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Rwanda
-- Education
The
World Bank
has estimated
that 71%
of primary
school-age
Rwandans
attended
school in
1992, compared
with 68%
in 1970.
Many primary
and secondary
schools
were looted
or physically
damaged
in the war,
and many
teachers
were killed
or forced
to flee.
Primary
education
has largely
recovered
since the
crisis,
and is benefiting
from international
assistance,
particularly
from the
EU. In 1996
nearly one
million
primary
school students
and 40-45
thousand
secondary
school students
were enrolled.
Schooling
takes 14
years altogether:
eight years
of primary
school and
six years
of secondary
school.
The academic
year runs
from September
to July.
Until the
new government,
instruction
had been
conducted
in Kinyarwanda
at lower
grades and
French at
higher grades.
To accommodate
students
with Ugandan
origins,
the new
government
has introduced
English
to supplement
French as
the language
of instruction.
Some allowance
is also
made for
the use
of Swahili,
particularly
in exams.
The
National
University
of Rwanda
at Butare
was established
as an autonomous,
public institution
in 1963
by the government
and the
Roman Catholic
Dominican
Order of
Canada.
It was closed
during the
conflicts
of the last
decade but
reopened
after the
war's end.
Source:
Taylor,
C.C. 1995.
Rwandans.
In Worldmark
Encyclopedia
of Cultures
and Daily
Life.
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