Before the Covid pandemic FoRR put together an ambitious plan to greatly increase the numbers of schools and children that can be given access to organised sport…something we take for granted in our UK schools but in Rwandan schools is often not in place.
Our plan was to develop the skills of our RDOs so that they can deliver training to teachers from schools within their Districts that would otherwise be too distant from the RDO to receive support from the RDO directly.
We were delighted that we were able to share our vision with the the Bill McLaren Foundation and they agreed to support us with a generous grant that would allow us to run the program. We were also able to secure support from the Barbarians Rugby Trust. This combined funding will allow us to run the Tag For Teachers (TFT) training for at least 2 years.
We were all ready to start the TFT program when the pandemic hit and everything ground to a halt.
We are absolutely delighted that TFT is now well and truly up and running. In the summer we held a week’s intensive training of our RDOs overseen by two of our Trustees, Matt Phillips and Mike Jones. The aim was to give the RDOs all the skills necessary to organise and run a full day’s training for teachers and to give the teachers the confidence to take these skills back to their schools.
One of our most experienced RDOs, Joseph, took the plunge last month and ran our first TFT training in Byimana Sector. Six schools sent two teachers and they had a brilliant day where Joseph, ably supported by our Program Manager, Kamanda, RDO Yvette and FoRR Trustee, Ieuan.
This program is now into its second year and we have delivered training to over 150 teachers in 13 training days run by our RDOs. There are now 80 primary schools in Rwanda where tag rugby is firmly established and many 1000s of children are enjoying the benefits of organised sport for the first time. We have had some incredibly positive feedback from the schools, teachers and children involved.
As well as the training days for the teachers the program involves tag rugby tournaments where the schools can compete against other local schools. We have now run 6 tag rugby tournaments and it has been incredible to see the skills of the children on display
Here are the figures for our Tag for Teachers Program so far:
13 Training days. involving 84 primary schools and 168 teachers. Each school has been provided with high quality kit and a fantastic training booklet so they can deliver enjoyable tag rugby sessions to the pupils in their schools.
Of the 13 areas that have received training days we have now had tag rugby tournaments in 6 of those areas and our plan is to have tournaments in the other 7 areas in the coming months.
This program has been incredibly successful so far and if we can source funding we would love to continue this so that even more children from more remote areas of Rwanda get to experience the joys of organised sport.
Please donate to FoRR so that we can continue this work.
