This archive report was first published on 29 August 2021.
As Rwanda's schools reopened on August 2, 2020, after a 15-day lockdown, educationists expressed concerns that the Ministry of Education's directive to repeat courses taught online during the closure period could widen the gap in education inequalities.
The government, its partners, and private schools invested heavily in digital resources to continue teaching online during the 10-month closure. However, not a single school that followed the national programme was allowed to consider online learning as an alternative to physical learning or charge tuition fees.
When physical learning resumed in November 2020, all schools were subjected to a repeat of the first term, which was almost complete by the time they closed. This directive affected both public and private institutions of higher learning, sparking concerns over quality, particularly after the Higher Education Council audits highlighted a lack of ICT tools, internet connectivity issues, and poor training by learners and lecturers.
Only schools following international study programmes were allowed to pursue learning and teaching under strict observation of pandemic health protocols.
"Covid-19 affected all school children nearly the same way, but those in local programmes suffered more," said Josephine Nazziwa, a teacher at a Kigali-based private school. "Learners under international programmes are largely digitally literate, and parents were willing to facilitate them to embrace virtual learning."
"It appears because the majority of stakeholders following the national curriculum could not afford online learning, all e-learning activities were considered as a way to occupy students until physical learning reopened." — Josephine Nazziwa, teacher at a Kigali-based private school
Despite efforts to ensure continuity of learning during school closures, reports suggest that many children suffered exclusion from remote learning programmes due to limited access to devices and learning materials. Disadvantaged families were less able to support out-of-school learning, potentially leading to lower educational attainment in the long run.
The Ministry of Education admits that there is still a long way to go to increase access to e-learning, hampered by limited ownership of radio, TV, internet, and other devices. The ministry indicates that special measures, including remedial courses and extra class sessions, were adopted to ensure thousands of learners who did not have access to e-learning facilities catch up.
