The Institute of Legal Practice and Development (ILPD) has officially launched the second phase of a comprehensive five-year project aimed at improving the quality of education in rural primary schools across Nyanza District. The multi-million Rwandan Franc initiative seeks to provide students and teachers with essential textbooks, instructional materials, digital devices, as well as sports and hygiene equipment.

ILPD conceptualized this outreach program in late 2025 to bridge the educational resource gap in underserved communities. On May 20, 2026, during an event held at Mushirarungu Primary School in Rwabicuma Sector, over 400 foundational textbooks were distributed to Primary Five (P5) students.

The event coincided with the celebration of Catholic Education Day at the school campus. Stakeholders, educators, and local leaders gathered to discuss strategic interventions needed to nurture youth talent, improve academic standards, and build a sustainable future for the next generation. A central theme of the discussions was the critical importance of early childhood and primary education in shaping strong cognitive development.

Speaking at the event, the Rector of ILPD, Dr. Aimé Muyoboke Karimunda, emphasized that investing in primary education is equivalent to building national capacity from the grassroots level.

“Supporting primary education is crucial because it is the foundation of all education. Our country places a high priority on education, and indeed, it is what will help us achieve the goals of Vision 2029 and the broader Vision 2050 we are striving toward,” said Dr. Aimé Muyoboke Karimunda.

Dr. Karimunda further explained that strong primary education is essential for developing future professionals, including doctors, engineers, and lawyers. By providing physical textbooks, the initiative aims to maximize classroom learning time.

“We chose to support them with textbooks to relieve parents of the financial burden of purchasing them alongside notebooks, to spare children the exhaustion of constantly copying notes, and to reduce the teachers’ burden of writing and drawing everything on the blackboard,” Dr. Karimunda noted. “More time can now be devoted to explaining concepts to learners since the content is already printed in the books.”

The school administration has already recorded tangible improvements since the pilot phase began. Adrien Rutagarama, the Headteacher of Mushirarungu Primary School, confirmed that academic performance among Primary Six (P6) students improved significantly after the initial textbook distribution.

“Now that every sixth-grade student has received five textbooks for core subjects, it has greatly enhanced both student learning and teachers’ instructional capacity. You can clearly see that academic performance has improved,” Rutagarama stated. He added that extending the support to the Primary Five cohort would strengthen students’ competitiveness in upcoming national examinations.

The President of the school’s Parent-Teacher Committee, Jomoel Sibomana, commended ILPD’s corporate social responsibility efforts, describing the institution as a “good neighbor.” Sibomana also called for additional partnerships to address pressing infrastructure challenges, particularly the need for a smart water tanker to provide clean drinking water and the expansion of overcrowded nursery classrooms.

Students also expressed immediate relief following the distribution of the new learning materials. Several pupils explained that, prior to receiving the textbooks, a significant amount of classroom time was spent copying texts and diagrams from the blackboard. With individual access to textbook illustrations and exercises, students expect to complete their academic syllabus ahead of schedule.

This latest phase of the project included the distribution of 414 specialized textbooks in Mathematics, English, and Social and Religious Studies (SRS), representing an immediate investment of 2,370,000 RWF.