RUMONGE February 28th (ABP) – The governor of Rumonge province (south-west) appealed on Monday to the finalist students of the Gatete Craft Teaching Center (CEM), to return to classes, after a meeting he held with their parents, the concerned, educational leaders in Rumonge and the teaching staff.
In fact, those finalist students have gone on strike for two weeks, demanding the right to sit the State exam that gives them access to higher education. They state that the director of that school had promised them that the CEM would become a craft teaching high school with automatic right to sit the State exam.
According to the regulations in force, those students do not have that right, because the governor of the province Rumonge, Mr. Juvénal Bigirimana, confirmed that they are in the same case as all the other CEM students in the country.
Mr. Bigirimana called on parents to turn a deaf ear to the false information spread, saying that the period of all studies is 6 months, that those students will have no job and that the curriculum is commonplace. He explained that the craft curriculum taught everywhere in Burundi is interesting. They can also be hired like their colleagues coming out of other CEMs of the country.
To the teaching staff, Mr. Bigirimana called for more responsibilities, going about daily activities, properly supervising those students. He insisted that anything that has happened in the last two weeks will not be attributable to anyone. For any student who does not want to go back to school, Mr. Bigirimana asked them to stay home so as not to disturb or incite others not to study.
Despite the conclusions from the meeting, those students have not yet returned to classes. Another meeting with their parents was expected on Wednesday, according to CEM leaders.