May 23, 2015 - Seoul, Republic of Korea - Today the Board of Directors of the Global Partnership for Education approved a US$17.64 million grant to support the expansion and quality of Rwanda’s education system.  The grant will strengthen the country’s efforts to deliver on its ambitious education agenda, expanding access to basic education for poor and rural children while improving the quality of teaching and learning for all.

“Rwanda has been a member of the Global Partnership for Education for nearly a decade and has made incredible strides to increase access to education for its children,” said Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Partnership for Education Secretariat. “This new round of funding will aim to reach the most marginalized children and improve learning outcomes.”

Rwanda joined the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) in 2006 and has previously received three grants totaling US$175 million. The education system has gone through an impressive period of growth. The primary school completion rate climbed from 24 percent in 2001 to 69 percent in 2013.

“This grant will make a big difference for the education sector in Rwanda. It will help us in terms of access, in terms of quality education, and in terms of relevance which is part of our education strategy plan” said Mr. Silas Lwakabamba, Minister of Education, Rwanda.

Rwanda is one of the first countries to receive a grant under GPE’s new funding model, which incentivizes developing countries to improve equity, efficiency and quality in education by linking a proportion of funding to results in these areas. 

The grant funding will support Rwanda’s education sector plan, which aims to decrease primary school repetition rates and drop-out rates. The education sector plan also supports assessments of learning outcomes, training for teachers and school management committees, classroom construction and textbook acquisition. The United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, a GPE partner, will supervise the implementation of the grant.

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The Global Partnership for Education mobilizes global and national efforts to achieve quality education for all children, prioritizing the poorest and most vulnerable, through inclusive partnership, financing and a focus on effective education systems. The Global Partnership is an independently governed multi-stakeholder partnership with 60 developing country governments, as well as donors, civil society/non-governmental organizations, teacher organizations, international organizations, the private sector and foundations. Over the past decade, the Global Partnership has allocated US$4.3 billion to support education in developing countries.