User:Amakuru/Education

Education and health


The Rwandan government provides free education in state-run schools for nine years - six years in primary school and three years following a common secondary school programme. The government plans to extend this by 2015 to also cover the final three years of secondary school, in line with the Millenium Development Goals. Despite this, however, many poor children still fail to attend due to the necessity of purchasing uniforms and books and commitments at home. Most children have access to free, state-run schools or subsidised, private and religious facilities. The educational system is a mixture of British and French precedents with most instruction in English or French. Cameroon has one of the highest school attendance rates in Africa. Girls attend school less regularly than boys do because of cultural attitudes, domestic duties, early marriage and pregnancy, and sexual harassment. Although attendance rates are higher in the south, a disproportionate number of teachers are stationed there, leaving northern schools chronically understaffed.

The quality of healthcare is generally low. Outside the major cities, facilities are often dirty and poorly equipped. Endemic diseases include dengue fever, filariasis, leishmaniasis, malaria, meningitis, schistosomiasis, and sleeping sickness. The HIV/AIDS seroprevalence rate is estimated at 5.4% for those aged 15–49, although a strong stigma against the illness keeps the number of reported cases artificially low. Traditional healers remain a popular alternative to Western medicine.