Within RPEP, IRDP will work on two main components:
- E EXTENSION OF THE SCHOOL OF DEBATE
Under RPEP, IRDP will extend the school of debate program by integrating 15 more schools in secondary(12) and university institutions(3). To achieve this, the following activities will be conducted:
- Production/adaptation of training modules
The modules that will be used for RPEP trainings are Peace Education and Participatory Action Research. While the participatory action research module will be produced and adapted for education purpose, the peace education module produced by IRDP/RPP will be used as it is.
- Selection of schools
Twelve secondary schools and three universities will be selected in the country following the bellow criteria:
- Geographical distribution; the 15 schools will be selected in all four provinces and Kigali city;
- Inclusiveness of public and secondary schools;
- Proximity with other IRDP programs(schools of debates and dialogue clubs) for the densification and complementarily opportunities with other IRDP activities dialogue clubs to facilitate their learning, integration and experience exchanges;
- The faculties taught at the universities and combination in secondary schools; keeping in mind that the end objective of the project is the adoption of peace education methodologies in the national curriculum, communication, literature, social sciences faculties would integrate peace education more easily than technology or engineering faculties.
- Visit to districts and schools
A visit to districts where selected schools are located and the schools will be organized in order to introduce RPEP to local authorities but also get the educators who will be trained to use participatory approaches in their classes and to facilitate debates in schools. The educators will be proposed by schools’ leadership in consideration of the subjects they teach and engagement in extra- curriculum activities in their respective schools. Regular visits to districts and schools during the project lifetime.
- Trainings for educators, students and youth organizations’ representatives
Educators’ trainings in peace education (3) and participatory approaches (2) will be organized during schools holidays from November 2013; students and youth will be training in participatory approaches to serve as peace agents in their communities. Study tours will be organized along with the trainings.
There will be follow up training to ensure that trainings transpose into the communities
- Schools debates
Trained educators and students will promote debates in their respective schools; the debates will be organized once a month and will gather as many people as possible in each school. Within RPEP, debates will be conducted in the usual formats used in the school of debate (world school debate and policy debate) and the methodology will be participatory for both secondary schools and universities to encourage research on debate topics prior to debate session. Debates will be around the usual school of debate’s topics plus other topics that could come from RLB debates under the continuum of violence theory. The set of a support group composed by teachers and students at each school will be encouraged to frame debates and eventually correct mistakes.
- Follow up activities
Regular visits to schools, youth organizations and organization of follow up events with educators will be conducted during the project life time.
- ADVOCACY FOR THE INCLUSION OF PEACE EDUCATION IN THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM
- Identification of decision makers
Each year, decision makers will identified, be provided with relevant information on the project and be invited in the project discussion forums. The objective will be to bring them to support the project’s advocacy for the adoption of peace education.
- Set up the pedagogical committee
Decision makers and government technicians will be made aware of the importance of peace education in the national curriculum; to make this happen a group of experts in education will be set up to collaborate with representatives from RPEP partners to work on a peace education content to be proposed to the national curriculum development department in the Rwanda Education Board.
- Production of the content for peace education in the curriculum
This is the product of the consultant and the pedagogical committee that will be proposed to the national curriculum development department under the ministry of education for the inclusion of peace education. It will consist in both the content of peace education and a methodology (participatory approach).