English Language Teaching & The Learning Centre in Rwanda

There is a great demand, especially among young Rwandans, to learn to speak English. Sadly, in many parts of Africa, the best jobs are with international non-governmental organisations, and a knowledge of English is a great advantage in seeking work. It is also essential to speak English to continue in school and to go to university. There are virtually no text books published in the local language, Kinyarwanda, so many secondary and college-level course are taught in English.

In August 2007 Network for Africa set up a Learning Centre at Solace Ministries, a genocide survivors’ support centre in the capital, Kigali. They also taught English courses. Before the courses began, volunteers in Canada worked with teaching team leader Roz Gater to create a curriculum especially designed for teaching English as a second language in Rwanda.

The courses involved five teachers and 150 students ranging in ability from absolute beginners to students who were verging on fluent. All of the students were eager to learn, with some walking as much as 20km (about 12.5 miles) a day to attend one two-hour lesson. Students received a certificate of completion at the end of the course. Even after only two weeks, all the volunteers agreed that every student’s confidence had improved, as well as their vocabulary and aspects of their writing.

The N4A team also founded the Learning Centre (LC). With generous donations from supporters, we purchased new books and other educational resources to encourage the students to continue with their English. We hope to provide the LC with a few computers by Christmas. We have already had reports from one of our UK contacts in Kigali that the LC is being used well, with students attending everyday.