The Ministry of Education, Technology and Innovation [MINICT] and other agencies including the German Development Agency, GIZ, have launched a program aimed at promoting the use of robots in schools from the first ‘National Robotics Program’ ‘.
Through this program, teachers will be using robots coupled with technology, to teach students the subjects they are already studying. It was later found that teaching robots make teaching science, technology and math {STEM} subjects easier because students learn them more happily, helping them to improve their ability to think freely and innovate.
In addition, these robots are used as tools so that they can learn verbally, so that they can learn by doing, they analyze the things they see with their eyes and they can touch.
This program will be under the responsibility of Mineduc, monitored on a daily basis by the National Institute of Education, REB, and the National Office for Vocational and Technical Development RTB.
It was officially launched on Friday, March 15, 2024 by the Minister of Technology and Innovation, Ingabire Musoni Paula and the Minister of Education, Twagirayezu Gaspard in an event attended by the Ambassadors of the European Union. Belén Calvo Uyarra, It was also attended by Chargé d’Affaires at the German Embassy in Rwanda, Primus Peter, Norman Schraepel who is in charge of IT operations at GIZ Rwanda and others have come from different companies.
In launching this program, Minister Ingabire Musoni Paula said that this decision was made through cooperation with the Ministry of Education after seeing that it is appropriate for students to begin to meet and learn in depth the functions of robots and practice related to the technology of collaborative intelligence. This is one of the basic needs in these times of the fourth industrial revolution.
Twagirayezu said that this program aims to give the student the ability to solve the problems he faces in life, using modern technology.
He said, “I think this is what we should be doing and bringing people together, so that we can do our best for our students to get the tools that help them get enough knowledge in their studies, In Rwanda we keep saying that people are our wealth, so what we have to do is to increase the capacity of our people and education is very important.”
At the beginning, five companies specializing in robotics technology were assigned the task of preparing materials such as manuals that will be used by teachers in schools when they teach different subjects.
Two companies have been assigned to develop a computer that will help teach courses related to the use of the Internet in other devices {Internet of Things-IoT}, and another of robots that demonstrate how there is heating and cooling {Heating, Ventilation and Air Condtining-HVAC}. This will be used in schools for students in the third and fourth years of Electrical Technology and ICT Networking.
There is also a task to take care of the construction of robotics technology, which would help high school students in the field of science, another task is to create technology that will help students in the first and second years of high school related to ICT,
and another task is to take special care of technology to help children studying in the fourth and fifth grades of elementary school, which are about learning about making, electricity, etc.
