Education Minister Joseph Nsengimana said 44 computers had been stolen from seven schools, highlighting concerns over the security of technology provided to support education.

He also reported that 33 computers were stolen during the 2022/2023 academic year and another 11 during the 2023/2024 school year.

Nsengimana made the remarks while appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Education, Technology, Culture, Sports and Youth to discuss findings from a report by the Office of the Auditor General.

He said the Ministry of Education, through the Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB), was working with the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) and the Rwanda National Police to investigate the thefts, identify those responsible and recover the missing computers.

“We will continue working with schools in two ways: strengthening security and installing alarm systems wherever possible, using solutions that are affordable,” the minister said.

He added that the rollout of alarm systems to more schools would depend on the availability of funds.

Beyond security, the minister said the government was also working to improve how computers distributed to students and teachers are used and monitored, to ensure the devices support learning effectively.

Nsengimana also addressed efforts to reduce the cost of school textbooks. He said REB had introduced a system that allows teachers with expertise in different subjects to prepare learning materials, which are then uploaded to the board’s e-learning platform for testing before printing.

Teachers review the materials and identify mistakes or areas that need improvement. Corrections are made digitally before the textbooks are sent to the printer.

According to the minister, the approach helps speed up the production of textbooks and reduce costs by avoiding the need to print books, test them in classrooms and print them again after revisions.

The measures are part of wider efforts to protect school resources, make better use of educational technology and ensure that learning materials are produced more efficiently.