Training
The school system has been given a central role in the
work that is to prevent a recurrence of the events during
the 1994 genocide. The six-year primary school is compulsory
from the age of seven and is divided into two cycles. The
secondary school comprises six years with two three-year
stages. In principle, all children start primary school, but
almost every third pupil is forced to cancel their schooling
early. The proportion of girls is as high as the proportion
of boys. Teaching takes place in the languages of Rwanda,
French and English. Check
topschoolsintheusa for test centers of ACT, SAT, and GRE
as well high schools in the country of Rwanda.
Rwanda has a national university in the city of Butare.
In addition, there is a technologically oriented university
in Kigali, as well as a number of universities and colleges
affiliated with church organizations.
Illiteracy has dropped slightly in the 1990s and in 2009,
literacy among the population over 15 years was estimated at
a total of 71% (75% for men and 67% for women). In 2008, 20%
of government spending went to the education sector.
Prior to the August 2010 presidential election, the
government restricted freedom of speech and assembly. This
made it impossible for new parties and candidates to line
up. Kagame could therefore be re-elected with 93% of the
vote. The RPF was characterized by increasing political
divide. Several senior officers were arrested. Former
Commander Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa fled to South Africa and
others fled to Rwanda's neighboring countries. Nyamwasa and
3 other officers were sentenced in 2011 to 20-24 years in
prison in absentia for threatening state security. In South
Africa, Nyamwasa was subjected to a murder trial.
Tensions increased in 2010 between the government and
supporters of the former leader of the Congolese Armed
Forces National Congress for the Defense of the People
(CNDP), Laurent Nkunda, who had been in house arrest since
2009 without trial or indictment. A series of grenade
attacks in Kigali further aggravated the security situation.
In 2010, France and Rwanda resumed diplomatic relations.
Nicolas Sarkozy visited Rwanda in the same year and in
September 2011 Kagame visited Paris.
Corruption is a problem in Rwanda, but not to the same
extent as other African countries. In 2010, the country was
the 8th cleanest among the 47 sub-Saharan African countries.
Pierre Habumuremyi was appointed new Prime Minister in
October 2011.
As part of the government's Vision 2020 program, in 2011
the laying of 2,300 fiber optic cables was completed, which
will help make Rwanda an IT hub in central Africa. The
country has few natural resources, but extensive subsistence
agriculture. Instead, it focuses on developing the knowledge
industry.
In 2011, tourism became the most important source of
foreign currency, and it was already the fastest growing
economic sector. Despite the 1994 genocide, the country is
perceived as very safe to travel in. 406,000 tourists
visited the country in the first election year of 2011.
Rwanda is one of only two countries where mountain gorillas
can be experienced in the wild.
After 10 years in prison, Charles Ntakirutinka was
released in March 2012. He had been a minister in the first
government after the genocide and in 2001 had formed a new
party with former president Pasteur Bizimungu. Up to the
2003 elections, he had been arrested and in 2004 convicted
of "solicitation of civil disobedience" and "dealing with
criminal elements".
Rwanda's anti-genocide and hate speech laws are widely
used against the government's political opponents. Following
the suppression of the media in 2010, there was a very
narrow framework for freedom of expression. In April 2012,
the Supreme Court reduced the penalties for the daily
Umurabyo's editor-in-chief, Agnes Uwimana Nkusi and her
editor Saidati Mukakibibi to 4 and 3 years in prison
respectively. In February 2011, they had been sentenced to
17 and 7 years in prison respectively for publishing
critical articles on government policy and possible
corruption during the 2010 elections.
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