On 13th October 2018, the AIMS Teacher Training Program in Rwanda, in partnership with Mastercard Foundation’s Leaders in Teaching Program, launched its public engagement activity, the Math’s Clinic in Kayumbu, Kamonyi District.
The Math’s Clinic forms part of the community outreach and public engagement efforts of the program to bring together various stakeholders to dialogue and facilitate collaboration in the teaching and learning of STEM subjects in pre-tertiary institutions across Rwanda. The maiden edition brought together 200 secondary students from the participating schools (G.S Giko Catholic, E.S Rutobwe, E.S Kayumbu and G.S Kabere) in Kayumbu Sector of Kamonyi District.
“The Math’s Clinic is a flagship community outreach program. It hinges on four main goals which include highlighting and reinforcing the value of collaboration amongst learners, teachers and schools in successful teaching and learning of Mathematics. This clinic also gives us an opportunity to identify the challenges and opportunities learners and teachers face on the ground to gather evidence for effective policy dialogue,” said Dr. Herine Otieno Menya, Director for AIMS Teacher Training Program Rwanda.
Dr. Otieno Menya emphasized that “parents and community leaders must play their role in creating and stimulating interest and provide a suitable environment for the learning of STEM courses. The Math’s clinic also provides us an opportunity to reach out to the parents and emphasize the importance of peer learning and teaching to both parents and adolescent learners”.
Math’s Clinic activities included “Eat as much Math’s as you can”, Math’s relay race, Snap Quiz and clinic sessions on Probability, Sets, Simple Interest, and Algebra. The students also had an opportunity to engage in gender chats to discuss some of the challenges they face in learning. These sessions were led by the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and the Rwanda Association for Women in Science and Engineering. The Math’s Clinic will be rolled out into other districts of Rwanda with the hopes of scaling up to other countries with AIMS presence.