Kigali, Rwanda – 20th to 22nd February 2023 – VVOB-education for development, an international organisation committed to advancing quality education for all, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Rwanda Basic Education Board organised a study visit between Uganda, Zambia and Rwanda to promote regional learning and exchanges on Learning through Play methodologies, and to develop a shared vision on play-based learning in early childhood education.
The visit was part of VVOB’s five-year project, Improving Teaching Skills on Playful Learning for Africa’s Youngest (IT’S PLAY), implemented in Uganda, Zambia and Rwanda, with the support of the LEGO Foundation. The project aims to strengthen teachers’ skills to facilitate Learning through Play for emergent literacy and numeracy in Early Childhood Education. In Rwanda, the IT’S PLAY project is currently being implemented in Muhanga and Gicumbi districts since 2021, and focuses on strengthening teachers and school leaders' skills to facilitate Learning through Play for emergent numeracy.
Representatives from Ministries of Education from Uganda, Zambia and Rwanda, together with IT’S PLAY project staff from the three countries visited schools participating in the IT's PLAY project as well as in schools supported by other development partners such as Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and TEACH Rwanda, to observe good practices in Learning through Play methodologies. The delegates shared and discussed policies and practices related to how they might strengthen the Early Childhood Education systems in their countries. Through the discussions and field visits, the delegates from Uganda and Zambia learnt from what Rwanda has already achieved in putting in place a play-based pre-primary national curriculum and its implementation in pre-primary schools.
“Play is one of the most important ways in which young children gain essential knowledge and skills. That is also why the Rwandan Competence Based Curriculum mentions play as a key pedagogical approach to achieve both the basic and generic competences,” said Dr Nelson Mbarushimana, Director General, Rwanda Basic Education Board.
Elizabeth Mbattude is Assistant Commissioner Pre-Primary, Ministry of Education and Sports, Uganda. After the study visit, together with her colleagues from Uganda, she plans to advocate for the promotion and implementation of Learning through Play. This would include the following:
- Advocate for the government to pay salaries of pre-primary teachers, as the Rwandan government does
- Advocate for the intregration of Learning through Play in the the Early Childhood Development curriculum
- Advocate for the government to attach pre-primary classes to all government primary schools
- Provide continous professional development for pre-primary teachers to keep them updated about new Early Childhood Education methodologies
“Learning through Play is an appropriate pedagogy which is a foundation for meaningful learning.Targetting parents and care givers in Early Childhood Development programming is a good practice I learnt from the team from Uganda. This visit also made me aware that learning through play is still facing challenges because of teacher - learner ratio, classroom space, materials and classroom environment. We need to address these.” said Evelyn Mudaala Simfukwe, Chief Education Officer - Assistant Director - Early Childhood Education, Ministry of Education, Zambia.
Rwanda is in the process of developing a National Strategy on Learning through Play. Different development partners, such as VVOB, have been working with the Ministry of Education in implementing projects that focus on integrating play-based learning into Early Childhood Education. Through the IT’S PLAY project, VVOB works with Rwanda Basic Education Board to train pre-primary teachers and headteachers to increase understanding on learning through play with a focus on numeracy.
Rosine Simbi is a teacher in pre-primary 2 at Gatenzi Primary School in Muhanga district, which was visited by the delegates from Uganda, Zambia and Rwanda. She has attended the training on Learning through Play for emergent numeracy. “Before the training I would write numbers on the black board and ask children to repeat them after me. I was using play only as an energiser to avoid sleeping in class. I was also using numbers songs. When I attended the training on Learning through Play, I learnt how children learn through play. My work became much easier since then. I now facilitate learning in my class. Through play, I let children think, explore…they enjoy playing and love learning,” Ms Simbi said.
The IT’S PLAY project is being implemented in Zambia, Uganda and Rwanda at different levels of scale using iterative learning cycles which enables the contextualisation and continuous testing and improvement of this innovative approach to teacher professional development on Learning through Play.
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About VVOB
VVOB – education for development is an international non-profit organisation with 40 years of experience in quality education. Through capacity development, VVOB provides support to ministries of education in Africa, Asia and South America to improve (initial) professional development of teachers and school leaders in early childhood, primary, general secondary, and technical and vocational education.
For more information on VVOB, please visit: https://www.vvob.org/en
