ORF and
CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 4.1 Introduction
4.3 Sample
The sample consists of Rwandan secondary schools of the academic year of 2005.
Because it was impossible or impractical to consult all the people (Struwig and Stead, 2001) of the sampled schools, only three of eight schools of Butare-Ville in Butare Province have constituted the sample of this study. These schools are Groupe Scolaire Officiel de Butare, Groupe Scolaire des Parents de Butare and Petit Seminaire Virgo Fidelis de Butare. I used stratified random sampling because it was impossible to investigate all grades. My option was limited only to classes of grade 9.
Indeed, some Rwandan idioms such as "Utunyogwe" (green peas) like the sugar daddies or mummies illustrate the young girls' vulnerability. Adults often corrupt Utunyogwe that are considered tastier than fag peas and still virgin. In Rwandan culture, utunyogwe are generally between fifteen and eighteen. This is the rationale for choosing grade 9 because learners of this grade are adolescent. A myth that is going round in most African countries and that is found in Rwanda is that a man can be cured of HIV/AIDS if he sleeps with a virgin has made young girls vulnerable or susceptible, for they are targets as therapeutic means to the infected men (Oyaro, 2004:50).
I focused mainly on the diverse activities of 135 learners and three teachers that taught two lessons each and seven teachers who were teaching HIV/AIDS through other subjects. This shows the limitations of the study linked to sample size and period of research as they are described in the following paragraphs.
4.3.1 Brief description of the sampled schools
As listed above, the three schools Groupe Scolaire de Butare, Groupe Scolaire des Parents de Butare and Petit Seminaire Virgo Fidelis de Butare were the principal sources of information. All these schools are located within a radius of one kilometer from Butare- Centreville. Butare- Centreville is known to accommodate many students from other provinces and is accessible.
Groupe Scolaire Officiel de Butare is an old public school founded in 1929 under the name of "Indatwa" that means elites by Belgian colonialists. Before the genocide, the
management of the school was entrusted to one religious congregation: the Brothers of Charity. Presently, the headmaster is a Rwandan priest. Groupe Scolaire Officiel is a school that enrolls many students every year. More than 1500 students actually attend the school. It is a boarding school but few students are day pupils. The statistics of how many were part of the latter were not available when I was doing my research.
Conditions of discipline are very rigorous. The school has its own-armed security guards. The majority of students are males. The teachers' salaries and all school material are provided by the state. The Ministry of Education appoints teachers.
Groupe Scolaire des Parents was the first private school in Rwanda. It was founded in 1972 in response to the lack of secondary schools. As we saw in the Chapter 1, all secondary schools were under supervision of the missionaries. The school is under parents' supervision. Generally, the school enrolls students who have failed from public schools or at the National Council examination. The state intervention in the school is to provide the curricula. Students also write their exams at the end of each level of secondary schools, as do their peers at public schools. It is a coeducational school.
Students' discipline is flexible when compared with the Groupe Scolaire Officiel. A parents' committee selects the headmaster, head of academics and head of discipline.
Salaries of all school staff come from students' tuition fees.
Petit Seminaire Virgo Fidelis is a Roman Catholic Seminary for future priests. The Bishop of Butare Diocese appoints the headmaster, head of academics and head of discipline. All members of staff of the school are priests. All students are boarders and are only males. The discipline is very rigorous. Teachers' salaries come from the Diocese. Recruitment of teachers is from the same faith and generally past scholars of the seminary. The school is very selective. The state's intervention is exactly like the Groupe Scolaire des Parents.
It emerges from the above description of the sampled schools that they are of different status. Teachers are recruited differently and their salaries are from different sources.
Groupe Scolaire Officiel receives school materials and funds from the state while the other schools receive only the school programs and registration for writing national examinations.
4.3.2 Description of sampled population
The data of this study came from a wide variety of persons. The sample included teachers and students who helped me to get raw data through observation, interviews and questionnaires.
4.3.2.1 Teachers
Ten teachers answered the questionnaire and have been interviewed. Those are sub- divided into three groups. Three Biology teachers that I observed when they were teaching constitute the first group. Only one of them has been trained in HIV/AIDS teaching and is Biology teaching for twenty-six years. The two other teachers have five years of teaching experience. In addition to these three teachers, seven other teachers who are tutors of various subjects such a s Civics, Religion and Economy within the sampled schools have contributed to this research. These school subjects integrate the HIV/AIDS topic. These teachers have answered the questionnaire and have also been interviewed.
4.3.2.2 Students
Genocide has had an impact on education in Rwanda. Theoretically, the school age is from 3 years to 19 years from pre-primary to the end of secondary school. Nevertheless, the theoretical school age is not respected. The following table shows the theoretical ages required of each level from pre-primary to secondary school.
Table 4.1: Rwandan Education Systems
Levels
Pre-primary school (3 years)
Primary school (6 years)
Lower secondary school (3 years) (Tronc Commun)
Higher secondary school (3 years) (Sections)
Age group 3-6 years old 7-12 years 13-15 years 16-19 years
Source: GoR, 2002
This study focuses on the classrooms of grade 9. It means the sampled students should be theoretically aged fifteen years.
Although the Rwandan population is 54% female, statistical data shows that only 23 % of females have the possibility of making decisions about their sexual health such as testing, treatment and contraception (CNLS, 2000:23). From the same source, 52% of women aged between 15-49 years live in unrecognized marriages and 12% of them are in polygamous marriages. Faced with this social injustice Rwandan women are placed at a higher risk of infection. For Holden (2004:88), one strategy to reduce the possibility of the spread of the disease is to raise the awareness of teachers and pupils about the rights of girls and women. Separated education has been also suggested but it is tackled in more detail later.
Table 4.2: Students' ages and gender representation
Ages
G.S.O G.S.P P.S.V
14 M 1
-
F
- 15 M 2 3 2
F 3 2
16 M 7 6 5
F 4 2
-
17 M 11 - 21
F 8 10 -
18 M 3 5 12
F 1 4
19 M 2 3
-
F 1 5
20 M 2 3
-
F 1 1
21 N
-
4
-
F
- 22 IV -
1
-
F
-
Tot.
46 49 40
Legend: G.S.O: Groupe Scolaire Officiel M: Males G.S.P: Groupe Scolaire des Parents F: Females P.S.V: Petit Seminaire Virgo Fidelis
The above table shows the ages of students in grade 9 in the three schools. It illustrates the difference between theory and practice. The analysis showed that students were heterogeneous in terms of age. Some students are overage due to the liberalization of teaching as a response to the aftermath of genocide. This was to give students who had interrupted their education during the genocide a chance to continue their studies.
The above table also shows that students of Groupe Scolaire Officiel and Groupe Scolaire des Parents are heterogeneous moving from 14 to 21 years. Only the Petit
Seminaire Virgo Fidelis seems to be homogenous varying between 15 and 18 years old.
The above table shows also gender inequality in secondary schools. Although females are numerous in Rwanda, the number of girls in secondary schools is low. In GSO, they are 18 of 46 and 26 of 49 in GSP. Only single male students frequent the P.S.V.
Table 4.3: Average of student's age
Ages
Average Z xi
x=—
N
Groupe Scolaire Officiel
17 years
Groupe Scolaire des Parents 18 years
Petit Seminaire Virgo Fidelis
16 years
Legend: X: average
Z x i : Sum of scores N: Number of scores
Measures of tendency are commonly referred to as averages. It is the arithmetic average:
the sum of all the scores divided by the number of scores (Wiersma, 1980:3). This shows us that the real school age is not respected in the three schools. Most of the population of this study is between fifteen and eighteen.