John Rutayisire on the Future of Education in Rwanda
John Rutayisire is a Rwandan educator who has
taught in Uganda , Lesotho and Botswana. Rutayisire is currently the
Director of the National Curriculum Development Centre in Rwanda, where
he leads policy development in curriculum, textbooks, language in
Education, and most recently has been appointed Chairperson of the
Teacher Development and Management Policy. In this video clip, filmed
when he attended a Facing History Summer institute in 2004, Rutayisire
talks about where education has been in Rwanda, and where it should be
heading. Seated next to Rutayisire is his colleague, Innocent Mugisha.
Transcript:
"Education as a whole in Rwanda--in particular
the curriculum before 1994--was quite guilty. Guilty in that it failed
the nation. It was quite eloquent where it should have been silent. For
example it promoted division and discrimination instead of looking at
the things that brings Rwandans together...
The curriculum was too theoretical, and now you are talking about repair in terms of reconciliation. The repair should come in form of getting a pedagogy which encourages active participation in the classroom, democratic values in the classroom, and getting students and teachers to talk to each other, to interact. And in that way, people can talk about their differences. Differences should be seen in a positive manner. They are a form of strength. And we should be building on that strength rather than looking at differences in a negative way."
The curriculum was too theoretical, and now you are talking about repair in terms of reconciliation. The repair should come in form of getting a pedagogy which encourages active participation in the classroom, democratic values in the classroom, and getting students and teachers to talk to each other, to interact. And in that way, people can talk about their differences. Differences should be seen in a positive manner. They are a form of strength. And we should be building on that strength rather than looking at differences in a negative way."
Related Videos:
Related Facing History Resources:
Video length:
01 min 13 sec
Date filmed:
Jul 15 2004 
