National Examination

Education: Performance of Primary school Students in Rwanda, Case of Gasabo district, Kigali City

"The nature of schools and academic performance of pupils in primary schools in Gasabo district, Kigali City"

Education is the primary agent of transformation towards sustainable development. It increases people's capacities to transform their visions for society into reality. All countries strive for quality education for their sustainable development. The government of Rwanda, like any other African country, considers education as a fundamental human right and an essential means to ensure that all Rwandans realize their full potentials. It places special emphasis on basic education as a priority area within the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) because of the strong correlation between education and improved economic opportunities, better life and fewer children (family planning), especially for girls. [Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN), 2005:40].

The Government of Rwanda cannot satisfy educational needs of its increasing population, so the private sector also plays a great role in educational development by creating schools known as private schools which operate at all levels of education from the nursery to the tertiary and enroll a good number of people. In the past, the historical growth in enrolment was largely a public sector phenomenon, involving schools financed almost entirely by the government and managed either by the government itself or, in the case of private subsidized schools, by churches and other organizations. (World Bank, 2004: 32).

At any education level, the quality of education depends upon several factors such as: school facilities, teachers' qualifications, teachers' motivation, management and administration, etc. In other words, a quality school is a school where: pupils respect their peers, their teachers and their school management; have a voice in decision-making, are interested and engaged in their learning; accept responsibility; receive feedback and encouragement from their teachers and feel valued. In addition, teachers work together and share ideas, feel valued and are given support to be innovative, employ teaching strategies that are varied and personalized to meet the needs of all learners. Others are that administrative and support staff work as valued partners with principals and teachers to ensure that students are supported in their learning and that school systems work effectively to support teaching and learning.

The school as a whole is committed to continuous improvement and forms learning partnerships within and beyond the school. It develops plans and targets that address its goals, seeks feedback on its performance, uses data to reflect on its outcomes, reports openly and honestly and celebrates its achievements. It is known that an individual's quality of life and the well being of the society depend on the quality of education. Pupils' performance in primary leaving examinations will greatly depend on the quality of education that pupils have gained in school.

The key concepts in this study are that nature of schools (independent variable) which is conceptualized in terms of two categories; public and private schools and performance of pupils (dependent variable) conceptualized in terms of score in assessment test given to pupils' national examinations.

Parents or guardians are always trying to make the best decisions for their children and their future. They often have to choose whether to send their children to private school or keep them in public schools. Parents will have one or more factors that concern them. According to the National Center for Education Statistics [NCES] (2002), when looking at public or private schools, number of factors comes into play which include; Academic reputation and college preparation; School size and Class size; Safety reputation; Special programs; Costs; Religious and Moral instruction; Location and Ideology.

Public schools offer a general program, designed for all while private schools have the flexibility to create specialized programs for learners. For example, private schools may use art or science in all classes, or take children on outdoor trips. They can create their own curriculum and assessment systems, although they also respect the general program of the Ministry of Education.

In Rwanda, at many aspects private subsidized schools do not differ significantly from public schools in that, public education is education given to the children of the general public by the government, at national, regional, or local, and from the kindergarten through to the university levels. Public education is inclusive, both in its treatment and admission of students. Public education is often organized and operated to be a deliberate model of the civil community in which it functions. It is not a mistake to say that private subsidized schools respond to public education. The differences found there do not have significant impact on pupils' academic performance. They are about the recruitment of management staff, the type of religion to study, some additional funding from the religious congregation that founded the school. While they share many characteristics in common: public and private subsidized schools get the same funding from the government in accordance with their respective enrolment, their teachers are paid by the government, they have the same obligations to enroll all children without any discrimination etc. In this study, these two types of schools will be considered alike under the same term Â«public educationÂ» and Â«public schoolÂ».

Admissions into public and private subsidized schools are by social demand. So to enroll in a public school or private subsidized school parents simply register children by filling out the necessary forms. Public schools and private subsidized schools must accept any resident pupils who apply for admission, regardless of sex, race, religious affiliation, economic status or physical or mental handicap; while private schools are not obligated by any laws regarding admission. Therefore, private school admission is competitive. Also, private schools are not required to provide educational programs for children with special needs. Private schools are also under no obligation to keep a student enrolled. If a child's behavior disrupts the school's milieu, they can be discontinued. Another scenario to keep in mind is that if a child's academic progress is not acceptable, they may be discontinued as well.

According to Rwanda National Examinations Council, (RNEC) 2009, prior to the period 1994, certification and selection to high levels of learning were based mainly on schools' internal assessments which were characterized by subjectivity towards ethnicity, regionalism, nepotism, favoritism and total corruption. This was followed with a law no. 14/1985 of 29th June 1985 concerning primary integrated rural trade and secondary education which was: Emphasizing exclusivity and not competence based on individual performance.

One of the challenges of the Government of national unity (Government set after 1994 genocide) was to establish a body that would eradicate at all costs all forms of discrimination in education system and establish on objective, fair, and transparent system in which the main indicator for equity in education system is the individual performance level and the right of choice to any school or institution in Rwanda. It is for this reason that the Rwanda National Examinations Council was created by the Presidential Decree of 01/05/2003.

Since the RNEC was created, the comparison between public and private primary schools shows that pupils of private primary schools tend to perform better than their counterparts of public and/or private subsidized schools. The RNEC has a culture of celebrating excellent performance of pupils in the top ten positions in final examinations and for the case of PLE, almost all the top ten come from private primary schools. This became an issue concern to the researcher and it prompted a research on the effect of the nature of primary school on pupils' academic performance in Gasabo District.

Authored by Damien Nzabihimana in fulfillment of the Master's degree in Educational Management & Administration at Kampala International University

Source: http://www.memoireonline.com/03/12/5490/m_The-nature-of-schools-and-academic-performance-of-pupils-in-primary-schools-in-Gasabo-district-Kigal3.html

posted on: Thursday February 19, 2015 by Kizito Nkurikiyeyezu

Education: Performance of Primary school Students in Rwanda, Case of Gasabo district, Kigali City

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