Due to COVID-19, Rwanda’s Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) has confirmed that all primary and secondary schools will restart their first-term in September. This summer, B2R Scholars, Biko Iryumugaba and Bienvenu Didace Irafashahave the opportunity to intern with MINEDUC to research and develop innovative solutions to address the challenges that the new calendar change presents

With roughly half a million students repeating Primary 1 this fall and the same amount starting school this September, their team is focused on finding innovative ways to “re-think” Rwanda’s education system to accommodate every student and make reforms to the current school curriculum. 

“I am interested in decentralizing primary and secondary education systems and making them more community-based and locally contextualized. Education shapes our view of the lives we wish for. If education is to be an engine of development, it is very important that at those early stages students view their lives in the context of addressing their communities’ challenges and needs.”

– Bienvenu Didace Irafasha, Columbia University

“I am personally interested in decolonizing curriculum and this [internship] presents an opportunity to work on this idea. My hope is that I can work on it and perhaps achieve a decolonized curriculum for both primary and secondary students.”

– Biko Iryumugaba, Brown University