Are Rwanda's Post-Genocide Youth Programs Paving the Way for Future Unrest?
The Nation. (blog) - 5 hours ago

Schoolchildren in Rwanda. (USAID/Wikimedia Commons)
This article is a joint publication of TheNation.com and Foreign
Policy In Focus.
Of all of the displays in the Rwandan Genocide Memorial in Kigali, it
is one of the least memorable. Humbly settled between panels
describing the historical tensions that led to the genocide, it's
largely overshadowed by the stained glass panels and commemorative
statues placed in front of and behind it.
The display is a simple glass panel that quotes an African proverb: "A
tree can only be straightened when it is young." Understated as it may
be, this small placard is invaluable when it comes to understanding
the post-genocide mindset in Rwanda.
In particular, it echoes the Rwandan government's focus on
rehabilitation and development for the country's youth. To prevent
another outbreak of ethnic violence, the country's autocratic
regime—which enjoys friendly relations with Washington—has strived to
cultivate a healthy sense of nationalism among young Rwandans, and has
instituted an ambitious educational agenda in a bid to offer young
people jobs and direction.
But though the government has dedicated itself to a variety of
youth-oriented reform projects, it has also instituted propagandistic
"national solidarity" camps that peddle militaristic values and
obedience to the state. At the same time, the country has cracked down
on free speech and political dissidents.
The question remains as to whether its efforts in the twenty years
since the genocide have amounted to straightening its citizen saplings
or simply stunting their growth, creating a generation of Rwandan
bonsais.
Education and Employment
Some of the most significant efforts have been aimed at the country's
education system. These reforms have focused on overcoming the
colonial legacy of reserving education for Tutsis—the ethnic group
favored by the Belgians, which helped stoke ethnic animosity in the
country—as well as developing the sort of "human capital" necessary
for young Rwandans to compete on the global job market.
The government has worked at breakneck speed to expand access to
quality education. Between 2009 and 2011, the government constructed
9,000 new classrooms and switched the language of instruction from
French to English, and it's currently undertaking a review of the
national curriculum. In addition to improving traditional forms of
education, the government has also upgraded the vocational training
available to students and instituted nationwide courses in
entrepreneurship in an effort to decrease the country's high
unemployment rate.
Rwanda's efforts have not gone unnoticed: in 2012, the government won
the Commonwealth's Education Good Practice Award for its establishment
of free and compulsory basic education for all Rwandans for nine
years. Suggesting that the program be used as a regional model, the
judges
determined that the program "represented a qualitative shift in the
dynamics of schooling and made a major contribution to national
reconciliation." As a representative for UNICEF in the country noted,
"the government has recognized education's role in creating social
cohesion" and has acted accordingly. Representatives from both USAID
and UNICEF admitted sheepishly to me that, at times, it is difficult
for them to keep pace with the Rwandan government's reforms.
The reason for the government's sense of urgency, according to an
employee of Kigali's Youth, Sports and Culture Ministry, is that in
Rwanda "we have to be careful with our youth. They can destroy or
rebuild our country." In particular, the government has identified
Rwandans between ages 14 and 35 as particularly critical to the
process of reconciliation and development, as this subset of the
nation's youth "participated in or were directly affected by the
immediate aftermath of the genocide."
Compulsory Solidarity
Yet for all of its laudable efforts to straighten the trees while
they're still young, Rwanda's efforts to rehabilitate its youth have a
dark side as well: a mysterious system of "national solidarity camps,"
most commonly referred to by the Kinyarwanda term
ingando. According the government officials I spoke with, the majority
of Rwandan youth in the target age range have participated in
ingando. Many officials said they hoped that all citizens will
complete such a program by 2020.
http://www.google.ca/gwt/x?gl=CA&hl=en-CA&u=http://www.thenation.com/blog/178071/are-rwandas-post-genocide-youth-programs-paving-way-future-unrest&q=aree+rwanda+post-genocide+youth+programs+paving+the+way
--
SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
Google+: https://plus.google.com/110493390983174363421/posts
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9B4024D0AE764F3D
http://www.youtube.com/user/sibomanaxyz999
***Online Time:15H30-20H30, heure de Montréal.***Fuseau horaire
domestique: heure normale de la côte Est des Etats-Unis et Canada
(GMT-05:00)***
The Nation. (blog) - 5 hours ago

Schoolchildren in Rwanda. (USAID/Wikimedia Commons)
This article is a joint publication of TheNation.com and Foreign
Policy In Focus.
Of all of the displays in the Rwandan Genocide Memorial in Kigali, it
is one of the least memorable. Humbly settled between panels
describing the historical tensions that led to the genocide, it's
largely overshadowed by the stained glass panels and commemorative
statues placed in front of and behind it.
The display is a simple glass panel that quotes an African proverb: "A
tree can only be straightened when it is young." Understated as it may
be, this small placard is invaluable when it comes to understanding
the post-genocide mindset in Rwanda.
In particular, it echoes the Rwandan government's focus on
rehabilitation and development for the country's youth. To prevent
another outbreak of ethnic violence, the country's autocratic
regime—which enjoys friendly relations with Washington—has strived to
cultivate a healthy sense of nationalism among young Rwandans, and has
instituted an ambitious educational agenda in a bid to offer young
people jobs and direction.
But though the government has dedicated itself to a variety of
youth-oriented reform projects, it has also instituted propagandistic
"national solidarity" camps that peddle militaristic values and
obedience to the state. At the same time, the country has cracked down
on free speech and political dissidents.
The question remains as to whether its efforts in the twenty years
since the genocide have amounted to straightening its citizen saplings
or simply stunting their growth, creating a generation of Rwandan
bonsais.
Education and Employment
Some of the most significant efforts have been aimed at the country's
education system. These reforms have focused on overcoming the
colonial legacy of reserving education for Tutsis—the ethnic group
favored by the Belgians, which helped stoke ethnic animosity in the
country—as well as developing the sort of "human capital" necessary
for young Rwandans to compete on the global job market.
The government has worked at breakneck speed to expand access to
quality education. Between 2009 and 2011, the government constructed
9,000 new classrooms and switched the language of instruction from
French to English, and it's currently undertaking a review of the
national curriculum. In addition to improving traditional forms of
education, the government has also upgraded the vocational training
available to students and instituted nationwide courses in
entrepreneurship in an effort to decrease the country's high
unemployment rate.
Rwanda's efforts have not gone unnoticed: in 2012, the government won
the Commonwealth's Education Good Practice Award for its establishment
of free and compulsory basic education for all Rwandans for nine
years. Suggesting that the program be used as a regional model, the
judges
determined that the program "represented a qualitative shift in the
dynamics of schooling and made a major contribution to national
reconciliation." As a representative for UNICEF in the country noted,
"the government has recognized education's role in creating social
cohesion" and has acted accordingly. Representatives from both USAID
and UNICEF admitted sheepishly to me that, at times, it is difficult
for them to keep pace with the Rwandan government's reforms.
The reason for the government's sense of urgency, according to an
employee of Kigali's Youth, Sports and Culture Ministry, is that in
Rwanda "we have to be careful with our youth. They can destroy or
rebuild our country." In particular, the government has identified
Rwandans between ages 14 and 35 as particularly critical to the
process of reconciliation and development, as this subset of the
nation's youth "participated in or were directly affected by the
immediate aftermath of the genocide."
Compulsory Solidarity
Yet for all of its laudable efforts to straighten the trees while
they're still young, Rwanda's efforts to rehabilitate its youth have a
dark side as well: a mysterious system of "national solidarity camps,"
most commonly referred to by the Kinyarwanda term
ingando. According the government officials I spoke with, the majority
of Rwandan youth in the target age range have participated in
ingando. Many officials said they hoped that all citizens will
complete such a program by 2020.
http://www.google.ca/gwt/x?gl=CA&hl=en-CA&u=http://www.thenation.com/blog/178071/are-rwandas-post-genocide-youth-programs-paving-way-future-unrest&q=aree+rwanda+post-genocide+youth+programs+paving+the+way
--
SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
Google+: https://plus.google.com/110493390983174363421/posts
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9B4024D0AE764F3D
http://www.youtube.com/user/sibomanaxyz999
***Online Time:15H30-20H30, heure de Montréal.***Fuseau horaire
domestique: heure normale de la côte Est des Etats-Unis et Canada
(GMT-05:00)***
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