Education in Rwanda

The Rwandan government provides free education in state-run schools for nine years - six years in primary school and three years following a common secondary school programme.[154] The government plans to extend free education to cover the final three secondary years by 2015.[154] Despite this, however, many poorer children still fail to attend school due to the necessity of purchasing uniforms and books and commitments at home.[155] There are also many private schools across the country, some church-run, which follow the same syllabus but charge fees.[155] A very small number offer international qualifications. From 1994 until 2009, secondary education was offered in either French or English; due to the country's increasing ties with the East African Community and the Commonwealth, only the English syllabuses are now offered.[74] The country has a number of higher education establishments, with the National University of Rwanda (UNR), Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) being the most prominent.[155]

The quality of healthcare is generally low, with one in five children dying before their fifth birthday, often from malaria.[156] There is a shortage of staff nationally and some medicines are in short supply or unavailable.[157] 87% have access to healthcare but there are only two doctors and two paramedics per 100,000 people.[158] The government is seeking to improve the situation as part of the Vision 2020 development programme. It has increased the healthcare budget from 4.2% to 12% of national expenditure, set up training institutes including the Kigali Health Institute (KHI) and started a social service scheme.[157] HIV/AIDS seroprevalence is declining due to government policies; the rate is estimated at 3%

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