Rwanda Education Alternatives for Children (REACH)

Results

The project withdrew and prevented 8,575 children from exploitive child labor in agriculture on smallholder coffee, tea, sugar, and rice farms, as well as animal herding, through the provision of educational services.  The project was implemented in seven of Rwanda’s rural districts—Nyarugenge, Nyaruguru, Gicumbi, Nyamasheke, Rubavu, Kayonza, and Nyagatare.

In addition, the project:

• Provided scholarships to children to attend formal primary schools, the Tronc Comun program, the non-formal Catch Up program, and Model Farm Schools; 
• Established Model Farm Schools to provide 2,305 youth with agricultural vocational education and improved employment opportunities; 
• Enabled children who were heads of households to attend school by placing their pre-school age siblings in pre-primary programs; 
• Provided 140 parents with small business enterprise development training; 
• Supported the information, communications and technology component of the Government of Rwanda’s (GOR) Vision 2020 Policy by establishing a computer resource center, supporting teacher trainings on computer literacy, and helping implement the Government’s One Laptop per Child program; 
• Conducted an awareness campaign on child labor and the benefits of education in all 30 districts of Rwanda, held workshops for national partners and international donors, and mobilized resources to ensure the sustainability of efforts to fight child labor; 
• Trained 140 community activists and 550 mentors on child labor, leadership, and awareness-raising strategies; 
• Provided assistance to the GOR to finalize the National Action Plan on Child Labor; and 
• Developed a Child Labor Monitoring System.