Rwanda : Burera’s 1940 first school ,pillar of educational history

Near G.S.Kinyababa in Kinyababa sector of Burera district exists a school built in 1940 by Belgians who lived in Burera at that time, reveals Ignace Ruhakana 68 years old.

This school is located near the numerous buildings of G.S.Kinyababa. It has a single classroom of 20 metres length and 10 metres width built by stones and thatched with iron sheets.

Although it is built of stones, it has started developing cracks on the sides because it is old. Ignace Ruhakana asserts he does not exactly know the year it was built because he saw it while growing up.

Ruhakana explains: “We went to this school and it only had primary one and two. Primary one pupil could sit outside and primary two inside the small classroom.”

Old Ruhakana recalls that in 1954, they were sent to a grass thatched school in Runaba in Butaro sector in Burera district where they could walk for two hours from Kinyababa to that place.

After some time, other schools were built near the Belgian school and pupils who had started going to Runaba came back to these nearby schools, narrates Ruhakana.

In addition, there was no catholic church nearby and this one classroom school was used as a church on Sundays, he adds.

Presently, the school stands but no activity takes place there apart from some church choirs that use it while rehearsing.

Benoit Safari, Head teacher of G.S Kinyababa says that primary school section was built in 1947 by Catholic Church in this place and the secondary section first phase started in 2005 while the second phase started in 2012.