Nyaruguru District, the region Link works from in Rwanda, was awarded a prize this year for best local government performance in 2019-20. Our colleague in Rwanda describes how Link played a part in that award:
When the Prime Minister was presenting the Imihigo (performance contracts) awards for 2019-20 Nyaruguru District was highlighted as the best performing out of all 30 districts, achieving 84% of its targets. The performance contract includes the number of inspections to be carried out in schools, and using Link’s school review approach enabled Nyaruguru District to score highly in this area.
After only a short time operating in Rwanda (since 2017), Link’s processes have been well received and are becoming embedded locally and nationally. The Rwanda Education Board (School Leadership & Management Unit) and Inspectorate were closely involved in the development of the tools used for school review, and their Sector Education Officers helped to deliver the pilot projects.
Link built the capacity of Nyaruguru district education staff to assess schools’ performance against National Education Standards. We also supported schools to share the results with parents and the wider community in order to develop and implement evidence-based school improvement plans focused on whole school improvement and meeting the needs of all children, including the most vulnerable girls.
After seeing this work, the Nyaruguru District Education Office asked Link to train all Sector Education Officers in Nyaruguru on the process. The district decided to use school review as the way to deliver “peer inspection”, setting a standard for the process which did not previously exist.
The impact of using school review to improve learning is clear. In March 2018 only 40% of schools met minimum standards in student outcomes and attainment. After Link’s work, this had risen to 80% by November 2019.
I am proud of the progress we have made so far and hope we can continue to work with local officials to improve the quality of education in Nyaruguru district.
