The catechist schools

The modern school (of the western type) was introduced in Rwanda by the colonizers. The objective was to evangelise and train a few office messengers and auxiliary administrative staff to serve the colonizers and to facilitate contact and communication with the local communities. Indeed, on the 2nd February 1906, the "Société des Missionnaires d’Afrique” or African Mission society commonly known as the « White Fathers », mainly found in the south of Rwanda, started to teach catechism to the Rwandans.

The white fathers then founded the missions of Zaza (1st January 1902), Nyundo (4th April 1902), Rwaza (20th November 1903), Mibirizi (20th December 1903) and Kabgayi (1906). In all these missions, they mobilised the local population to evangelise them. The local population was equally taught how to read and write in these catechist schools that can be actually considered as the first schools that were introduced in Rwanda : already by 1904 the first Rwandan pioneers (pupils from the missionary school) joined the « Rubia Minor Seminary » (currently in the United Republic of Tanzania). In 1910, Rwanda boasted of the pioneer of seminarians from Rubia Seminary, who returned to the country to settle (short stay) at Kansi in 1912. They later moved to Kabgayi, which became the first Major Seminary that was established on the Rwanda territory.

Secular/Lay Education

Concerning secular education, the Holy See signed a convention with the colonial Government on the organisation of schools in Rwanda (and Urundi) on the 26 May 1906. That convention specified the manner in which the Missionaries would participate in the education of the indigenous people. According to that convention, the missions were supposed to provide programmes whereas the government provided subsidies. During the period of the German colonial rule, the Colonial Government was not able to set up official or public schools. It was only Catholic Church that administered school education, almost on the behalf of the Government.

The Jonghe Convention

In 1922, the Belgian Minister for colonies, Louis FRANCK, set up a commission of inquiry to evaluate the administration and organisation of education in Rwanda. That commission initiated a regulation/ legislation governing education in Rwanda. It is also following the 1925 convention known as the « Jonghe Convention » (between the Catholic Church and the colonial Government) that for the first time introduced system of free subsidised schools in Rwanda.

It was in light of that convention that the Catholic Church, through the Brother of Charity Order, established the « Groupe scolaire offficiel »at Astrida (currently Butare). That school had the status of a public school whose management fell under the responsibility of the Church. The objective of that school was to train indigenous auxiliary administrative staff to serve in the Belgian colonial administration generally. It admitted sons of chiefs and other royal and high ranking Tutsi personalities.

The mushrooming of schools in the 1950’s.

After 1950, several other catholic subsidised schools were established. Among these one can cite the Nyanza secondary school (1952), the Byumba secondary school (1952), Byimana School of sciences (1952), Groupe Scolaire Notre Dame de Loudes Byimana, Save Secondary school (1955), Kansi Nutrition and Home Economics school (1957) and the Nyanza King’s college (1957) and many others. In 1954, at the initiative of King Mutara II Rudahigwa, who had started detecting the danger posed by schools that were 100% managed by the Catholic Church and religions organisations, BRUISSERET (Minister in charge of colonies) launched educational reforms whose aim was to increase the role of the state in the control and management of Catholic Missionary schools. The reforms were also aimed at creating purely public schools. It should be noted that from the 1940’s, other Christian missions, especially the protestants had started establishing schools in Rwanda. Nonetheless, the Catholic Church continued to play a major role in the promotion of education in Rwanda.