卢旺达加强对女童的STEM教育

Rwanda Invests in STEM Education for Girls

Yvonne Kevia is an 18-year-old high school student in Rwanda. She wants to become a chemical engineer. She enjoys doing experiments and taking careful notes in her high school laboratory in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city.

Kevia’s interest in science is important to her. But it is also part of a larger goal for the Rwandan government: to prepare more girls for science and technology related careers.

The hope is to also create a model for other African governments to follow.

“Yes we can as girls”

Many girls in Kevia’s class are also interested in careers in science and technology. Keza Marie Aimeé is one of them. She plans to become a pilot. Her backup plan is to be a pharmacist, she says.

"The first thing which came into my mind before choosing this school is that I wanted to live with girls who know what they want. The reason I want to become the pilot is that we're having few girls who are pilots and I want to show people that yes, we can as girls."

?Aimée and Kevia both attend the FAWE Girls' School. It is one of many STEM-centered schools in Rwanda that have opened in the past ten years. STEM is an education program that specializes in learning science, technology, engineering, and math.

FAWE is considered one of the country’s best STEM schools. The boarding school admits girls from poor families. On national exams, the FAWE’s students often score in the top percentile.

Pascale Dukuzi is a chemistry teacher at FAWE Girls’ school. He says it is important to encourage girls to study STEM fields.

“…Believing that they have that potential of doing sciences as well as boys, I think it's very good for them because with sciences, one can do many things."

Developing Rwanda with STEM

The Rwandan Ministry¹ of Education reports that the number of girls studying STEM in school is on the rise. The number of girls in secondary schools taking science classes grew from 48.7 percent in 2011 to over 55 percent in 2015.

This is all part of the Rwandan government’s plan to transform the economy by 2020. It hopes to do this in part by increasing the number of people with careers in STEM fields.

The World Bank says Rwanda is one of a small number of African countries leading the way in expanding STEM education.

A 2017 report that measured the ability of African governments to develop science and technology fields placed Rwanda third, behind Morocco and Tanzania. The report said Rwanda’s efforts to expand STEM education include establishing a science ministry, creating research programs, partnering with private groups and awarding scholarships.

The Ministry of Education’s budget increased nearly 10 percent from last year. Fourteen percent of its $280-million budget is for STEM projects. This includes developing "smart classrooms" with computers and internet connectivity and building a center for theoretical physics.

The Rwandan government wants to double the current budget for STEM education at the university level.

Learning despite barriers

Jeannette Gahunga graduated from university three years ago with a degree in computer programming. Now she is a volunteer teacher at a public primary school in Kigali.

She teaches her students how to create interactive² animations³ using a free programming software called Skratch.

Half of the students in her class are girls. Gahunga says she tries to support them, because mentorship is important to keeping girls on the STEM track. 

"They're able to make innovation, and they are not shy as before, now they are really learning very hard. The girls in my class, they are being the same as boys. They are hardworking as others and they are following very well."

But girls still face cultural barriers, says Josephine Kobusingye, an education activist⁵. She takes part in a support group where female science students get together to talk about their professional goals.

"Culturally, African girls and women were the people to stay in the backdoors and never on the front line,” she said.

Kobusingye added that another difficulty Rwandan women and girls deal with is the “after-effects of genocide.”

“Some of these girls are orphans⁷. Some of them are living with step-parents who do not support their education… Some of the girls have HIV-infected parents. These girls are dealing⁸ with so much,” Kobusingye said.

However, she believes that with STEM, there is hope for them.

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

boarding school - n. school where students can live during the school term?

double - adj. made of two parts that are similar or exactly the same?

encourage - v. to make (someone) more determined⁹, hopeful, or confident?

innovation - n. a new idea, device, or method?

interactive - adj. designed to respond to the actions, commands, etc., of a user?

mentor⁴ - n. someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person?

programming - n. the act or job of creating computer programs?

orphan⁶ - n. a child whose parents are dead?

scholarship - n. an amount of money that is given by a school, an organization, etc., to a student to help pay for the student's education?

track - n. the course along which someone or something moves or proceeds?

transform - v. to change (something) completely and usually in a good way

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

3 animations   

n.生气( animation的名词复数 )；兴奋；动画片；（指电影、录像、电脑游戏的）动画制作

参考例句：

• You'll see your team cheerleaders and mascot performing new animations as well. 你会看到啦啦队队长跟吉祥物也都会有全新的动作。 来自互联网
• Ability to create simple movie and animations using graphic & multimedia software. 能够用平面和多媒体软件制作简单的电影及动画。 来自互联网

4 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

7 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。