The PANAFRICAN Review
resolutions , the government vowed that students would no longer have to walk more than 3 km to their schools , a relatively ambitious target given the fact that the average walking distance that is globally considered as acceptable is 5 km . However , given the financial constraints as noted above , the retreat resolved that this target would be achieved within the available financial means .
Innovation
Since that time , the government has adopted an innovative approach to resourcemobilization by joining efforts with development partners , communities , parents and guardians . This public-private partnership ( PPP ) mainly focused on remote areas without schools or those with debilitated classrooms that needed renovations , with each of those involved in the partnership pledging an area of support from cash , to iron bars , cement , etc . Further , the Rwanda Defence Forces ( RDF ) and the Rwanda National Police ( RNP ) have been providing skilled labour , transport and site security to the project . On the part of the community , engineers have offered voluntary services while parents have contributed whatever was in their means : stones , bricks , sand , timbers , money and labour .
The infrastructure that has been built includes smart classrooms , laboratories , TVETs schools and early childhood development centres . Over the past nine years , the government has built 42 , 153 classrooms , including 22,505 classrooms whose construction started in May last year and which were needed to solve the issue of overcrowding and long-distance to schools countrywide according to a 2019 report from the ministry of education .
Consequently , this homegrown solution for school construction has reduced overcrowding and facilitated access to education by reducing the walking distance to school – from 12 km to 5 km in some instances - while the 12 years universal basic education programme has reduced costs for parents .
Donor resistance
Initially , this homegrown solution for school construction was met with resistance from donors who argued that the project ’ s set targets were unrealistic given the limited financial resources . However , the government insisted that what was needed in such times was out-of-the-box thinking . As a result , this inward-oriented approach to resource mobilization whereby people come together to find solutions to their problems has paid off and empowered communities to believe that they have solutions to some of their most pressing challenges . However , it was not the first time . It is from this approach of “ unconventional methods ” that Rwanda established savings and credit cooperatives , that health posts were built from scratch , and that thatched houses were eliminated , among other significant achievements in the country .
But Rwanda ’ s education system still has work to do . Even if the 22,505 classrooms which were deemed necessary in 2019 are now in place , there ’ s still a need for placing greater emphasis on school laboratories and smart classrooms given the country ’ s ambition for a knowledge-based , ICT-driven , economy .
The secret of the success of the school construction initiative is that joint technical teams composed of different institutions and the private sector can be mobilized to execute development targets . Most importantly , however , nothing is impossible when a community decides that there ’ s a problem it must solve – with or without external support .
Dr . Geoffrey Mushaija is the Executive Secretary of the Northern Province , Rwanda .
48