased up to 95.4% in 2010 (96% for girls), and primary completion rates have increased
from 52.5% in 2008 up to 75.6% in 2010, putting Rwanda on track to achieve the education- related Millennium Development Goals. Transition to lower secondary education has equally
significantly increased over the past years (from 87.9% in 2008 to 95% in 2009), resulting in
increased enrolment rates for secondary education (from 13.9% NER in 2008 to 22.6% in
2010). The primary dropout rate in 2010 was 12.2% and repetition 14% indicating that the
school system is failing a significant number of children each year. International research has
demonstrated that access to quality ECD services improve children’s performance in school and
contribute substantially to improving internal efficiencies throughout the school cycle.
EDUCATION POLICIES ADAPTATION BACKGROUND IN RWANDA
The 1994 genocide had badly affect education in terms of the human suffering and
psychologically on children, teachers, and communities, at the same time education system and
its infrastructures (World Bank, 2005). This presented an immense challenge to the country in
terms of reconstruction, rehabilitation, and recovery at all levels of society, in particular, the
education system. After the 1994 genocide, the education sector, as well as other sectors of
national life, passed through a terrible situation and the main objective was to reshape and try
to restart the education system, which had broken down.
It was in this context that the 1998 Sector Policy was adopted. That policy mainly focused on
how to bring a solution to the real exigencies of the prevalent situation, in order to achieve a
considerable change in the education system after the terrible event that devastated the
country in 1994 (Mineduc,2003). Following education policies, plans and strategies since the
turn of the century have focused on the development of human capital through an education
system that aligns with the Education for All global guidelines. Initially, access to primary
schools was emphasized through policy, funding mechanisms and civil work programs to
increase the number of classrooms. With annual assessments in the system, the quality of the
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 8, Issue 5, May-2021
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
education being provided to children and adolescents has come under examination with policy
and programs also directed at teachers’ education and students learning and achievement
(Mineduc, 2015). Recently in 2011, The Government of Rwanda approved the Early Childhood
Development (ECD) Policy and Strategic Plan. A year later, the Government of Rwanda
organized one day national ECD stakeholder meeting; the objective of this meeting was to
disseminate the ECD policy and plan and to strengthen all stakeholders to implement the plan.
The Rwandan action week on Early Childhood Development was marked and was part of the
global campaign for Education. However, this policy has not tackled the root of education.
PRESCHOOL EDUCATION SITUATION IN RWANDA
Back to the current situation, preschool is not compulsory and not fee-free, free education starts
from the primary level, the access to preschool tend to be in urban areas and too costly for
poorer parents. However, preschool education is crucial foundation of children’s development
which touches in different corners of life including basic skills, social, behaviors, and also as a
preparation of primary level and it has found that there is a huge difference between two
children, one who attended preschool before going to primary and one who didn’t attend
preschool. Children who are nurtured and cared for in their earliest years are more likely to be
healthy, developed in thinking and language, emotional and socially to their oriented future.
Furthermore, it gives children the best possible start in life with greater opportunities and
outcomes in education, quality of learning, physical growth and health as well as productivity.
It is in that regards, that this study was carried out hoping to provide new insights on how to
improve the existing policy so that preschools can be covered . The findings from this study are
expected to inform ECD policymakers and curriculum designers in Rwanda about the
importance of policy to enhance the Preschool Education. It will give an account of reasons that
are behind of the students who are still at home at the age of preschool and this may be useful
in planning for the improvement. Information from the present study may increase policy
makers’' awareness about the importance of preschool. The findings of this study may enlighten
pre-school educators on various changes needed in preschool to be considered and to make
preschool more meaningful to the new generation. Such information are useful in mobilization
and in planning for the improvement since reasons and its solutions have been pointed out.
Furthermost, future researches may access the current study information about Rwandan
parents’ perception towards pre-school education.
CHALLENGES TO PRESCHOOL EDUCATION IN RWANDA
It is commonly known that Pre-school education is the right time to prepare the child for future
development. However, pre-school enrolment is still low in many African countries and the East
African region countries where Rwanda lies, are listed among those with low pre-school
enrolment and parents perceptions along with policy issue were seen as the main factors for
children enrolment to school. Many researchers focused on socio-economic factors and parents
negative perceptions about pre-school. Some researchers who conducted their study in
Rwanda show some challenges hindering the implementation of ECD Policy mentioning
parents' poverty among others but they didn’t address the importance of policy on pre-school
level in Rwanda. The 2020 report from Unicef Rwanda shows that only 18% of children
between ages 3 and 6 have the opportunities to go to preschool. Kids from poor families have
identified to suffer more than three time as likely to be severely stunted than children from
wealthier families . In addition to nutrition and health support, children ca benefit a lot from
preschool years, 3-6years through programmes that provide opportunity to learn through
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Nadege, M., & Annonciata, A. (2021). Challenges to Education Policy in Rwanda : A Review into Preschool Education. Advances in Social Sciences
Research Journal, 8(5). 34-44.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.85.9995
playing and exploration in small groups and more importantly by interacting with other
children as well as adults . The experience from pre-school is likely to increase self confidence
in a child. The preschool years, 3-6 years: in addition to health and nutrition support as well as
continued cognitive stimulation, children during this period benefit from experiences and
programmes that provide increased opportunities for learning through play and exploration in
groups and more opportunities to interact with other children and a variety of adults. Safe and
appropriate support can also be provided within the home setting, through community-based
activities and within the pre-school setting. The strong involvement of parents and primary
caregivers is critical to the success of programmes whether based at home or in early childhood
centres, hospitals.
PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOLS
According to NIS projections, there are approximately 1.1 million children between the ages of
three to six years, the years generally associated with pre-primary education. According to the
Ministry of Education, only 6.1% of pre-school-age children are attending pre-primary schools
(EMIS 2010). The pupil-teacher ratio at pre-primary level is 1 per 33 well above the
internationally recommended levels (OECD has established a minimum staff to pupil ratio of
1per 15 (UNICEF 2008). Rwanda will gradually reduce its pupil-teacher ratio to internationally
recognized levels and in the timeframe, though in the short term aiming at a standard of not
more than 25 children per teacher. The Ministry of Education has a limited budget for pre- primary education which does not at present cover the salaries for pre-primary teachers. These
costs are generally provided by parents and communities or in some cases by civil society
organizations.
PARENTS EDUCATION AND SUPPORT SERVICES
The Consultative Workshops revealed a high nationwide demand for parents’ education and
support services. Apart from some brief components for parent’s education in community
health care services and a few small-scale NGO programmes, parent’s education services are
not available. MINISANTE’s Community Health Workers (Animateurs de Santé
Communautaires) provides an avenue for the provision of parent education initiatives at the
Imidugudu level. MINISANTE reports that there are two CHW per Umudugudu, or
approximately 29,906 CHW in all. They require additional curricular components, educational
materials, and effective training to be able to assist in providing integrated parent education
and support services. Anecdotal evidence suggests that high levels of child neglect and
developmental delays exist, evidenced by the presence of “Social orphans” and street children
found in many areas. These phenomena are related directly to inadequate parenting skills and
parent support services. It is less expensive to provide parents education and support than
costly institutional services. Services for parent’s education, family preservation, family
therapy and counselling help to prevent child abandonment, gender-based violence, and other
family pathologies such as substance abuse, child labour, and child trafficking.
PRESCHOOL FOR A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY
Based on the notion of the child rooted in the vision of sustainable development is that as
retrieved in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child – the child as a right
holder, who is an active participant and has his or her contribution to make to society’s present
and future, and not an invisible, marginal worthless being. In education for sustainable
development, young children’s perspectives and meanings are listened to considered and shape
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the content and approaches of learning (UNESCO, 2008). Group of researchers found that
educators and parents are key components in defining the academic outcomes of children who
are enrolled in preschool programs. Moreover, the community and families have been
highlighted to play an important role in the early development of children, they are considered
as the heart of Early Childhood Development. However, the study by (Küçükturan & Akbaba,
2017) in Turkey revealed a lack of knowledge on preschool education and failure to understand
its function properly. People do not know the importance and necessity of preschool education.
Even the majority of families and educators consider preschool education institutions as
schools for caring for children and think teachers are nannies.
Preschool education for sustainability is much more than environmental education (UNESCO,
2008). It should be wider than simply taking children outdoors to discover the beauty of nature
and speaking about the natural environment. It must include opportunities for children to
engage in intellectual dialogue regarding sustainability, and in concrete actions in favour of the
environment. In addition, it should incorporate learning to be compassionate and respect
differences, equality, and fairness as the world is increasingly interdependent and inter- connected. It was suggested that, instead of talking about the 3Rs (reading, writing and
arithmetic), one should refer to the 7Rs for education for sustainable development (reduce,
reuse, recycle, respect, repair, reflect and refuse). Encouraging scientific and technological
literacy was also pointed out as a component to be included.
FACTORS AFFECTING CHILDREN ENROLMENT IN PRESCHOOL
Rwanda shared the same problem with some countries in Africa. The study by Sebates &
Fernandez, (2010) conducted in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia
revealed that the family size affects the number of resources available per child at home since
every additional child receives relatively fewer parental resources. It found that children from
those families are likely being out of school since the larger the family is the lower the income
will be. This problem is at the high level in the rural area compared to the cities. Preschool needs
to be financially supported in order to provide the quality of Education, so parents are required
to play their role in the sense of finance. According to Nyabate, (2012) in her work concerning
the factors affecting enrolment rate in pre-school in Kenya revealed that most of the school-age
children who are going to school were engaged in different economic activities affected them
not to go to school, also the child labour was another problem which was caused by some
parents who used their children as a source of income through engaging them in order to
supplement the family income which was not enough to cater for the family needs. When it
came to free primary education in Kenya has impacted negatively on access to ECD services.
Most of the parents were refusing to pay school fees in pre-schools by claiming that the
government should pay for them. Therefore this research recommended that parental
motivation is critical to those children’s who are going to school. The research done by
(Ncabira,2005) found that, the level of household poverty increased, child labour became
crucial for family survival, whereby children of primary and secondary schools were employed
to do domestic activities, agricultural and petty trades in rural and urban areas, hence low
enrolments in schools while the study by Habumuremyi, (2013) in Rwanda found that parents
who were able to sponsor their children’s in pre-school education did not take their children to
school due to the lack of trained teachers. This research recommended that there is a need for
Early Childhood Education to be subsidized so that parents should take their children to Early
Childhood Education which can be afforded and educate their pre-school age children if the
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Nadege, M., & Annonciata, A. (2021). Challenges to Education Policy in Rwanda : A Review into Preschool Education. Advances in Social Sciences
Research Journal, 8(5). 34-44.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.85.9995
problem is the school fees due to low income of some parents. In Turkey the issue of trusteeship
was seen as the barriers which made the children not to go to school, for instance “We couldn’t
afford it” Perceiving the child too young: “I pity him” Concerns over Practices at School: “They
teach the wrong things” Perception about the Mother’s role: “The mother is already home; she
can give good care to them” Distrust in Transportation System: “I can’t trust the transportation
system” Lack of Knowledge of Preschool Education: “People don’t know the importance and
necessity of preschool education in our country” (Güler, 2017).
EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES IN RWANDA
Children between 3-6 years benefit a lot from programmes that give them opportunities for
learning through play games and exploration in groups . Communicating and interacting with
other kids and various adults provide chance to children to develop their self-confidence .There
are sectors that play a vital role in children development stage. those are : Education, Health,
Nutrition, Sanitation, and Child Protection sectors. Rwanda has adopted National Investment
Policy in 2003 that calls for various initiatives related to ECD by increasing education and health
services , especially to achieve universal Primary Education (UPE). The goal of ECD policy was
to ensure that all Rwandan children achieve their potential ,healthy, well nourished and safe
and their mothers , fathers and communities become nurturing caregivers through receiving
integrated early childhood development services. However, the challenges are still prevailing.
There is no government budget for preschool , the costs of fees and other materials are covered
by the parents themselves which make it harder to follow and control .
Table 1. Service and Government (Govt.) Organ in Charge
Service Govt. Organ in charge
Basic Education programmes MINEDUC
Maternal and child health, nutrition and
sanitation services
MINISANTE and MININFRA
Social protection services MIGEPROF, MIFOTRA
CHALLENGES FACING EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT POLICY IN RWANDA
VARIABILITY OF SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS AND POVERTY
Although, ECD policy implementation has achieved tremendous outcomes in many area such as
: Reducing under-5 child mortality and morbidity, Reducing the incidence of childhood illnesses
and diseases, child rights and safety and reduction in infant and maternal mortality, and
improve birth outcomes. Still many efforts are needed to overcome child malnutrition and early
childhood education (preschools) for the policy to be successfully. The policy was designed to
ensure a holistic and integrated approach to the development of young children as well as
promoting an equity-based approach for providing nurturing environments for them . Among
other objectives ECD policy was supposed to ensure that all children are ready to begin school
at the correct age and this may entail the special provision of rapid school readiness programmes.
It has been agreed by many researches that ECD investment results into good health , strong
education and economic benefits outcomes. Yet, most of preschools in Rwanda are private with
business driven ideology . on the other hand , in Rwanda, it is the school itself that decide how
much money the children have to pay as tuition fees to be registered. This uncontrolled fees
decisions have made preschool education to be more expensive and heavy to the parents . for
example , the average expenses of a child attending preschool in Rwanda varies between 10-
55usd(in rural area) and 220-550usd to (in urban area) per semester. The required school fees
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is high comparing to the living standard in both rural and urban. Some studies suggest that at
school entry, children from disadvantaged backgrounds could already be years behind their
more economically advantaged peers (Brooks-Gunn, Britto and Brady 1999). Disadvantaged
children are also more likely to attain lower achievement levels or grades for their age and to
have poorer cognitive ability (Vegas and Santibáñez 2010).Thus, a revision on how schools fix
their tuition fees is needed to facilitate parents to pay affordable fees in regards to their
incomes.
LOW FINANCIAL CAPACITY IN RURAL AREA
According to Ntahombyariye & Maniragaba (2012) also cited in (Stefanie, 2012) in a study in
Gakenke District which has a big part of rural area on factors that hindered the effective
implementation of early childhood education established that parents’ involvement in pre- school education was low because they were expected to pay a certain amount for tuition fee
which they were not afforded to pay. As shown in table 1 below, the fees at preschool is high
both rural and urban . Most of the preschools are identified to be private which allow the owner
(investor) to raise fees anyhow .
Table 2: Example of preschools and the fees required by semester ( in rural and urban area)
PreSchool name Academic Year 2021 Fees
Kajevuba Parents
Iniative Irembo
School (KPII)
Rural Private
School
Semester I 108000Rwf
Semester II 108000Rwf
Semester III 108000Rwf
G.S Gaseke Rural Public
School
Semester I 3000Rwf
Semester II 3000Rwf
Semester III 3000Rwf
Les Hirondelles de
Don Bosco
Urban Private
School
Semester I 250 000 Rwf
Semester II 250 000 Rwf
Semester III 250 000 Rwf
NA Urban Public
School
Semester I NA
Semester II NA
Semester III NA
Source : second data , 2021
The above Table 2 gives a general picture on preschool fees burden. The gap between Private
school and Public is significantly high. Despite rapid urbanisation in last decades, still 3/4 of
the population live in rural areas. Poverty spread widely with 39% of the population still below
the poverty line and 16%living in extreme poverty. Poverty is identified as one of the main
factors that influence parents’ decisions, whereby the parents who are aware of the importance
of preschool, their children found a home because they can’t afford tuition fees. This is similar
to what Save the Children (Yu, 2016) reported as the main challenge to the children from poor
families who can’t afford the costs because preschool is not fee-free. Similarly, Ndarihoranye &
Ndayambaje (2012) cited in (Stefanie, 2012) in their study on the socio-economic problems
affecting early childhood education in Gasabo District which is situated in the capital city
revealed that some parents were willing to participate in educating their children.
Nevertheless, some parents were not able to pay the charges imposed on them due to the
insufficiency of the fund.
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Nadege, M., & Annonciata, A. (2021). Challenges to Education Policy in Rwanda : A Review into Preschool Education. Advances in Social Sciences
Research Journal, 8(5). 34-44.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.85.9995
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS
Generally, there is limited number of teachers qualified in preschool teaching; but also some
parents are not aware of the importance of preschool, rather they take preschool as a safe place
to leave their kids. So, the educational campaigns around the country have pointed out to raise
parents’ awareness of the importance of preschool. Although, some parents realize preschool
to be important on children’s development but some of them were not involved in school
activities. Preschool fee-free, collaboration, communication, and cooperation through a home
visit and school activities between family and school can raise positive perceptions of parents.
professional development of preschool teachers to be a good way to improve teachers
capability of teaching. In the study by Paulsell et al. (2015) revealed: “enhancing capacity to
offer high-quality service options, develop strong partnerships, and increase staff
professionalism”
FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROBLEM
Thought political issues, natural calamities, diseases are obstacles to education sector in
Rwanda, poverty is also a big challenge whereby many schools are lack of adequate materials,
professional teachers because paying them cannot be easy and most of the parents didn’t enrol
their children because they can’t afford it . The report by Ministry of Education 2014 revealed
the number of children who attended preschool dropped from 150,000 in 2009 to 142,471 in
2013. Public schools accounted for only 363 pupils enrolled in 2013 from 874 pupils in 2009.
Most schools scored poorly in terms of resources such as suitable games and learning materials
for pupils. EDC centres should be equipped with toys, learning materials, games equipment, etc
However, there is no government budget located into that which make it hard to control. All
fees and materials are supposed to be covered by parents themselves.
DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSION
The study examines the challenges facing the education policy in Rwanda with more focus to
preschool education level . The results indicate that the implementation of preschool education
in Rwanda has faced diverse challenges. Poverty, limited number of teachers qualified in
preschool teaching, This uncontrolled fees decisions have made preschool education to be more
expensive and heavy to the parents and lack of adequate infrastructures are identified to be the
main challenges. However, the magnitude is different between rural and urban. The 2019-2020
Demography and Health Survey reported that Early Childhood Development had large
inequalities which were described by the statistics whereby only 2% of the poorest children
access ECD services compared to 40 percent of the richest(UNICEF, 2017). The challenges are
more severe in the rural area compared to the cities. Preschool needs to be financially
supported in order to provide the quality of Education, so parents are required to play their
role in the sense of finance. It is highly needed to readdress the issue of preschool education in
Rwanda sothat every child can afford this necessary and deserved chance . The study suggest
that parents need also to understand and value the importance of preschool education. The
study suggest that the government should take into consideration of preschool for a fee-free
program because poverty has found to be on the top of issues affecting policy’ implementation.
Finally, in order to have a well-educated society, the quality of education is on the top and to
reach on those professional teachers and adequate materials has to be present especially in
preschool. Furthermore, it is highly recommended that due to the importance of preschool
education, free education (Education for all) should start from preschool, in this way the
financial problem will be solved. Furthermore, this study suggest that preschools should be
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provided with adequate materials and professional teachers to make education more
meaningful. The future research may focus on the impact of Covid-19 on the preschool in
Rwanda as it is highly believe to affect the current situation .
CONFLICT INTEREST
The authors declare that there is no potential conflict of interest of whatsoever.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors sincerely express their special gratitude to University of Science and Technology
of China and Zhejiang Normal University for providing the necessary facilities to carry out our
study.
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