The Chairman of RPF Inkotanyi has said that for the Rwandan youth to grow into the valuable leaders of tomorrow that the country so wants, there was need to combine the knowledge they get from formal education and cultural values they get from different initiatives like the itorero.
He said this as he closed the ninth series of Itorero Indagamirwa, a civic education training programme that involved young Rwandans studying abroad and those who studied locally and excelled in their national exams.
While presiding over the closing of the session, President Kagame thanked the students, their parents and trainers for the work well done during the time the students spent in Gabiro.
President Kagame told the students that Itolero was a meaningful training that added value to formal education.
“Education alone is not enough because it does not take away the effects of inadequate upbringing and customary training. Itorero comes to supplement shortcomings of poor upbringing and acquired personal inadequacies.”
President Kagame underscored the significance of good upbringing of children as pillar of nation building.
“When the youth of a nation lack good upbringing they will not value their country and neither will they value themselves. We need to start inculcating good values in our children so that we can create a nation of people who value self respect.”
The Chairman told the graduands that the training they had received should cleanse them of their personal inadequacies and make them better people moving forward.
During the subsequent interactive session, the students shared their experiences and appreciated the training they had been given.