Rwanda wants 1,000 English teachers
RWANDA needs close to 1,000 English teachers following the country’s switch from French to English as the language of instruction in schools.
By Conan Businge and Francis Kagolo
RWANDA needs close to 1,000 English teachers following the country’s switch from French to English as the language of instruction in schools.
Rwanda wants teachers from Uganda and other neighbouring countries to support its switch to English.
The teachers will be posted to various primary and junior secondary schools. Others are slated to get jobs at the government’s International Languages and Management Institute (ILMI), which was commissioned early this year to teach English to local citizens, business executives, and public officials English.
Aggrey Kibenge, Uganda’s education ministry’s spokesperson, in a press statement, said Rwanda communicated about the vacancies on September 27, 2010.
“The Education Service Commission in collaboration with the ministry of education of Rwanda announced that the government of Rwanda has embarked on a massive recruitment of teachers of English,†he wrote. “Teachers (will be sourced) from within and outside Rwanda; including the East African Community region.â€
Kibenge said interested teachers must immediately submit their applications and prepare for interviews at the High Commission of Rwanda in Kampala this month.
“This is a welcome move on our part as the ministry and the country at large,†said Kibenge later during a phone interview. “It is one of our expectations as a result of signing the (East African) common market. Several restrictions have been removed, so now there is easy movement of labour.â€
Asked about the exact number of vacancies available, Kibenge said he lacked specific information. Efforts to get the figure from Rwanda’s high commission were also futile as the phone calls could not go through. However, other sources say English teachers are needed across the country, giving an estimate of between 500 and 1,000 vacancies.
“ILMI is ready to hire talented instructors to teach English and/or Business English to government officials and business executives in Rwanda,†read an announcement on ESL-Jobs, an online jobmart.
In 2008, the government of Rwanda decided to switch from French to English as one of the languages of instruction.
Rwanda has accordingly embarked on building the English language teaching capacity of all primary and secondary school teachers by organising and conducting English language training.
As a result, a number of Ugandan teachers have been getting jobs there to train Rwandan teachers to speak and write English.
However, Rwanda’s remuneration of teachers is not far better than Uganda’s. According to an article published in the New Times, Rwanda’s daily newspaper, last year, primary teachers in public institutions earn between Frw20,000 (about sh73,666) to Frw62,000 (about sh228,365) per month depending on their experience.
On the other hand, drivers in many government institutions, the paper said, earn between Frw100,000 (about sh368, 330) to Frw150,000 (about sh552, 495).
It is not clear if the Ugandan teachers would be paid as expatriates.
Celebrating the world teachers’ day last week, Rwandan teachers demanded for a pay rise, saying what they earn does not match with the market prices.
In Uganda, a primary teacher earns between sh240,000 and sh260,000 monthly depending on experience.
Until October 2008, education in Rwanda was dispensed in a mixture of its three official languages: local Kinyarwanda; French, which is spoken mainly by educated elite; and English, which was added in 1994.
Outside major towns, a vast majority speak only Kinyarwanda. Part of the government’s rationale for the switch was that it intended to join the Commonwealth club of mainly former British colonies, which it did in late 2009.
But the reform was announced during a rupture in relations between France and Rwanda, leading some commentators to speculate that the motivation was partly political.
It came after a French judge issued arrest warrants for nine officials in President Paul Kagame’s entourage. They were accused of shooting down the plane carrying former leader Juvenal Habyarimana–the event widely considered to have triggered the 1994 genocide.
Diplomatic relations resumed in November 2009, and foreign minister Louise Mushikiwabo has insisted the expansion of English will not take place at the expense of French.
The move affects only the education system. French continues to be used, alongside English, by educated elite, and is still offered as a subject at school.
RWANDA needs close to 1,000 English teachers following the country’s switch from French to English as the language of instruction in schools.
Rwanda wants teachers from Uganda and other neighbouring countries to support its switch to English.
The teachers will be posted to various primary and junior secondary schools. Others are slated to get jobs at the government’s International Languages and Management Institute (ILMI), which was commissioned early this year to teach English to local citizens, business executives, and public officials English.
Aggrey Kibenge, Uganda’s education ministry’s spokesperson, in a press statement, said Rwanda communicated about the vacancies on September 27, 2010.
“The Education Service Commission in collaboration with the ministry of education of Rwanda announced that the government of Rwanda has embarked on a massive recruitment of teachers of English,†he wrote. “Teachers (will be sourced) from within and outside Rwanda; including the East African Community region.â€
Kibenge said interested teachers must immediately submit their applications and prepare for interviews at the High Commission of Rwanda in Kampala this month.
“This is a welcome move on our part as the ministry and the country at large,†said Kibenge later during a phone interview. “It is one of our expectations as a result of signing the (East African) common market. Several restrictions have been removed, so now there is easy movement of labour.â€
Asked about the exact number of vacancies available, Kibenge said he lacked specific information. Efforts to get the figure from Rwanda’s high commission were also futile as the phone calls could not go through. However, other sources say English teachers are needed across the country, giving an estimate of between 500 and 1,000 vacancies.
“ILMI is ready to hire talented instructors to teach English and/or Business English to government officials and business executives in Rwanda,†read an announcement on ESL-Jobs, an online jobmart.
In 2008, the government of Rwanda decided to switch from French to English as one of the languages of instruction.
Rwanda has accordingly embarked on building the English language teaching capacity of all primary and secondary school teachers by organising and conducting English language training.
As a result, a number of Ugandan teachers have been getting jobs there to train Rwandan teachers to speak and write English.
However, Rwanda’s remuneration of teachers is not far better than Uganda’s. According to an article published in the New Times, Rwanda’s daily newspaper, last year, primary teachers in public institutions earn between Frw20,000 (about sh73,666) to Frw62,000 (about sh228,365) per month depending on their experience.
On the other hand, drivers in many government institutions, the paper said, earn between Frw100,000 (about sh368, 330) to Frw150,000 (about sh552, 495).
It is not clear if the Ugandan teachers would be paid as expatriates.
Celebrating the world teachers’ day last week, Rwandan teachers demanded for a pay rise, saying what they earn does not match with the market prices.
In Uganda, a primary teacher earns between sh240,000 and sh260,000 monthly depending on experience.
Until October 2008, education in Rwanda was dispensed in a mixture of its three official languages: local Kinyarwanda; French, which is spoken mainly by educated elite; and English, which was added in 1994.
Outside major towns, a vast majority speak only Kinyarwanda. Part of the government’s rationale for the switch was that it intended to join the Commonwealth club of mainly former British colonies, which it did in late 2009.
But the reform was announced during a rupture in relations between France and Rwanda, leading some commentators to speculate that the motivation was partly political.
It came after a French judge issued arrest warrants for nine officials in President Paul Kagame’s entourage. They were accused of shooting down the plane carrying former leader Juvenal Habyarimana–the event widely considered to have triggered the 1994 genocide.
Diplomatic relations resumed in November 2009, and foreign minister Louise Mushikiwabo has insisted the expansion of English will not take place at the expense of French.
The move affects only the education system. French continues to be used, alongside English, by educated elite, and is still offered as a subject at school.