Six “unauthorized” basic schools to be closed in Bujumbura

One of the basic schools to be closed

“We don’t know what will happen. Teachers are not regular and we are afraid our school program won’t be completed”, says a student from the “ Ecole Fondamentale De la Chance de Kanyosha”. He says they have begun the school year at 150, but now, they are four students in a class. “Some teachers left this school with students. They had a low success rate and left the school in the second term of this year”, he says.

However, those students hope they will pass the national exam. “We fear that our school could be closed given the lack of sufficient teachers and low success rate”, he says. In addition, says another student, they doubt that the courses would be taught and finished on time. “The chances of success are very slim”, he says.

The basic schools to be closed are : « Ecole primaire de la chance de Kanyosha », « Ecole Baptiste de l ‘Afrique Centrale», « le Buisson Ardent », « Ecole King School Center », « Ecole Notre Dame de Tendresse », and « Ecole le Soleil de Demain de Kamenge ».

Janvière Ndirahisha, Minister of Education, accused those schools of starting the basic school system without any permission. “Parents must look for other schools for their children”, says Ndirahisha.

On 17 May, the Minister of Education issued a ministerial ordinance that all headmasters of public schools whose results are less than 30% in the national test of 2016 and 2017 editions that they will be dismissed from their duties in the school year 2017-2018. “The competence of a headmaster is shown through the results obtained in the national tests. Less than 30% is an indication of incompetence for the management to bring the school to the minimum threshold of quality desired in teaching”, says Janvière Ndirahisha, the Minister of Education.