Rwanda

A small, landlocked nation in Central Africa, Rwanda faces significant economic, social, and political challenges. In 2000, Rwanda had an approximate population of 7.23 million and was the most densely populated nation in Africa. With an extremely low per capita income and a life expectancy of 41, Rwanda is one of the poorest and most underdeveloped nations in the world (CIA 2000). A horrific period of genocide in 1994 severely undermined the nation's institutions, infrastructure, and social fabric. Since 1994 there have been extensive government and international efforts to rebuild. However, many challenges remain including poverty reduction, human capital formation, national reconciliation, and the rampant spread of the HIV virus that leads to AIDS.

The population is divided into two primary ethnic groups, the Hutu (approximately 84 percent) and the Tutsis (approximately 15 percent), who share a common language, Kinyarwanda. These groups have a long history of conflict, including the 1994 genocide in which approximately 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed, nearly two million Hutu refugees fled to neighboring countries, and approximately 300,000 children were separated from their families or orphaned.

Rwanda is divided into 11 provinces of prefectures and 147 communes. Kigali, the capital, is the largest urban center. Approximately 90 percent of the population live in rural areas and farms for subsistence. Some agricultural products including tea, coffee, and rice generate export earnings. Availability of food is a continual concern in the region due to high population growth, deforestation, and lack of development.

Rwanda was a German colony from 1900 until the end of World War I. Belgium administered the country from 1917 until its independence on July 1, 1962. Under Belgian rule, the minority Tutsis dominated the government. The education system was also controlled by the Tutsis and favored enrollment of Tutsi children. In 1920 the Ruanda-Urundi (now Rwanda and Burundi) territory had 123 schools and only 6,000 students (Duarte 1995). From World War I to World War II, Belgium, under a League of Nations mandate, developed a plan to offer primary school to as many children as possible. Most schools were administered by religious institutions and received government funding if they followed the curriculum and other guidelines established by the Belgians. Secondary service was limited to training for civil service and the priesthood. After World War II, Belgium pledged in a United Nations' agreement to improve the education system under a trusteeship system. Education remained limited by inadequate government inspections, few resources, and limited accessibility. By 1957 fewer than three percent of children finished six years of primary school (Duarte 1995). Under Belgian rule, no institute of higher education existed in Rwanda and by 1960 only 100 natives had received postsecondary education abroad. Religious schools provided adult education, literacy, and religious instruction to approximately 650,000 adult students (Duarte 1995).

After independence in 1962, the First Republic (1962-1973) opened the educational system to all children and founded the National University of Rwanda (NUR). Since 1962, the Rwandan government has actively sought to democratize educational access and to use the education system to produce a skilled labor force.

In 1994, the genocide and refugee crisis dramatically impacted the education system through destruction of schools, communities, and infrastructure and massive social displacement. Since 1994, the government and international organizations have been committed to rebuilding and enhancing the education system as a fundamental strategy for broad development. However, education services remain limited and challenges raised by the genocide, subsequent refugee flight, and economic underdevelopment continue. A 1996 survey by the government and United Nations Population Fund found that 59.6 percent of the population age six and over had a primary education, 3.9 percent had completed secondary school and only .2 percent had a university education (CIA 2000).

Since 1995, the Rwandan government has worked closely with local and international nongovernmental organizations to provide services to children. The government has been committed to improving educational services and to reuniting children separated from their families or orphaned by the 1994 genocide and 1996 repatriation. By 1999, some 85 percent of these children had been reunited with their families or placed in foster homes (CIA 2000). In January 2001, President Paul Kagame reported that since 1995, the number of students in tertiary institutions increased from approximately 3,000 to approximately 7,000, and enrollment in secondary schools rose to 124,000. Rwandan schools have also eliminated an ethnic quota system for admittance, which had existed since the 1960s (Rwanda News Agency 2001).