Training on understanding, communicating, and using the downscaled seasonal forecast

This report describes a one-day workshop that presented new downscaled seasonal climate forecasts and a brief training program on how to understand, communicate and use new format with farmer groups. It builds on and extends the previous PICSA training workshops by (a) shifting from the use of station rainfall data to merged gridded data, and (b) introducing experimental seasonal forecasts presented as shifted probability distributions. The workshop began with an introduction to downscaled forecasts in probability-of-exceedance format, and discussion of plans to make these forecasts available through the Meteo-Rwanda maprooms. Key concepts were explained, and their equivalent terms in Kinyarwanda were discussed. Participants were led through an interactive process of eliciting collective memory of rainfall in recent years, developing a time-series graph based on the past 5 years of rainfall data, and then sorting the time series into a probability-of-exceedance graph. Instruction and a breakout group exercise taught participants to interpret probability-of-exceedance graphs. A discussion about El Niño was used to introduce the concept of a seasonal forecast, build confidence that there is a physical basis for seasonal forecasting, reinforce the probabilistic nature of seasonal forecast, and prepare participants to accept the new seasonal forecast format. Showing a probability-of-exceedance graph for El Niño against the probability-of-exceedance for all years is the final step to preparing intermediaries, or the farmers they serve, to understand the new seasonal forecast format. Downscaled forecasts of September-December 2016 total rainfall showed a weak to moderate probability shift towards dryer conditions. The presentation of the current forecast was followed by a discussion of the approach that was presented in the workshop, how the forecast system performs, and how to present the historical and forecast information to farmers. The workshop ended with discussion of action plans for using the new forecasts for project communication and planning activities in the four target districts

Are focus and givenness prosodically marked in Kinyarwanda and Rwandan English?

In this paper, we are interested in whether systematic variations in pitch, intensity and duration can be observed as a function of the focused or discourse-given status of a constituent in Kinyarwanda (Bantu JD61), and a relatively recent variety of “New English” in contact with this Bantu language. Kinyarwanda is a tone language, in which the information-structural notion of focus has been reported to be expressed through changes in word order, with focus appearing clause-finally (Kimyeni 1988, Ndayiragije 1999, Ngoboka 2016). In contrast, Standard English is well-known for the prosodic boost associated with narrowly focused words and the prosodic reduction of post-focal items. Cross-linguistically, the prosodic expression of focus and givenness is progressively becoming considered a marked feature. Zerbian (2015) predicts that it should not be found in a second language (L2), or a contact variety, if it is not already present in the first language of a speaker or a group of speakers. Our study finds no evidence that information focus, exhaustive focus or givenness systematically affect the prosody of Kinyarwanda. We also find no systematic effect of information structure in the variety of English spoken by our Rwandan participants, confirming that this is probably an area of English that is difficult to acquire

Are focus and givenness prosodically marked in Kinyarwanda and Rwandan English?

This paper concentrates on whether systematic variations in pitch, intensity, and duration can be observed as a function of the focused or discourse-given status of a constituent in Kinyarwanda (Guthrie code JD.61), and a relatively recent variety of “New English” in contact with this Bantu language. Kinyarwanda is a tone language, in which the information-structural notion of focus has been reported to be expressed through changes in word order, with focus appearing clause-finally (Kimenyi 1988, Ndayiragije 1999, Ngoboka 2016). In contrast, Standard English is well-known for the prosodic boost associated with narrowly focused words and the prosodic reduction of post-focal items. Crosslinguistically, the prosodic expression of focus and givenness is progressively being considered a marked feature. Zerbian (2015a) predicts that it should not be found in a second language or a contact variety if it is not already present in the first language of a speaker or a group of speakers. Our study finds no evidence that information focus, exhaustive focus, or givenness systematically affect the prosody of Kinyarwanda. We also find no systematic effect of information structure in the variety of English spoken by our Rwandan participants, confirming that this is probably an area of English that is difficult to acquire

The causative–instrumental syncretism

Causative and applicative morphemes have been central in work on the morphosyntax of argument structure. However, several genetically unrelated languages use a single, syncretic form for both functions, which complicates the traditional view that a causative adds a new subject and an applicative adds a new object. In this paper, I propose an analysis of a morphological syncretism found in the Bantu language Kinyarwanda where the morphological causative and instrumental applicative are both realized by the morpheme –ish. I argue for Kinyarwanda that both causation and the introduction of an instrument are analyzable as two outgrowths of the same semantic notion of introducing a new link into the causal chain described by the verb. The different causative and instrumental readings derive from underspecification of the position of the new link in the causal chain, although its placement is restricted via general constraints on possible event types as well as constraints on verb meaning and argument realization. This analysis provides an explanation for the presence of the causative–instrumental syncretism as well as provides insight into the interface between verb meaning and valency-changing morphology

Education for a Changing World: A Mixed-Methods Study of Cognitive Flexibility in Rwandan Primary Schools

In 2016, Rwanda followed the example of numerous African countries and introduced a competence-based curriculum for all levels of its education system (Mushimijimana, 2016; Ngendahayo & Askell-Williams, 2016). Such curriculum explicitly promotes skills for adaptability like creativity, innovation and problem solving, so as to prepare the Rwandan population for an uncertain future and a changing world (Rwanda Education Board & MINEDUC, 2015). However, little is currently known about how these competencies improve, and especially in low-resource educational settings. This thesis therefore aims to address this gap by examining the measurement and development of Rwandan pupils’ skills for adaptability, their relationship with other learning outcomes and the current practices that may aid their growth in public primary schools. To achieve this, the research adopted a psychological lens to focus on the development of Rwandan children’s cognitive flexibility, which Diamond (2014) describes as “creatively ‘thinking outside the box’, seeing anything from different perspectives, and quickly and flexibly adapting to changed circumstances” (p. 206). The empirical study also drew on theories concerning both educational quality and child development to frame the inquiry, specifically the Implementing Education Quality in Low-Income Countries (EdQual) model (Tikly, 2011) and Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1986). The mixed-methods research design included fieldwork conducted over 4-5 months during 2018 in four public primary schools serving low-income households in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. The quantitative component of the study comprised capturing data from a cross-section of 306 pupils randomly selected from age-in-grade learners in both Primary 1 and 4 classes. Each child was assessed one-to-one in their mother tongue by a trained Rwandan enumerator using adapted versions of two established psychological tests to measure their cognitive flexibility. Pupils were also assessed for their broader psychological development (executive function), non-verbal reasoning and basic literacy skills. In addition, they were briefly surveyed with age-appropriate tools to ascertain information concerning their home situation and prior schooling experiences. Following conclusion of the pupil assessments, semi-structured interviews and observations were undertaken with head and classroom teachers to address the qualitative aspect of the research. In particular, the interviews aimed to explore teachers’ perceptions and attitudes regarding pupils’ cognitive competencies, while the lesson observations looked to identify existing practices that could enhance learners’ cognitive flexibility. Statistical analyses in Stata revealed that both measures of cognitive flexibility showed good reliability and a significant correlation with medium effect size. Learners in Primary 4 performed significantly better than those in Primary 1 but, given the cross-sectional nature of the research, the cause of this difference and whether it results from formal education or other factors remains unknown. Disaggregating the data by cohort, Primary 4 children from single-parent families scored significantly higher than those from two-parent households and there was some, albeit limited, evidence that could suggest higher cognitive flexibility among children from poorer households. Regarding wider learning outcomes, pupils’ cognitive flexibility significantly predicted their non-verbal reasoning and executive function, and vice versa. Contrary to wider literature, however, there was limited evidence of any significant association between their cognitive flexibility and their reading skills. Qualitative data from the interviews were analysed in NVivo and revealed that teachers perceived skills for adaptability as conferring a mix of individual and collective benefits, to build originality, self-reliance and independence in learners’ everyday lives, and more responsible citizens who can contribute to Rwanda’s national development. Within the classroom, teachers used group-based activities to encourage collaboration and a range of techniques, learning aids and materials, often sourced from their own homes, to impress on children the practical relevance of their education. Frequent switching between English and Kinyarwanda in lessons might also inadvertently nurture pupils’ cognitive flexibility, albeit at a possible cost to their wider learning. The findings of the study provide a valuable contribution to growing global research on children’s psychological development in lower-income settings. Using mixed methods among different stakeholders in several schools also offered multiple perspectives for better understanding the processes through which learners acquire and build important cognitive competencies, not least their creativity, innovation and problem solving. By way of limitations, the use of cross-sectional rather than longitudinal data precluded any claims around causality and future research could examine any possible interactions with the pupils’ numeracy skills. In conclusion, this thesis draws on both quantitative and qualitative data to argue that child psychology provides an important basis to understand, research and foster learners’ 21st century competencies, even in lower-income countries where evidence remains scant. Specifically, it proposes that cognitive flexibility, the capacity to think creatively, adapt quickly and adopt different perspectives, presents a valuable framework for nurturing essential skills that offer wide socio-economic benefits in settings like Rwanda. Implications from the study include increasing pre-primary schooling and expanding the resources, planning and training available to implement the new curriculum effectively and thereby support children’s more diverse educational competencies. Similarly, the thesis identifies the need to maximise learner-teacher continuity and pedagogies like group-based exercises for pupils to leave school equipped with the skills to think ‘outside the box’, understand different points of view and adapt for life in the rapidly changing world.Economic and Social Research Council (award ES/J500033/1) and Trinity College, Cambridg

Should condoms be available in secondary schools? Discourse and policy dilemma for safeguarding adolescent reproductive and sexual health in Rwanda

Introduction: as a response to challenges associated with adolescent reproductive and sexual health, policy makers in Rwanda have instituted preventive measures against risky sexual behaviours among adolescents. There is an ongoing debate on whether condoms should be made available in secondary schools to minimise risks related to unprotected sex in the context of a growing number of unintended pregnancies among school girls. This paper aims to examine the proposal of condom provision in Rwandan secondary schools through the analysis of policy narratives and the claims-making process. Methods: a narrative policy analysis was used to understand the claims and counter claims surrounding the debate on the provision of condoms in secondary schools. Documents that were consulted include: the national reproductive health policy, the girls' education policy, the national behaviour change and communication policy for the health sector, the Rwanda national policy on condoms, the adolescent sexual reproductive health and rights policy and the Rwanda family planning policy. Results: social and cultural norms in the Rwandan context consider adolescent sexual practices as immoral and thus reject the idea of providing condoms in secondary schools. However, some stakeholders promoting reproductive health suggest that ignoring that some adolescents are sexually active will prevent them from accessing appropriate reproductive and sexual health protective programmes. Consequently, adolescents will be exposed to risky sexual behaviours, a situation which may be counter productive to the overarching goal of safeguarding adolescent sexual health which might impact their long-term education goals. Conclusion: making condoms available in secondary schools evokes different meanings among the debaters, underscoring the complex nature of the condom provision debate in Rwanda. This paper calls for a revision of policies related to adolescent reproductive and sexual health in order to answer to the issues of risky sexual behaviours among secondary school students

Exploring Rwanda\u27s Continuing Education Capacity for Information Communications Technology (ICT) Skills

As Rwanda strives to become the ICT hub of the region, it will need to develop its greatest asset: its people, in ICT skills. This exploratory study used 30 semi-structured interviews, observation and secondary data from different sources, schools, students and NGOs, to answer a simple question: how does an everyday, working adult Rwandan learn new computers skills for a new computer age? This study found that a wide variety of suppliers fulfil different niches that give prospective students a range of prices, content, schedules, certification, practices, etc., and that demand is increasing for a host of different reasons. It also described accessibility for different disadvantaged groups, specifically women, the poor, the disabled, the uneducated and illiterate, and those living outside Kigali. All of them face different challenges - for example for women it was more socio-cultural and for those living in rural areas it was infrastructure. Finally, quality was also touched upon, with generally healthy indicators but common themes found in terms of current and future challenges like inadequate formal education, and supply-side costs

Review of climate service needs and opportunities in Rwanda

Rwanda’s variable and changing climate is an increasingly serious challenge to the country’s agricultural sector and farming population. Climate information services are emerging as a means to support farmers to manage risk and provide an opportunity to build the resilience of agriculture to climate at all time scales. Climate services include historical, monitored and forecast information, and value-added information products such pest and disease risk warnings, crop yield forecasts, or management advisories. The new Rwanda Climate Services for Agriculture project, funded by USAID, aims to benefit nearly one million farmers by 2019, and transform Rwanda’s rural farming communities and national economy through climate services and improved climate risk management. This desk review was conducted to ensure that the project design is informed by and builds on existing needs, knowledge, services, capacities and initiatives. It synthesizes what is known about climate-related risks and their impacts on Rwanda’s agriculture sector; the current status of climate information products and services; key institutions currently involved in the production, communication and use of climate-related information; and communication channels that can be used to deliver climate information services to relevant users including Rwanda’s farming population

Language Policy in Rwanda: Shifting Linguistic and Educational Landscape

In the two decades since the 1994 Genocide, Rwanda has experienced pervasive societal change, due in large part to ambitious policymaking in sectors ranging from business to public health to education. Extensive language policies have also been enacted, including a 2008 Cabinet resolution shifting the medium of instruction (MOI) in all public schools from Kinyarwanda and French to English (Republic of Rwanda, 2008). The promotion of English in a formerly francophone nation inspired the present study seeking a closer look at the current state of language planning and policy (LPP) in Rwanda. Toward that end, ethnography of language policy (Hornberger & Johnson, 2007) fieldwork, consisting primarily of linguistic landscape analysis, teacher interviews, and classroom observations, was carried out in Southern Province, Rwanda throughout the 2011-2012 academic year. Four research questions addressing various aspects of the 2008 Cabinet resolution are answered herein through three distinct but interrelated research articles. The first article investigates the current linguistic ecology of Rwanda, utilizing linguistic landscape analysis methodology to explore language use in public spaces. Diachronic comparative analysis uncovers language shift trends (e.g., major English gain, major French loss, negligible Kinyarwanda shift) that converge with national policy initiatives – the language ecological implications of which (e.g. language loss, linguistic diversity) are discussed. The second article reports mainly on the ethnographic interview data. The interviews, conducted with teachers (n = 8) in two public primary schools and two public secondary schools, illuminate (a) the layers and spaces in Rwandan MOI policy and practice, as well as (b) the local realities associated with implementing national language-in-education policy without an articulated plan. The third article, informed predominantly by classroom observation at the four research sites, examines issues related to MOI policy implementation in Rwanda (e.g., classroom language use; English medium instruction vs. mother tongue instruction) as well as its impacts on education (e.g., disparate student access to content and language) through discourse analysis of classroom language use by teachers and students. Taken together, these three “snapshots” form a panorama of the LPP situation of contemporary Rwanda, exposing the shifts occurring across the past five-year period in the Rwandan linguistic and educational landscape

The syntax and semantics of applicative morphology in Bantu

This dissertation concerns itself with the applicative morpheme, often analyzed as a valency-increasing morpheme which licenses an additional object to the argument structure of a verb. To date, applicativization has been analyzed as an operation that monotonically adds a new object to the argument structure, with little significant interaction with the verb to which the applicative attaches. However, there are two broad empirical issues with this view. First, there are instances in several languages where the applied variant of a particular verb licenses no additional object, contingent on the choice of verb. Second, the semantic role of the applied object is often conditioned by the meaning of the verb. In this dissertation I propose that applicativization serves fundamentally only to restrict the truth-conditional content of an internal argument of the verb, but that this constraint can be satisfied in various constrained ways on a verb class-by-verb class basis of which canonical object addition is just an option. I present evidence from locative applicatives in Kinyarwanda that the semantic role of the locative applied object, and whether it is even present, is conditioned by the meaning of the verb to which the applicative attaches. Furthermore, I show that the semantics of both verb class and the applicative are important in capturing instrumental applicative-causative syncretism and constraints on what thematic role the applied object of such an applicative will have contingent on the particular verb. Finally, I revisit the question of object symmetry, where I argue that contra the dominant perspective in the literature, there is no universal correlation between a particular syntactic structure or thematic role and any particular symmetry pattern. Instead, I propose that symmetry facts follow on a language by language basis from a variety of factors, such as verb meaning, thematic role, cast of the relevant nouns, and information structure. This semantically-driven framework in which a mélange of other factors conspire to determine symmetry provides a more comprehensive empirical account of the syntactic and semantic nature of applicative morphology in Bantu.Linguistic