AFRICA NEWS AGENCY
The country has invested in girls’ education by adopting different strategies to address the additional challenges they face – Photo credit Gashora Girls Academy - RR
Rwanda: Girls lead the way in STEM Female students continue to top national exams and science courses. These results are due largely to the efforts by the government and civil society to promote access and success for girls at all levels of education. The ultimate obstacle, namely social constraints still needs to be overcome.
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By Resilient.digital-africa.co When the results of the national ordinary level exams (an academic test organized by the State at the end of the first cycle of secondary education) were published on October 4 in Rwanda, seven out of the top ten best performers were girls. The first winner was Françoise TUMUKUNDA, a 16-year-old girl from Nyamasheke (Western Province). The brilliant student is currently studying physics, chemistry and mathematics at the Gashora Girls Academy, one of the best schools in the land of a Thousand hills, reserved exclusively for girls. Given the importance of science knowledge in national exams, Françoise is a perfect example of the progression of girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathe-
matics) education in recent years. According to data from the Ministry of Education, the number of girls enrolled in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) - which is highly «science-oriented» was 44,000 in 2019, up from less than 30,000 in 2015. In STEM fields, female students now outnumber their male counterparts (46,000 versus 38,000 in 2019). Herine OTIENO, Director Teacher Training Program at the prestigious African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Kigali, welcomes this «exciting trend» and predicts that «in the future, these girls who are in school today will become scientists, techpreneurs and engineers. These results are the fruit of the Rwandan government’s efforts to create inclusive, accessible and affordable education. Indeed, over the years,
