For Musambyimana Ernestine, a teacher at GS Nduba, Rwanda’s new school timetable means more protected time for learning. “Previously, our teaching timetables were so packed that we lacked sufficient time to give individual attention to the student… Now, we are able to engage more closely with them.”
Click here to watch the five-minute film from Rwanda
Ahead of the 2026/27 academic year, the Government of Rwanda introduced a revised national primary school timetable that creates dedicated space for both learner remediation and teacher continuous professional development (CPD). These changes follow ongoing engagement between the Government of Rwanda, Rising Academies and other partners. Rising has consistently advocated in our engagement with government for greater protected time for foundational literacy and numeracy remediation.
For Primary 1–3, the revised timetable creates a dedicated afternoon period for co-curricular and remedial activities, with literacy and numeracy remediation specifically prioritised. For Rising, that means schools now have the potential to allocate up to two 40-minute periods each week to RisingFaster, our remedial literacy and numeracy programme for students who have fallen behind. The timetable also dedicates Friday afternoons to teacher CPD, providing 80–90 minutes of protected time.
This opens the door for Rising to reach more children through RisingFaster, and to improve how teachers teach.
RisingFaster involves structured teaching and learning materials, alongside ongoing support for teachers. We have delivered it in Rwanda since 2023, and now deliver it in partnership with the City of Kigali in more than 100 schools.
Over the past few weeks, our team visited our partner schools, EP Karama EPR and GS Nduba. It was encouraging to hear teachers welcome the changes and appreciate the greater time they now have to make use of RisingFaster materials to support learners who need additional help. With more time, teachers like Mukantambara Nadine at EP Karama EPR can use RisingFaster to find where each child is struggling and teach to their level. “[RisingFaster] allows me to identify a child’s specific challenges and areas of weakness,” she said. “I can then group them with other students facing similar issues, enabling us to provide instruction tailored to their specific proficiency levels.”
Time also matters for confidence. Uwimana Claudine at GS Nduba sees it most in English: “[RisingFaster’s] approach is particularly effective for English, as it plays a crucial role in helping students gain the confidence to speak a language that people often find intimidating.”
Friday afternoons are now protected for teacher CPD. That creates considerably more space for RisingFaster Communities of Practice (CoPs), where teachers review learner progress, discuss implementation challenges and strengthen their practice.
Teachers value that time. Ntakirutimana Savier, Deputy of Studies at GS Nduba, said Rising trained the teachers and provided the tool to set up the community of practice: “This tool is crucial because it enables teachers to review what they have learned and support one another in the learning process. It allows those with experience to assist their colleagues, making it a truly excellent initiative.”
Together, the afternoon remediation period and Friday CPD give children more time to learn at their level, and give teachers time to improve how they teach. Rising will keep working with the Government of Rwanda to make the most of that time, so that more children build strong foundations in reading and maths. 💜
