Promoting child rights to end child poverty Plan Rwanda CSP II Right to Access Quality & Inclusive Education 1 RENCP GA July 2015 By: Paul Bagambe- EPM

Promoting child rights to end child poverty CP Goal & Objectives Goal: Girls and boys (7-19 years old) enjoy quality primary and secondary education in a girl and boy-friendly, inclusive school environment in Plan target communities Objectives: To increase by 20 % the proportion of boys and girls from marginalized and most vulnerable groups who have equitable access to quality basic primary and secondary education in Plan’s zone of interventions within 5 years. To contribute to the reduction by 3% the proportion of boys and girls out of school (4% at National average) in Plan’s zones of intervention in five years 2

Promoting child rights to end child poverty Program Issues: 1.Poor access to education: -poverty of families as they are unable to meet the hidden costs related to attending ‘free’ basic education -children trekking long distances (3-5km) -Gender considerations - girls often are not enrolled in or miss classes due to a heavy burden of domestic work, societal perceptions that girls do not need to complete education, gender-based violence, -insufficient sanitation facilities in schools and drop-outs as result of early and unwanted pregnancy. PPA2 Baseline Study. 3

Promoting child rights to end child poverty Program Issues Cont’d 2. Poor quality of education: -Overcrowded classrooms which result to high primary teacher to student ratio at 1:63 when the national standard is 1:45 -Limited knowledge of MoI- English, Schools are not girl friendly: Rwandan schools are often characterized by poor access to adequate sanitation facilities, basic infrastructure (classrooms, playground and water points) and high levels of gender-based violence in and around schools. - Poor education on sexual and reproductive health and rights: low level of knowledge increases the risk of girls and boys being exposed to STIs, HIV and GBV. -Poor teacher motivation and turn over. 4

Promoting child rights to end child poverty Program Issues Cont’d 3. Poor Education governance; -Functioning PTC in schools? What about their roles and responsibilities? -Any space for child participation in decision making-PTC, student leadership? Clubs? -Feedback from Schools on Education- No existing mechanisms. (Most Significant Change Stories by schools) 5

Promoting child rights to end child poverty Plan’s Response to Education Needs This CP will seek to address the main violations of children’s right to education targeting three aspects: access, quality and governance through; Promoting girl and boy friendly primary and secondary schools by supporting the implementation of School Improvement Plans (SIP) which is an integrated approach for improving; teaching (teacher training and motivation, innovative approaches in teaching, learner centered methodologies, gender sensitive pedagogy); the learning environment (including support to basic infrastructure, addressing gender based violence, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights, school hygiene and sanitation, girl friendly infrastructure, masculinities mentorship programs) for better quality. 6

Promoting child rights to end child poverty Promoting Girls’ Participation 7

Promoting child rights to end child poverty Plan’s Response Cont’d These will help with implementation of Plan’s Girl and Boy safe School Model, a holistic approach to ensure that school infrastructure, teaching and governance are responsive to the needs of boys and girls and promote gender transformation. Supporting the capacity building of Civil Society Organizations and duty bearers to advocate for child friendly budgeting in education and good governance initiatives (functional PTCs, children’s clubs/forums, GBV response mechanisms). Supporting inclusive education for children from the most vulnerable and marginalized groups by providing multi-year educational support (i.e. mentoring, assistive aids) National Campaigns- BIAAG (Because I Am A Girl campaign) while tackling the root causes of barriers to quality education for girls through gender transformative programming. 8

Promoting child rights to end child poverty Plan’s response As a child rights organization, Plan is committed to facilitate those changes by building in children and communities the capacity to respect and exercise their human rights and responsibilities in education and through education. Our bigger goal: to reach as many children as possible, particularly those who are excluded or marginalised. 9

Promoting child rights to end child poverty Program Strategies: How? 10 Community driven Upward & downward accountability Promote solidarity and social cohension Evidence-based advocacy Work through partnerships Focused, specialized models Gender equality and inclusion Innovation

Promoting child rights to end child poverty Relevance of CP to Gov’t Policy/ priorities The CP as the whole CSP is guided by two government documents; Vision 2020 and EDPRS 2. (ESSP ) Rwanda’s main strategic priority is to reduce the percentage of people living in poverty from 45% to under 30% by

Promoting child rights to end child poverty Partnerships MINEDUC REB Districts and Sectors (DEOs, SEOs) Schools (School H/Ts, Teachers, PTCs, Parliaments) FAWE, PAJER, RWAMREC, YWCA, IEE, Haguruka Communities (Families, Children) 12

Promoting child rights to end child poverty “Good teachers are costly but bad teachers cost more”! Thank You Very Much! 13