Rwanda To Introduce Braille And Sign Language In Schools’ Curriculum

The Rwanda Basic Education Board is set to roll out a Competence Based Curriculum for special needs children – visual impairment and hearing loss.

The curriculum will be part of a unit called special needs and inclusive education and will start with the next academic year.

Director General of REB, Nelson Mbarushimana, said the board is working with different partners in developing the curriculum that will be followed by recruiting, and professional training of teachers at national level who will teach these subjects.

Executive Director of the Rwanda Union of the Blind, Donatella Kanimba, said it was high time REB introduced this curriculum, because education should be accessible to all Rwandan children and no one should be left behind.

On his part, Executive Secretary of National Council of Persons with Disabilities, Emmanuel Ndayisaba, said the new sign language dictionary that will have more than 2000 signs is expected to be ready in September.

Speaking to Rwandan media, the Director of HVP Gatagara in Rwamagana District, Father Jules Maurice Ntirenganya, said the new curriculum will help all children with visual impairments because it will be uniform in all schools and can help them in interacting with each other.