Right To Play in Rwanda

For more than 20 years, Right To Play has worked with local partners in Rwanda to deliver high-quality, inclusive education, life skills, and child protection programs.

We began working in Rwanda in 2003 with a focus on supporting youth to develop life skills. Today, our programs focus on ensuring that young children have access to quality play-based early childhood care and education, primary education, and psychosocial support. We also work with education actors to build students' STEM skills.

In 2023, we reached more than 90,000 children, including more than 40,000 girls.

Right To Play Rwanda's 2024-26 program priorities

• Empowering parents and caregivers to support children’s well-being and learning through play;
• Ensuring more pre-primary and primary school students can access quality play-based learning that builds their academic and holistic skills;
• Building strong partnerships with donors, government, educational institutions, and local organizations to reach more children and young people;
• Generating evidence on the impact of play on children’s social development and learning;

Challenges and Opportunities in Rwanda

More than 40 percent of Rwanda's population is under the age of 18, but young people don’t always have the opportunities and support they need to thrive.

Young children have limited access to early childhood education programs, and parental engagement in early learning activities is low, with only one in five parents actively participating in their children's early education at home.

While Rwanda has made strides in achieving near-universal access to primary education, many children still complete their schooling without solid foundational skills. High dropout rates and large pupil-to-teacher ratios continue to pose challenges.

A significant proportion of young people in Rwanda suffer from mental health challenges, but there are limited mental health resources available to children and youth, and societal stigma also keeps many from seeking support

Despite these challenges, community-based early childhood development centers are expanding, giving more children access to essential services. Holistic programs that integrate play and early learning can equip parents, caregivers, and teachers with tools to support children's development, and increase school readiness.

Ensuring that teachers have the training and tools they need to create engaging, inclusive, and active learning environments has been effective in reducing school drop-out rates, improving academic outcomes, and ensuring learners have the socio-emotional learning skills they need to thrive in school and in life.

And providing children who have experienced violence, displacement, or climate-related trauma with play-based psychosocial support has been effective in helping them heal and get back to learning.

Key Statistics:

• Only 18% of children aged three to six-years-old have access to early childhood education programs;
• Only 20% of parents engage in activities that support early learning at home;
• 33% of Primary 3 students cannot read and understand a grade-level text in Kinyarwanda;
• Around 27.4% of 14 to 25-year-olds report experiencing psychological disorders like trauma, depression, anxiety, and social isolation.

Key Activities and Impact

In Kayonza, Rubavu, and Ruhango, three to six-year-olds have increased access to quality early education through a project that equips caregivers and teachers with playful parenting techniques that supports children’s development and school readiness. Primary school teachers in these districts are also receiving training on how to use play and technology to support students’ learning.

In playful, hands-on lessons, delivered through the Plug in Play project, 116,000 students are delving into coding, robotics, and engineering, exploring their creativity, and building essential skills like problem solving, collaboration, and innovation – skills that will help them thrive in school and in life. These lessons are taught by 1,150 trained teachers who, thanks to support from The LEGO Foundation, are turning their classrooms into vibrant hubs of creativity and discovery where boys and girls learn and experiment side by side.

We introduced a blended online and in-person training for primary teachers, providing them with innovative skills to help them bring play into classrooms in Rwanda. Developed with support from the LEGO Foundation, Rwanda’s Ministry of Education, the University of Rwanda, the University of Cambridge, and the Rwanda Education Board, this e-certification program benefits 159,000 primary students by promoting playful learning. The training was designed with Rwandan teachers to ensure the content would be relevant to real-life classroom contexts and teacher needs. Through this project are able to develop core academic and socio-emotional skills with support from their teachers.

Children, especially girls, who struggled to complete primary education and transition into secondary school due to a number of barriers, were helped to stay and succeed in school through the Gender-Responsive Education and Transformation (GREAT) program funded by Global Affairs Canada. Through the program, 1,694 teachers at 89 schools in Rwanda were trained on the importance of equal access to education for girls and boys, and how to make classrooms and curriculum more gender-responsive. Teachers were able to support the specific learning needs of both girls and boys using play in the classroom. Parents and caregivers were also now more involved in children's learning and informed of the causes of gender inequality. Under the program, leadership and reading clubs were created to ensure that out-of-school children returned to learning in safe, inclusive, and engaging spaces.

Leadership and reading clubs played an important role in preventing learning loss and helping out-of-school children return to learning. By the project's end, staff had trained a total of 4,077 teachers, including 1,097 teachers in 139 schools in Ghana, 1,286 teachers in 140 schools in Mozambique, and 1,694 teachers at 89 schools in Rwanda.

In Bugesera District, Ntarama Sector, the Power To Pedals project is set to make a big difference in gender equality, physical and emotional well-being, learning, environmental awareness, and the social skills of young people. By encouraging cycling activities for children and young people aged 11 to 20 years, this project aims to improve the overall well-being of 180 young people, especially girls, who make up 60% of the participants. The project, funded by the Netherlands Embassy in Rwanda, is dedicated to creating a supportive and inclusive environment that empowers the youth and supports their overall development.

“At first, I could read very poorly, but now I can read anything.” – Delice, 13

Key Supporters and Partners

We collaborate with the Government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, the Rwanda Basic Education Board, National Examination and Schools Inspection Authority, and the National Child Development Agency to implement our programs.

Our work is made possible with generous support from donors, including the LEGO Foundation, the Netherlands Embassy to Rwandy, and Walter Haefner Stiftung.

We also work closely with key implementing partners such as the University of Rwanda - College of Education, Nationale Postcode Loteri, Creativity Lab, KEZA Educational Future Lab, Bugesera Cycling Team and UMUHUZA to deliver impactful programs that create lasting change.

Country Office Address

No. 17, KN 16 Avenue
Kiyovu, Kigali

+250 252 583 310