Since the start of 3rd term 2020, there has
not been a formal meeting between PTS Management and Parents due to the
outbreak of COVID-19. After total lockdown, it was necessary to organize a PTS
Parents Committee and Admin staff meeting in preparation of the series of meetings
to be held class by class (to replace a General Assembly Meeting) in order to
cope-up with the set guidelines by the Government.
Based on the above, PTS Parents & Administration
Meeting was convened on 13/07/2020 at PTS Campus located in Chez John Street to
discuss the school preparation for the new academic year 2020-2021. The
following members were present:
PTS Committee Members Present:
1) Francis Nsengiyumva, Chairperson
2) Morgane Bechet, Secretary
3) Alice Kirezi, Member
4) Jules Mabano, Member
5) Pacifique Nzamwita, Member
PTS Management members present
1. Salila Machiels, School director and owner
2. Pierre Machiels, co-owner
3. Gabriel Opare-Obuobisa, Principal
4. Fatima Mukankeri, Head of Finance
5. Mupfasoni Charlotte, Primary 1 manager
6. Dinah Asaba, Nursery manager
7. Robertine Mukamazimpaka, Nursery manager
8. Leatitia Machiels, French team leader
Absent with apologies:
1) Regis Ngenzi, Parent committee member
2) Dieudonne …, Parent committee member
3) Chantal …, Parent committee member
Adopted Agenda:
1. State of affairs at Kigarama & final movement plan
by end August 2020
2. Retaining Kiyovu Campuses.
3. School Calendar & Exams.
4. New Academic fees structure.
5. Busing arrangement – Feedback from surveys carried
out.
6. AOB
1)
State of affairs
at Kigarama & final movement plan by end of August 2020
i)
The 19 Classroom block
is completed. The courtyard is going to be paved in the coming week.
ii)
The new building is
almost completed. Finishing works left are the ceiling, floor, doors, windows
and painting.
iii)
The football field is
currently being cleared and will be leveled as soon as the earth mounds have
been removed from the field.
iv)
The kitchen works are ongoing,
and foundation is almost complete.
v)
The remaining works
should be completed in the next three weeks from now and campus ready by early August.
All the primary campus will move to Kigarama save for
Nurseries will remain in Kiyovu.
All spelt out measures are being put in place to
comply with MINEDUC, MINALOC & MINISANTE guidelines related to combatting
the spread of COVID-19 as well as the requirements Cambridge limitation of
students per class (around 25/class).
The PTS Committee was informed that the school has
arranged for a bus transport for the primary campus (Kigarama) which is more
difficult and further to reach compared to the Kiyovu campuses. Parents shall
confirm with the school administration upon registration since this service is
optional.
Further the administration clarified that school has
the plan to purchase land in Kigarama for the Nursery campus but the school is
not yet able to do so due to finance constraints. Another possibility would be
to rent a location to host the Nursery campus in Kigarama but that will be only
considered when the primary campus will be fully settled and stable.
2)
Retaining Kiyovu
campuses
The school has kept 3 campuses instead of 2 in Kiyovu
in order to make sure social distancing can be respected between preschool
students.
3)
School Calendar
& Exams
Completion of 3rd Term 2019-2020:
Exams will start on 20th of July for
students who started the E-learning on time. End date of exams: 24thJuly.
However, Parents are requesting for extension period to supervise exams during
the weekend. The rationale of the request was noted by the School
administration and shall be discussed with the teachers before communicating
the final examination dates to parents.
For late E-learning joiners (as from 22/06/2020), they
will have a grace period of 1 week (up to July 31st 2020) to
complete all exams or will have to face Entry exams to determine their
promotion as there will be no automatic promotion in line with Cambridge
guidelines.
4)
New academic fees
structure
The yearly fees have remained unchanged, but the
uniform is now optional. The school fees have not changed but the number of
instalments has been narrowed to only 2 instalments per term instead of 3 per
term.
All yearly fees (yearly cost) are to be paid as confirmation
fees in two installments at maximum by the due dates i.e. by end of July and
August to enable proper planning by the school.
5. Bus transport – updates on feedback from surveys
carried out
The bus transport which is optional is only available for
Primary and Secondary only at a cost of 45,000 RWF/month/child. A survey is
undergoing in Nursery to see how many parents would be interested in the bus
transport for their young children.
A survey is currently being done to set pick up/drop
off points for the bus. But going into individual homes is not practically
possible due to rough roads, difficult access to some homes, getting all
children to school and back home in a timely manner.
5)
AOB
Arranging the dirt road leading to Kigarama school:
Budget around 60,000,000 RWF to arrange the road
(without tarmac) which is too much for the school to handle. The tarmac road is
planned to be done by government by March 2022. The Parent Committee is willing
to work hand in hand with the school to find a way to convince the local
authorities, the district and Kigali City, help with arranging the road in
Kigarama. It was agreed that the school will write to Kicukiro district seeking
support to improve the dirt road (shortcut to the school).
There being no any other business to discuss, the
meeting was adjourned at 12noon by the Chairperson.
