According to UNESCO, there are currently 130 million girls in the world who don't have access to education. Most of them live in remote areas in some of the world's poorest regions. Darja Markek, ADRA-UK Programmes Officer, shares what ADRA is doing in Rwanda to help address this issue.Since 2017 ADRA Rwanda and ADRA-UK have been working with a group of NGOs* in 28 remotely located schools in Nyaruguru District, Rwanda, as part of the Rwandan Girls' Education and Advancement Programme 2 (REAP2) funded by the UK Department for International Development. By tackling barriers to girls' education and improving enrolment, retention and quality of teaching, the project has aimed to support about 10,000 girls and boys in primary and secondary schools to transition to the next stage of education or gain the skills to pursue employment opportunities. So far, ADRA has trained and mentored 504 teachers in the areas of classroom management, gender inclusive teaching, learner-centred education, and literacy and numeracy teaching methods. It has also set up remedial classes for students who need extra support. "I've learned so much in the training," said Felix, who teaches Maths and Kinyarwanda at Runyami Primary School, "especially when I have a class of 70 students, giving them group work makes them more engaged and it's easier for me to manage."
Results from the programme so far show that the project has had a significant impact on students' English literacy. Although ADRA's work on the programme is soon coming to an end, teachers shared that the learning they've gained will stay with them forever. Some schools have created peer-to-peer learning groups where teachers can share new methods and collectively improve teaching across the school.Darja in reflecting on the event said, "It's amazing to see how investing in teachers and equipping them with key skills can impact the education outcomes of a whole generation of students."
*The group includes ADRA-UK, ADRA Rwanda, Health Poverty Action, Link Community Development International and inHive and is part of the wider Girls' Education Challenge portfolio funded by DFID.
See Darja's impact story that the team put together last year.